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Government Context MCP
Concepts
Views, activity groups, coverage, and gating — the vocabulary the tools are organized around.
Views
A View is a followable context: a specific thing you look at government activity through. Every View can be found with gc_search (items marked followable: true), used as a gc_list_activity scope, and followed with gc_follow. Ids are natural keys, never opaque numbers.
| View type | Id format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| document | regulations.gov document id | EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0123-0001 |
| agency | agency id | EPA |
| topic | topic slug | artificial-intelligence |
| organization | organization slug | acme-corp |
| legislator | bioguide id | S000033 |
| bill | congress/type/number | 119/hr/3076 |
| committee | committee system code | hsju00 |
Hearings and amendments are records you can look up, but not Views — follow their committee, bill, or topics instead.
Activity groups
An activity group is a kind of happening. Every activity question is a View crossed with groups: “what has the EPA done lately?” is the EPA View across default groups. Free access follows the plans matrix; the rows below come from the same catalog the query layer enforces.
| Group | Event types | Free access |
|---|---|---|
| rulemaking | document.posted, document.comment_period_closing, document.comment_period_closed, comment.org_submitted | Available after a 7-day delay |
| press | press_release.published | Available after a 7-day delay |
| grants | grant.posted, grant.forecasted, grant.closing_soon | Not included |
| legislative | bill.introduced, bill.cosponsor_joined, bill.reported, bill.passed_chamber, bill.to_president, bill.signed, bill.vetoed, amendment.introduced, committee.member_joined, committee.member_left, committee.position_changed, legislator.took_office, legislator.left_office, vote.roll_call, legislator.voted, hearing.scheduled, hearing.updated | Available after a 7-day delayComplete record tables (legislative public records): included |
| lobbying | lobbying.registered, lobbying.activity_reported | Previous complete reporting period and earlier |
| awards | award.contract, award.assistance | Available after a 7-day delayComplete record tables (federal award history): included |
| fec | fec.pac_report, fec.employee_rollup | Previous complete reporting period and earlier |
Coverage
Every gc_list_activity response labels its coverage. complete means the stream is the full public record (a bill's every action, an organization's every filing); since means the tracked feed — everything observed since Government Context began tracking that source (“tracked since”). Scoped to one record you usually get the complete record; through broader Views you get the feed.
Gating
Free accounts see data one release cycle behind. A gated result is never an error: it returns everything visible plus a gated tail stating what was withheld, why, and what a paid plan adds. Agents should relay that tail to their user instead of retrying. Details: plans and data access.