# How to integrate Highergov MCP with CrewAI ```json { "title": "How to integrate Highergov MCP with CrewAI", "toolkit": "Highergov", "toolkit_slug": "highergov", "framework": "CrewAI", "framework_slug": "crew-ai", "url": "https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/crew-ai", "markdown_url": "https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/crew-ai.md", "updated_at": "2026-05-12T10:14:59.338Z" } ``` ## Introduction This guide walks you through connecting Highergov to CrewAI using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Highergov agent that can list recent federal contract awards for it services, show all active dla contract opportunities today, retrieve grant history for a specific agency through natural language commands. This guide will help you understand how to give your CrewAI agent real control over a Highergov account through Composio's Highergov MCP server. Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved. ## Also integrate Highergov with - [OpenAI Agents SDK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/open-ai-agents-sdk) - [Claude Agent SDK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/claude-agents-sdk) - [Claude Code](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/claude-code) - [Claude Cowork](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/claude-cowork) - [Codex](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/codex) - [OpenClaw](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/openclaw) - [Hermes](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/hermes-agent) - [CLI](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/cli) - [Google ADK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/google-adk) - [LangChain](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/langchain) - [Vercel AI SDK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/ai-sdk) - [Mastra AI](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/mastra-ai) - [LlamaIndex](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/llama-index) ## TL;DR Here's what you'll learn: - Get a Composio API key and configure your Highergov connection - Set up CrewAI with an MCP enabled agent - Create a Tool Router session or standalone MCP server for Highergov - Build a conversational loop where your agent can execute Highergov operations ## What is CrewAI? CrewAI is a powerful framework for building multi-agent AI systems. It provides primitives for defining agents with specific roles, creating tasks, and orchestrating workflows through crews. Key features include: - Agent Roles: Define specialized agents with specific goals and backstories - Task Management: Create tasks with clear descriptions and expected outputs - Crew Orchestration: Combine agents and tasks into collaborative workflows - MCP Integration: Connect to external tools through Model Context Protocol ## What is the Highergov MCP server, and what's possible with it? The Highergov MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Highergov account. It provides structured and secure access to government contracting and grant intelligence, so your agent can perform actions like searching contracts, analyzing award history, retrieving agency details, and fetching grant data on your behalf. - Comprehensive contract search and retrieval: Quickly have your agent look up federal contracts, filter by last modified date, or leverage saved searches to find exactly what you need. - Award and grant history analysis: Direct your agent to access detailed award and grant histories, making it simple to track funding trends across agencies or time periods. - Agency and program intelligence: Ask your agent to list and explore government agencies, defense programs, or contract vehicles to support your market research. - Document and opportunity extraction: Let your agent fetch associated documents or list DLA contract opportunities for deeper due diligence and competitive analysis. - IDV and contract vehicle tracking: Monitor Indefinite Delivery Vehicles (IDVs) and contract vehicles to better understand procurement patterns and strategic opportunities. ## Supported Tools | Tool slug | Name | Description | |---|---|---| | `HIGHERGOV_GET_AGENCIES` | Get Agencies | Retrieves government agency information from the HigherGov database with pagination support. Use this tool to: - List all federal agencies with details like name, abbreviation, type, and hierarchy - Search for a specific agency by its unique agency_key identifier - Navigate through paginated results of agencies (28,000+ agencies available) The response includes agency hierarchy levels (level_1 through level_7) showing parent-child relationships between agencies, along with pagination metadata for browsing through results. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_CONTRACTS` | Get Contracts | Retrieve federal government contract data from HigherGov. Returns paginated list of contracts with details including awardees, agencies, amounts, dates, NAICS/PSC codes, and performance information. Supports filtering by date, search criteria, award ID, awardee, agency, industry codes, and more. Data updates daily by 2am for two days prior. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_CONTRACT_VEHICLES` | Get Contract Vehicles | Retrieve federal multi-award contract vehicles from HigherGov. Contract vehicles are pre-established contracting mechanisms that streamline procurement. Use this to list available vehicles with optional filtering by vehicle key and sorting by award date. Supports pagination with up to 100 records per page. Updated ad hoc as new awards are made. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_DOCUMENTS` | Get Documents | Retrieve document metadata and download URLs for files associated with government opportunities, contracts, and grants from HigherGov. **When to use:** After calling Get Opportunities, Get Contracts, or Get Grants, use this tool to fetch the actual documents (RFPs, amendments, attachments, etc.) associated with those records. **How to use:** 1. First call Get Opportunities, Get Contracts, or Get Grants 2. Extract the 'document_path' field from the response 3. Parse the 'related_key' parameter from that document_path URL 4. Pass that related_key to this tool to retrieve the documents **Important notes:** - Download URLs expire after 60 minutes; retrieve new URLs by calling this endpoint again - Some opportunities/contracts/grants may have no associated documents (returns empty results) - Results are paginated; use page and page_size parameters for large document sets | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_GRANT_HISTORY` | Get Grant History | Tool to fetch historical data on grants from the HigherGov API. REQUIRED: At least one filter parameter (award_id or last_modified_date) must be provided. Use cases: - Retrieve history for a specific grant by award_id - Retrieve grants modified since a specific date using last_modified_date - Paginate through results using page and page_size parameters | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_GRANT_OPPORTUNITIES` | Get Grant Opportunities | Retrieve government grant and contract opportunities from HigherGov. Returns Federal contracts, SLED (State/Local) opportunities, grants, and SBIR opportunities with comprehensive details including agency info, dates, contacts, and award estimates. Use this when you need to: - Find government opportunities by date (posted_date or captured_date recommended) - Search for opportunities with specific keywords - Filter opportunities by agency, status, or other criteria - Get detailed opportunity information including contact details and documents REQUIRED: Must provide at least one filter (posted_date, captured_date, search_id, source_id, agency_key, opp_key, or version_key). For best results, use posted_date or captured_date with optional keyword filtering. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_GRANT_PROGRAMS` | Get Grant Programs | Tool to retrieve information on grant programs. Use when you need to list available grant programs with pagination. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_NAICS` | Get NAICS Codes | Retrieve NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes with detailed descriptions. Returns a paginated list of NAICS codes that can be filtered by code prefix and sorted. Useful for finding industry classifications, understanding NAICS hierarchies, and identifying relevant codes for business categorization. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_OPPORTUNITY_HISTORY` | Get Opportunity History | Retrieve historical opportunity data from HigherGov with pagination support. This tool requires at least one identifying filter (captured_date, opp_key, version_key, search_id, posted_date, source_id, or agency_key). Most commonly used with captured_date to get all opportunities from a specific date, optionally filtered by source_type ('sam' or 'sled'). Returns paginated results with comprehensive opportunity details including title, description, agency, dates, contact information, and links to documents. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_PEOPLE` | Get People | Retrieves contact information for federal and state/local government personnel from HigherGov. Returns detailed contact records including names, titles, emails, phone numbers, and affiliated agencies. Data is updated in real-time. Use this to find government contacts, especially when you have an email address or need to browse through personnel listings. Common use cases: - Find contact details for a specific government employee by email - Browse government personnel with pagination - Get the most recently updated contacts using ordering | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_PSC` | Get Product and Service Codes | Tool to retrieve information on Product and Service Codes. Use when fetching PSC entries with optional pagination and filtering by code. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_PURSUITS` | Get Pursuits | Tool to retrieve user-specific pursuits. Use when you need to fetch a user's pursuits with optional filtering by status and pagination. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_SBIR_OPPORTUNITIES` | Get SBIR Opportunities | Retrieve SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) opportunities from HigherGov. SBIR is a U.S. government program that provides funding to small businesses for research and development with commercialization potential. This action retrieves SBIR opportunities from federal agencies. By default, retrieves opportunities captured since 2024-01-01. Use filters to narrow results by specific dates, agencies, or opportunity identifiers. Supports pagination for large result sets. Key use cases: - Find recent SBIR opportunities for a specific federal agency - Track SBIR opportunities by capture/posting dates - Retrieve details for specific SBIR opportunities by ID - Monitor new SBIR opportunities added to the system Note: At least one filter parameter (captured_date, posted_date, search_id, source_id, agency_key, opp_key, or version_key) is required by the API. The action provides captured_date with a sensible default. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_SLED_CONTRACT_OPPORTUNITIES` | Get SLED Contract Opportunities | Tool to retrieve state and local (SLED) contract opportunities. Uses the general Opportunity endpoint with optional filters. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_SUBCONTRACT_AWARDS` | Get Subcontract Awards | Retrieves federal subcontract award data from HigherGov. Returns paginated subcontract records with details about subcontract recipients, amounts, prime contracts, and awarding agencies. **Important**: At least one filter parameter (last_modified_date or search_id) is required by the API. Use this when you need to: - Find subcontracts modified on a specific date - List subcontracts from a saved HigherGov search - Access detailed subcontract award information including recipient details and prime contract relationships Data is updated weekly. Use the last_modified_date field to track updates. | | `HIGHERGOV_GET_SUBGRANT_AWARDS` | Get Subgrant Awards | Retrieves federal subgrant award data from HigherGov. Returns paginated subgrant records with details about subgrant recipients, funding amounts, associated prime grants, and program information. **Important**: At least one filter parameter (last_modified_date or search_id) is required by the API. Use this when you need to: - Find subgrant awards modified on a specific date - List subgrant awards from a saved HigherGov search - Access detailed subgrant award information including recipient details and prime grant relationships Data is updated regularly. Use the last_modified_date field to track updates. | ## Supported Triggers None listed. ## Creating MCP Server - Stand-alone vs Composio SDK The Highergov MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent to Highergov. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Highergov operations on your behalf through a secure, permission-based interface. With Composio's managed implementation, you don't have to create your own developer app. For production, if you're building an end product, we recommend using your own credentials. The managed server helps you prototype fast and go from 0-1 faster. ## Step-by-step Guide ### 1. Prerequisites Before starting, make sure you have: - Python 3.9 or higher - A Composio account and API key - A Highergov connection authorized in Composio - An OpenAI API key for the CrewAI LLM - Basic familiarity with Python ### 1. Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio OpenAI API Key - Go to the [OpenAI dashboard](https://platform.openai.com/settings/organization/api-keys) and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider. - Keep the API key safe. Composio API Key - Log in to the [Composio dashboard](https://dashboard.composio.dev?utm_source=toolkits&utm_medium=framework_docs). - Navigate to your API settings and generate a new API key. - Store this key securely as you'll need it for authentication. ### 2. Install dependencies **What's happening:** - composio connects your agent to Highergov via MCP - crewai provides Agent, Task, Crew, and LLM primitives - crewai-tools[mcp] includes MCP helpers - python-dotenv loads environment variables from .env ```bash pip install composio crewai crewai-tools[mcp] python-dotenv ``` ### 3. Set up environment variables Create a .env file in your project root. What's happening: - COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates with Composio - USER_ID scopes the session to your account - OPENAI_API_KEY lets CrewAI use your chosen OpenAI model ```bash COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here USER_ID=your_user_id_here OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here ``` ### 4. Import dependencies **What's happening:** - CrewAI classes define agents and tasks, and run the workflow - MCPServerHTTP connects the agent to an MCP endpoint - Composio will give you a short lived Highergov MCP URL ```python import os from composio import Composio from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew from crewai_tools import MCPServerAdapter import dotenv dotenv.load_dotenv() COMPOSIO_API_KEY = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY") COMPOSIO_USER_ID = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_USER_ID") if not COMPOSIO_API_KEY: raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set") if not COMPOSIO_USER_ID: raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set") ``` ### 5. Create a Composio Tool Router session for Highergov **What's happening:** - You create a Highergov only session through Composio - Composio returns an MCP HTTP URL that exposes Highergov tools ```python composio_client = Composio(api_key=COMPOSIO_API_KEY) session = composio_client.create(user_id=COMPOSIO_USER_ID, toolkits=["highergov"]) url = session.mcp.url ``` ### 6. Initialize the MCP Server **What's Happening:** - Server Configuration: The code sets up connection parameters including the MCP server URL, streamable HTTP transport, and Composio API key authentication. - MCP Adapter Bridge: MCPServerAdapter acts as a context manager that converts Composio MCP tools into a CrewAI-compatible format. - Agent Setup: Creates a CrewAI Agent with a defined role (Search Assistant), goal (help with internet searches), and access to the MCP tools. - Configuration Options: The agent includes settings like verbose=False for clean output and max_iter=10 to prevent infinite loops. - Dynamic Tool Usage: Once created, the agent automatically accesses all Composio Search tools and decides when to use them based on user queries. ```python server_params = { "url": url, "transport": "streamable-http", "headers": {"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY}, } with MCPServerAdapter(server_params) as tools: agent = Agent( role="Search Assistant", goal="Help users search the internet effectively", backstory="You are a helpful assistant with access to search tools.", tools=tools, verbose=False, max_iter=10, ) ``` ### 7. Create a CLI Chatloop and define the Crew **What's Happening:** - Interactive CLI Setup: The code creates an infinite loop that continuously prompts for user input and maintains the entire conversation history in a string variable. - Input Validation: Empty inputs are ignored to prevent processing blank messages and keep the conversation clean. - Context Building: Each user message is appended to the conversation context, which preserves the full dialogue history for better agent responses. - Dynamic Task Creation: For every user input, a new Task is created that includes both the full conversation history and the current request as context. - Crew Execution: A Crew is instantiated with the agent and task, then kicked off to process the request and generate a response. - Response Management: The agent's response is converted to a string, added to the conversation context, and displayed to the user, maintaining conversational continuity. ```python print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n") conversation_context = "" while True: user_input = input("You: ").strip() if user_input.lower() in ["exit", "quit", "bye"]: print("\nGoodbye!") break if not user_input: continue conversation_context += f"\nUser: {user_input}\n" print("\nAgent is thinking...\n") task = Task( description=( f"Conversation history:\n{conversation_context}\n\n" f"Current request: {user_input}" ), expected_output="A helpful response addressing the user's request", agent=agent, ) crew = Crew(agents=[agent], tasks=[task], verbose=False) result = crew.kickoff() response = str(result) conversation_context += f"Agent: {response}\n" print(f"Agent: {response}\n") ``` ## Complete Code ```python from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew, LLM from crewai_tools import MCPServerAdapter from composio import Composio from dotenv import load_dotenv import os load_dotenv() GOOGLE_API_KEY = os.getenv("GOOGLE_API_KEY") COMPOSIO_API_KEY = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY") COMPOSIO_USER_ID = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_USER_ID") if not GOOGLE_API_KEY: raise ValueError("GOOGLE_API_KEY is not set in the environment.") if not COMPOSIO_API_KEY: raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set in the environment.") if not COMPOSIO_USER_ID: raise ValueError("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set in the environment.") # Initialize Composio and create a session composio = Composio(api_key=COMPOSIO_API_KEY) session = composio.create( user_id=COMPOSIO_USER_ID, toolkits=["highergov"], ) url = session.mcp.url # Configure LLM llm = LLM( model="gpt-5", api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"), ) server_params = { "url": url, "transport": "streamable-http", "headers": {"x-api-key": COMPOSIO_API_KEY}, } with MCPServerAdapter(server_params) as tools: agent = Agent( role="Search Assistant", goal="Help users with internet searches", backstory="You are an expert assistant with access to Composio Search tools.", tools=tools, llm=llm, verbose=False, max_iter=10, ) print("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n") conversation_context = "" while True: user_input = input("You: ").strip() if user_input.lower() in ["exit", "quit", "bye"]: print("\nGoodbye!") break if not user_input: continue conversation_context += f"\nUser: {user_input}\n" print("\nAgent is thinking...