name grants-gov-monitor description Monitor federal grant opportunities across Grants.gov (Simpler.grants.gov is the modern UX), SAM.gov assistance listings (the post-CFDA replacement that preserves CFDA program numbers), and direct agency portals — NIH RePORTER + NIH Guide, NSF Funding, DOE OSTI, USDA NIFA, EPA Grants, NEH/NEA, IES (Education), CDC, FEMA, HUD CPD, ACF. Generates a daily pipeline with eligibility filtering (501(c)(3), educational, state/local gov, tribal, individual, for-profit), CFDA program number tagging, deadline tracking (LOI vs full app), match-requirement detection (cost-share %), single-audit threshold awareness ($750k+/yr triggers 2 CFR Part 200), capability-statement match scoring, and proposal-readiness scaffold. TRIGGER on "Grants.gov", "federal grants", "NIH funding", "NSF funding", "DOE grant", "USDA grant", "CFDA", "grant monitoring", "nonprofit grants", "research grants", "Notice of Funding Opportunity", "NOFO", "Funding Opportunity Announcement", "FOA", "K award", "R01", "SBIR", "STTR". version 1.0.0 category analysis platforms ["CLAUDE_CODE"]
Federal Grants Monitor
You build a pipeline of federal grant opportunities matched to your organization's eligibility, capability, and capacity. The 2026 landscape: 2,200+ federal assistance programs (per SAM.gov assistance listings, which replaced CFDA). GrantMetric reports ~900+ active opportunities across NIH/NSF/DOD/USDA/EPA/etc. The discipline isn't finding grants — it's filtering them.
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=== PRE-FLIGHT ===
Organization type : 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6), educational (IHE), state/local government, tribal, for-profit small business (SBIR/STTR eligibility), individual researcher.Mission focus / research domain : biomedical, energy, education, environment, social services, arts, defense, agriculture.NAICS / discipline codes : define what the org can credibly execute.Past awards : prior NIH/NSF/agency grants enable continuation funding paths.DUNS/UEI : org must have UEI (Unique Entity Identifier) at SAM.gov to receive awards.Cost-share capacity : many federal programs require 10-50% match. If you can't match, filter those out.Indirect rate : federally negotiated rate or de minimis 10% MTDC.
Recovery:
New org without UEI: route to SAM.gov registration first (3-5 days for new registrations).
For SBIR/STTR: validate small-business criteria (≤ 500 employees, US-owned, primary place of business in US).
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=== PHASE 1: OPPORTUNITY INGESTION ===
Pull from multiple sources daily:
Grants.gov API (open, no key required):
GET https://api.grants.gov/v1/api/search2
?keyword={query}
&oppStatuses=forecasted|posted
&eligibilities={code_list}
&fundingCategories={cat_list}
&agencies={agency_list}
SAM.gov Assistance Listings : 2,200+ programs with CFDA numbers (still used as program identifiers post-CFDA sunset). Use SAM.gov API.
Agency-specific portals :
NIH Guide : parameterized RSS / API for FOAs (R01, K series, R21, R03, SBIR, STTR). https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/ NSF Funding : https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/ — programs across directorates (BIO, CSE, ENG, GEO, MPS, EHR, SBE).DOE OSTI : science.osti.gov for DOE Office of Science.USDA NIFA : https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/funding-opportunities — AFRI, BFRDP, etc.EPA Grants : epa.gov/grantsNEH/NEA : humanities + arts.IES (Department of Education): https://ies.ed.gov/funding/
Persist all opportunities to a local DB with schema:
{
"opp_id" : "..." ,
"source" : "GRANTS_GOV|SAM_AL|NIH|NSF|DOE|..." ,
"title" : "..." ,
"agency" : "..." ,
"cfda_number" : "93.279" ,
"summary" : "..." ,
"eligibility_codes" : [ "..." , "..." ] ,
"category" : [ "..." , "..." ] ,
"funding_total_estimate" : 5000000 ,
"award_floor" : 100000 ,
"award_ceiling" : 500000 ,
"expected_award_count" : 10 ,
"post_date" : VALIDATION: Daily ingestion captures > 95% of newly-posted opportunities. Diff vs previous day produces a clean "new today" list.
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=== PHASE 2: ELIGIBILITY FILTER ===
Filter the universe to opportunities the user can actually apply for:
Eligibility Code Org Types 00 Unrestricted 01 County governments 02 City or township 04 Special district 05 Independent school district 06 Public/State controlled IHE 07 Native American tribal organizations (federally recognized) 08 Public housing authorities 11 Native American tribal organizations (non-federally recognized) 12 Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status 13 Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status 20 Private institutions of higher education 21 Individuals 22 For-profit organizations (non-small businesses) 23 Small businesses 25 Others 99 Unrestricted
Map user's org type → eligibility codes → opportunities. Hide non-eligible. Surface "near eligible" (e.g., need fiscal sponsor) separately.
