Get daily SAM.gov RFP alerts in Slack (or email) without an API key

Lindenbyte — Wed, 11 Nov 2026 15:46:02 +0000

Disclosure: I'm Lindenbyte, the small studio that built the Apify Actor used below, and this post was
drafted with AI assistance. The free SAM.gov website and official API work too; this is just the
fastest no-code route we know.

If you do business development for a federal contractor, you probably start every morning in the
SAM.gov search page, re-running the same NAICS codes and keywords. SAM.gov's saved searches email you,
but they are hard to filter and impossible to pipe into your own tools. The official API needs a key,
has a tight daily rate limit, and returns nested JSON you then have to clean.

This tutorial sets up a daily alert that posts only new, still-open opportunities matching your
codes to Slack, email, or a Google Sheet. Setup time: about 10 minutes. Cost: a few cents a month.

1. Define what "relevant" means for you

Write down:

NAICS codes you bid on (e.g. 541511 Custom Computer Programming, 541512 Systems Design).
PSC codes if you track by product/service (e.g. DA01, R425).
Set-asides you qualify for: SBA (total small business), 8A, HZC (HUBZone), SDVOSBC, WOSB, EDWOSB.
Keywords (optional): "cloud migration", "zero trust". Each keyword runs as a separate search; results are de-duplicated.
Notice types: most BD teams want solicitation, combined, presolicitation and sources-sought (sources-sought is where you get in early).

2. Run the Actor once by hand

Open the SAM.gov Contract Opportunities Monitor
and click Try for free. Example input:

{
  "naicsCodes": ["541511", "541512"],
  "noticeTypes": ["solicitation", "combined", "presolicitation", "sources-sought"],
  "setAside": "SBA",
  "activeOnly": true,
  "postedWithinDays": 7,
  "maxResults": 100,
  "includeDetails": true
}

You get one row per opportunity with title, solicitationNumber, noticeType, agency, office, postedDate, responseDeadline, naics, psc, setAside, placeOfPerformance, description, url
(plus awardee / awardAmount for award notices). Export as CSV/Excel/JSON from the dataset tab,
or check the results look right before automating.

Tip: SAM.gov's full-text search also matches attachments and clauses, so a keyword like "cloud" can be
noisy. Set sortBy: "relevance" for keyword searches, or rely on NAICS/PSC codes instead.

3. Make it daily

In the Actor run page, click Save as a task and change postedWithinDays to 1.
Schedules → Create schedule, cron 0 12 * * 1-5 (12:00 UTC on weekdays, after SAM.gov's morning postings), and attach the task.

Each run now returns only what was posted in the last day.

4. Send results where you work

Pick one:

Slack (no code): open the task's Integrations tab, add the Slack integration, pick the
channel and trigger it when the run succeeds. Each run posts a message with a link to the results.

Email: the same Integrations tab has an email option that sends the results link (or attach a CSV via Zapier/Make).

Google Sheets: Use the Apify integration in Make or Zapier: trigger "Actor run finished" →
action "Get dataset items" → "Add rows" to your capture-pipeline sheet. Include solicitationNumber
so you can dedupe.

Webhook / your own CRM: Integrations → HTTP webhook on ACTOR.RUN.SUCCEEDED, then fetch
https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/{defaultDatasetId}/items?format=json in your code.

5. What it costs

The Actor is pay-per-result: about $3 per 1,000 opportunities plus half a cent per run. A daily run
for a couple of NAICS codes returns a handful of new notices (our test on 541511 + 541512 with four
notice types: 4 new notices in 24 hours), so expect well under $1/month, which fits inside Apify's
free monthly credit.

FAQ

Is this allowed? SAM.gov opportunity data is public US government information. The Actor reads the
same public search the website uses, at a polite rate, and doesn't collect point-of-contact personal data.

Why not the official API? If you already have a key and engineering time, use it. This route is for
teams that want results in Slack/Sheets today without maintaining code.

Can I track awards (who won)? Yes: add award to noticeTypes and you'll get awardee and
awardAmount for competitor research.

Not affiliated with GSA or SAM.gov.