\n") task = Task( description=( f"Conversation history:\n{conversation_context}\n\n" f"Current request: {user_input}" ), expected_output="A helpful response addressing the user's request", agent=agent, ) crew = Crew(agents=[agent], tasks=[task], verbose=False) result = crew.kickoff() response = str(result) conversation_context += f"Agent: {response}\n" print(f"Agent: {response}\n") ``` ## Conclusion You now have a CrewAI agent connected to Highergov through Composio's Tool Router. The agent can perform Highergov operations through natural language commands. Next steps: - Add role-specific instructions to customize agent behavior - Plug in more toolkits for multi-app workflows - Chain tasks for complex multi-step operations ## How to build Highergov MCP Agent with another framework - [OpenAI Agents SDK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/open-ai-agents-sdk) - [Claude Agent SDK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/claude-agents-sdk) - [Claude Code](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/claude-code) - [Claude Cowork](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/claude-cowork) - [Codex](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/codex) - [OpenClaw](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/openclaw) - [Hermes](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/hermes-agent) - [CLI](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/cli) - [Google ADK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/google-adk) - [LangChain](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/langchain) - [Vercel AI SDK](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/ai-sdk) - [Mastra AI](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/mastra-ai) - [LlamaIndex](https://composio.dev/toolkits/highergov/framework/llama-index) ## Related Toolkits - [Excel](https://composio.dev/toolkits/excel) - Microsoft Excel is a robust spreadsheet application for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data. 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It helps organizations meet GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA data privacy compliance requirements. - [Api ninjas](https://composio.dev/toolkits/api_ninjas) - Api ninjas offers 120+ public APIs spanning categories like weather, finance, sports, and more. Developers use it to supercharge apps with real-time data and actionable endpoints. - [Api sports](https://composio.dev/toolkits/api_sports) - Api sports is a comprehensive sports data platform covering 2,000+ competitions with live scores and 15+ years of stats. Instantly access up-to-date sports information for analysis, apps, or chatbots. - [Apify](https://composio.dev/toolkits/apify) - Apify is a cloud platform for building, deploying, and managing web scraping and automation tools called Actors. It lets you automate data extraction and workflow tasks at scale—no infrastructure headaches. - [Autom](https://composio.dev/toolkits/autom) - Autom is a lightning-fast search engine results data platform for Google, Bing, and Brave. Developers use it to access fresh, low-latency SERP data on demand. - [Beaconchain](https://composio.dev/toolkits/beaconchain) - Beaconchain is a real-time analytics platform for Ethereum 2.0's Beacon Chain. It provides detailed insights into validators, blocks, and overall network performance. - [Big data cloud](https://composio.dev/toolkits/big_data_cloud) - BigDataCloud provides APIs for geolocation, reverse geocoding, and address validation. Instantly access reliable location intelligence to enhance your applications and workflows. - [Bigpicture io](https://composio.dev/toolkits/bigpicture_io) - BigPicture.io offers APIs for accessing detailed company and profile data. Instantly enrich your applications with up-to-date insights on 20M+ businesses. - [Bitquery](https://composio.dev/toolkits/bitquery) - Bitquery is a blockchain data platform offering indexed, real-time, and historical data from 40+ blockchains via GraphQL APIs. Get unified, reliable access to complex on-chain data for analytics, trading, and research. - [Brightdata](https://composio.dev/toolkits/brightdata) - Brightdata is a leading web data platform offering advanced scraping, SERP APIs, and anti-bot tools. It lets you collect public web data at scale, bypassing blocks and friction. - [Builtwith](https://composio.dev/toolkits/builtwith) - BuiltWith is a web technology profiler that uncovers the technologies powering any website. Gain actionable insights into analytics, hosting, and content management stacks for smarter research and lead generation. - [Byteforms](https://composio.dev/toolkits/byteforms) - Byteforms is an all-in-one platform for creating forms, managing submissions, and integrating data. It streamlines workflows by centralizing form data collection and automation. - [Cabinpanda](https://composio.dev/toolkits/cabinpanda) - Cabinpanda is a data collection platform for building and managing online forms. It helps streamline how you gather, organize, and analyze responses. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Highergov MCP? With a standalone Highergov MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Highergov tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Highergov and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint. ### Can I use Tool Router MCP with CrewAI? Yes, you can. CrewAI fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Highergov tools. ### Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Highergov while using Tool Router? Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Highergov scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do. ### How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router? All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Highergov data and credentials are handled as safely as possible. --- [See all toolkits](https://composio.dev/toolkits) · [Composio docs](https://docs.composio.dev/llms.txt)