VALIDATION: Filter precision ≥ 95% (no false-positive "eligible" opportunities).
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=== PHASE 3: CAPABILITY MATCH SCORING ===
Beyond eligibility, score each opportunity on capability fit:
Dimension Score 1-5 Notes Subject-matter fit 1 = adjacent, 5 = on-mission Cosine similarity of opp summary vs org capability statement Prior award credibility 1 = no past, 5 = active funded researcher in the program Pull from NIH RePORTER / USAspending Award size fit 1 = too small to bother / too big to credibly win, 5 = right size for org capacity $25k-$1M sweet spot for small nonprofits Deadline reality 1 = < 30 days (rushed), 5 = > 90 days Quality proposals need 6-12 weeks Match feasibility 1 = can't meet match, 5 = no match required Tag opps with > 25% match if user lacks capacity Competition density 1 = R01 (10% success rate), 5 = niche small business (40%+) Pull historical award rate per program
Composite Pwin = weighted average. Pursue threshold: ≥ 3.5.
VALIDATION: Each opp has Pwin score with rationale per dimension.
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=== PHASE 4: DEADLINE CALENDAR ===
Generate calendar with critical dates per opportunity:
LOI (Letter of Intent) deadline — often 6-8 weeks before full appFull application deadline — the binding datePre-application consultation window — for programs that strongly encourage agency contact (NSF program officer, NIH program contact)Renewal / continuation cycles — for K/R awardsJIT (Just-In-Time) submission — NIH-specific (post-review)
Output grants_calendar.ics. Reminder: 12 weeks / 8 weeks / 4 weeks / 2 weeks / 1 week before each deadline.
VALIDATION: Calendar imports cleanly. Reminders fire at expected intervals.
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=== PHASE 5: SAM.GOV + UEI READINESS ===
Before applying, verify:
Generate sam_uei_health_check.md flagging any gaps.
VALIDATION: SAM.gov registration verified within 30 days. Expired registration blocks federal awards.
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=== PHASE 6: PROPOSAL READINESS SCAFFOLD ===
For each "pursue" opportunity, generate the proposal-prep package:
Capability statement (org-level, agency-tailored)Bio sketches for key personnel (NIH biosketch format if NIH; NSF Current & Pending Support if NSF)Specific Aims / Research Strategy template per agency (NIH 1-page Specific Aims, 12-page Research Strategy)Budget template per agency rules (PHS 398, NSF FastLane / Research.gov, etc.)Budget justification template (personnel by % effort, equipment, supplies, travel, indirect)Data Management Plan (NSF DMP, NIH DMSP)Resource Sharing Plan (NIH model organisms, software)Letters of Support template (collaborators, vendors, advisors)Compliance : IRB / IACUC / IBC / Conflict of Interest disclosuresSingle Audit awareness: $750k+/yr federal aggregate triggers 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F single audit
Output proposal_kit/{opp_id}/ directory.
VALIDATION: Kit has all standard sections; agency-specific templates populated.
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=== PHASE 7: WEEKLY DIGEST ===
Schedule weekly Monday digest:
# Grants Pipeline — Week of {date}
## New opportunities this week ({N})
{Filtered list with Pwin ≥ 2 — surface broader pool, even if below pursue threshold}
## Pursue queue ({M})
{Opps with Pwin ≥ 3.5 + LOI/app deadline within 12 weeks}
## Deadlines this month
{Calendar excerpt}
## Closed / awarded
{Recent awardees in your topic area (intelligence)}
## Recommended actions
{1-3 specific next steps — e.g., "Email NSF program officer X re: opp Y", "Begin biosketch updates for {personnel}", "Confirm NICRA covers indirect on opp Z"}
VALIDATION: Digest fits one screen; actions are concrete.
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=== SELF-REVIEW ===
Complete : Ingest + eligibility + scoring + calendar + SAM/UEI + readiness + digest?Robust : Handles multi-source dedup, CFDA preservation, agency-specific deadlines?Clean : Digest is actionable, not exhaustive?Grants-credible : Would a sponsored programs office or development director recognize the workflow?
Common gap: SAM.gov registration expiring mid-application cycle → reject. Verify annually with explicit reminder.
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=== LEARNINGS CAPTURE ===
~/.claude/skills/grants-gov-monitor/LEARNINGS.md.
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=== STRICT RULES ===
Never apply for a grant where you're not eligible. Wasted effort + brand damage with agency.
Never let SAM.gov registration expire. Annual renewal required; mid-cycle expiration = rejected award.
Never skip the cost-share check. Agency match requirements are non-negotiable.
Never pursue an opp with Pwin < 3.5 unless strategic (capability building, agency relationship).
Always check the 2 CFR Part 200 single audit threshold ($750k/yr federal aggregate) — triggers additional compliance overhead.
