# gc_search

> Search Government Context

Find federal government records by keyword: rulemakings (proposed rules, notices), dockets, agencies, policy topics, organizations, grant opportunities, agency press releases, bills, legislators, committees, and hearings. The front door of Government Context — returns natural-key ids every other gc_ tool accepts, plus a followable flag for gc_follow. Rulemaking results default to currently open comment periods; set filters.open_for_comment to false only when the user explicitly asks for closed comment periods. Query mode (query present) returns the best matches across the requested types with no pagination: refine the query rather than paging. Browse mode (no query, exactly one type) pages deterministically — e.g. types: ["topic"] lists every followable topic. Use keywords, not sentences. Available on every plan.

## Input

| Parameter | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| query | string | Keywords, not sentences (Postgres websearch syntax: quoted phrases, OR, -exclusion). Omit to browse one type. |
| types | string[] | Record types to search (default: all). Browsing without a query requires exactly one. Valid: rulemaking, docket, agency, topic, organization, grant, press_release, bill, legislator, committee, hearing. |
| filters | object | — |
| limit | integer | Results per page (default 10). |
| cursor | string | Browse-mode pagination cursor. |

## Annotations

```
{
  "readOnlyHint": true,
  "idempotentHint": true,
  "openWorldHint": false
}
```

## Examples

### Find records by keyword

Query mode returns a flat ranked list across types; pass the returned id to a getter or gc_list_activity.

```
{
  "query": "air quality"
}
```

```
{
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "topic",
      "id": "air-quality",
      "title": "Air Quality",
      "facts": {
        "parent": null
      },
      "followable": true,
      "source": "curated",
      "links": {
        "governmentcontext": "https://governmentcontext.com/topics/air-quality"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "rulemaking",
      "id": "EPA-AIR-1-0001",
      "title": "National Air Quality Standards Review",
      "facts": {
        "agency": "EPA",
        "docket": "EPA-AIR-1",
        "document_type": "Proposed Rule",
        "comment_period": "open",
        "comments_close": "2099-08-30",
        "regulatory_stage": "nprm"
      },
      "followable": true,
      "source": "regulations.gov",
      "links": {
        "governmentcontext": "https://governmentcontext.com/documents/EPA-AIR-1-0001",
        "source": "https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-AIR-1-0001"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "docket",
      "id": "EPA-AIR-1",
      "title": "Air Quality Standards Docket",
      "facts": {
        "agency": "EPA"
      },
      "followable": false,
      "source": "regulations.gov",
      "links": {
        "governmentcontext": "https://governmentcontext.com/dockets/EPA-AIR-1",
        "source": "https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-AIR-1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "next_cursor": null
}
```

---

Source: https://www.governmentcontext.com/docs/tools/gc_search
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