API Terms & Acceptable Use

You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of the API, and any use of the data you retrieve through it, complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and the terms of service of any third-party website or data source. We provide infrastructure and data; we do not direct, control, or assume responsibility for how you use it. If a data source objects to your use of its data, that is a matter between you and that source.

You may not use the API to:

• Engage in any illegal, fraudulent, or abusive activity, or facilitate it for others.
• Access, or attempt to access, data behind login credentials, authentication walls, or paywalls - whether through the API or by using our data to locate such access.
• Collect or redistribute material that infringes any third party's intellectual property rights.
• Violate the terms of service, robots.txt, or access controls of any third-party website or data source.
• Use the API to harass, harm, or mislead any person or entity.

We may suspend or terminate access for any violation of this Acceptable Use Policy, in addition to any other rights we have under these terms.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless GovContractScout, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your use of the API or the data, (b) your violation of these terms, (c) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party, or (d) any claim by a third-party data source arising from your use of data obtained through the API.

The API and all data are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the API will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that the data will be complete, accurate, or current. Government contract data is aggregated from public procurement portals; we do not control, and are not responsible for, the accuracy or completeness of the underlying sources.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, GovContractScout shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or business opportunities, arising out of or related to your use of the API or the data, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Our total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or related to these terms or the API shall not exceed the amount you paid us for API access in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

You may use the API commercially. Build it into your own product, internal tools, workflows, and client work. That is what the API is for. No separate commercial license is required.

• Resell or redistribute the raw contract dataset as a competing data feed, API, or bulk database.
• Scrape, mirror, or systematically export the API in order to rebuild or replicate the underlying database.
• Use the API to identify, reconstruct, or replicate our data sources or aggregation pipeline.
• Run automated or production data collection on the free tier. The free tier is for evaluation and testing; sustained programmatic polling on a free key is not permitted.
• Share, publish, or transfer your API key. Keys are per-customer.
• Create multiple accounts or keys to work around plan rate limits or monthly quotas.

Using the data to inform, enrich, or power your own product or service is fine. Redistributing the data itself as a product is not.

Each key is subject to the per-minute rate limit and monthly request quota of its plan (see the API docs). Quotas reset at the start of each calendar month. Sustained abuse of the limits, or attempts to bypass them, may result in suspension.

Government contract data is aggregated from public procurement portals and provided on an "as is" basis. We work to keep it current and accurate but do not warrant completeness, and you are responsible for verifying any opportunity before acting on it.

We may suspend or terminate API access for violation of these terms, non-payment, or abuse that threatens the service. You can cancel your API subscription at any time; access continues until the end of the paid period.

We may update these terms as the API evolves. Material changes will be reflected by the "last updated" date above.

Email api-support@govcontractscout.com. A real person answers.