# 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](https://www.governmentcontext.com/docs/plans); 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 delay — Complete 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 delay — Complete 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](https://www.governmentcontext.com/docs/plans).

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Source: https://www.governmentcontext.com/docs/concepts
Every Government Context docs page is available as Markdown: add `.md` to its URL.
Index of the docs, the guides, and every MCP tool: https://www.governmentcontext.com/llms.txt