grants_search
Search federal funding opportunities on Grants.gov (keyless). Filter by keyword, opportunity status (forecasted/posted/closed/archived), agency, funding category and eligibility. Returns opportunity number, title, agency, status, open/close dates and CFDA numbers.
This record as markdown: /tools/io-github-blackboxfoundry-livedatalink/grants-search.md
What grants_search does on Livedatalink
AI agents call grants_search to retrieve information from Livedatalink without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
rows | number | — | Max results (default 25, max 100). |
keyword | string | — | Free-text keyword (e.g. 'clean energy', 'rural health'). |
agencies | string | — | Agency code filter (e.g. 'NSF', 'HHS'). Pipe-separate multiples. |
oppStatuses | string | — | Pipe-separated statuses. Default 'forecasted|posted'. Options: forecasted, posted, closed, archived. |
eligibilities | string | — | Applicant-eligibility code filter (e.g. '25' state governments, '99' unrestricted). Pipe-separate multiples. |
fundingCategories | string | — | Funding category code filter (e.g. 'ENV', 'ED'). Pipe-separate multiples. |
fundingInstruments | string | — | Funding-instrument code filter (e.g. 'G' grant, 'CA' cooperative agreement). Pipe-separate multiples. |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why grants_search is rated Low
Even though grants_search only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs: an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs grants_search safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Livedatalink, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For grants_search, this is the rule to start with:
grants_search is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Livedatalink, apply this rule, and every grants_search call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about grants_search
Search federal funding opportunities on Grants.gov (keyless). Filter by keyword, opportunity status (forecasted/posted/closed/archived), agency, funding category and eligibility. Returns opportunity number, title, agency, status, open/close dates and CFDA numbers. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Livedatalink MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
grants_search accepts 7 parameters: rows, keyword, agencies, oppStatuses, eligibilities, fundingCategories, fundingInstruments. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Livedatalink MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for grants_search: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Livedatalink. Nothing to install.
grants_search is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the grants_search rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for grants_search. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
grants_search is provided by the Livedatalink MCP server (https://livedatalink.ai/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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