How to integrate Highergov MCP with Mastra AI

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Highergov to Mastra AI 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, download documents linked to a contract award through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your Mastra AI 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.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Set up your environment so Mastra, OpenAI, and Composio work together
  • Create a Tool Router session in Composio that exposes Highergov tools
  • Connect Mastra's MCP client to the Composio generated MCP URL
  • Fetch Highergov tool definitions and attach them as a toolset
  • Build a Mastra agent that can reason, call tools, and return structured results
  • Run an interactive CLI where you can chat with your Highergov agent

What is Mastra AI?

Mastra AI is a TypeScript framework for building AI agents with tool support. It provides a clean API for creating agents that can use external services through MCP.

Key features include:

  • MCP Client: Built-in support for Model Context Protocol servers
  • Toolsets: Organize tools into logical groups
  • Step Callbacks: Monitor and debug agent execution
  • OpenAI Integration: Works with OpenAI models via @ai-sdk/openai

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 & Triggers

Tools
Get AgenciesTool to retrieve agencies information.
Get Award HistoryTool to retrieve award history.
Get Contract HistoryTool to retrieve contract history.
Get Contract IDVsTool to retrieve Indefinite Delivery Vehicle (IDV) contract records via the HigherGov Contracts endpoint.
Get ContractsTool to retrieve federal contract data.
Get Contract VehiclesTool to retrieve contract vehicles.
Get Defense ProgramsTool to retrieve defense programs information.
Get DLA Contract OpportunitiesTool to retrieve DLA contract opportunities.
Get DocumentsTool to fetch document metadata from HigherGov.
Get Grant HistoryTool to fetch historical data on grants.
Get Grant OpportunitiesTool to retrieve information on grant opportunities.
Get Grant ProgramsTool to retrieve information on grant programs.
Get NAICS CodesTool to retrieve NAICS codes.
Get OpportunitiesTool to retrieve opportunity data.
Get Opportunity HistoryTool to retrieve opportunity history.
Get PeopleTool to retrieve information on people related to government contracts and grants.
Get Prime Contract AwardsTool to retrieve prime contract awards.
Get Prime Grant AwardsTool to retrieve information on prime grant awards.
Get ProgramsTool to retrieve a list of government programs and categories.
Get Product and Service CodesTool to retrieve information on Product and Service Codes.
Get PursuitsTool to retrieve user-specific pursuits.
Get SBIR OpportunitiesTool to retrieve SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) opportunities.
Get SLED Contract OpportunitiesTool to retrieve state and local (SLED) contract opportunities.
Get Subcontract AwardsTool to retrieve subcontract awards.
Get Subgrant AwardsTool to retrieve subgrant awards information.
Get Task OrdersTool to retrieve task order data.
Get Tech ProgramsTool to retrieve information on technology programs.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Node.js 18 or higher
  • A Composio account with an active API key
  • An OpenAI API key
  • Basic familiarity with TypeScript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key.
  • You need credits or a connected billing setup to use the models.
  • Store the key somewhere safe.
Composio API Key
  • Log in to the Composio dashboard.
  • Go to Settings and copy your API key.
  • This key lets your Mastra agent talk to Composio and reach Highergov through MCP.

Install dependencies

bash
npm install @composio/core @mastra/core @mastra/mcp @ai-sdk/openai dotenv

Install the required packages.

What's happening:

  • @composio/core is the Composio SDK for creating MCP sessions
  • @mastra/core provides the Agent class
  • @mastra/mcp is Mastra's MCP client
  • @ai-sdk/openai is the model wrapper for OpenAI
  • dotenv loads environment variables from .env

Set up environment variables

bash
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_composio_api_key_here
COMPOSIO_USER_ID=your_user_id_here
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_api_key_here

Create a .env file in your project root.

What's happening:

  • COMPOSIO_API_KEY authenticates your requests to Composio
  • COMPOSIO_USER_ID tells Composio which user this session belongs to
  • OPENAI_API_KEY lets the Mastra agent call OpenAI models

Import libraries and validate environment

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({
  apiKey: composioAPIKey as string,
});
What's happening:
  • dotenv/config auto loads your .env so process.env.* is available
  • openai gives you a Mastra compatible model wrapper
  • Agent is the Mastra agent that will call tools and produce answers
  • MCPClient connects Mastra to your Composio MCP server
  • Composio is used to create a Tool Router session

Create a Tool Router session for Highergov

typescript
async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(
    composioUserID as string,
    {
      toolkits: ["highergov"],
    },
  );

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;
  console.log("Highergov MCP URL:", composioMCPUrl);
What's happening:
  • create spins up a short-lived MCP HTTP endpoint for this user
  • The toolkits array contains "highergov" for Highergov access
  • session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that Mastra's MCPClient will connect to

Configure Mastra MCP client and fetch tools

typescript
const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      nasdaq: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

console.log("Fetching MCP tools from Composio...");
const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();
console.log("Number of tools:", Object.keys(composioTools).length);
What's happening:
  • MCPClient takes an id for this client and a list of MCP servers
  • The headers property includes the x-api-key for authentication
  • getTools fetches the tool definitions exposed by the Highergov toolkit

Create the Mastra agent

typescript
const agent = new Agent({
    name: "highergov-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Highergov tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });
What's happening:
  • Agent is the core Mastra agent
  • name is just an identifier for logging and debugging
  • instructions guide the agent to use tools instead of only answering in natural language
  • model uses openai("gpt-5") to configure the underlying LLM

Set up interactive chat interface

typescript
let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

console.log("Chat started! Type 'exit' or 'quit' to end.\n");

const rl = readline.createInterface({
  input: process.stdin,
  output: process.stdout,
  prompt: "> ",
});

rl.prompt();

rl.on("line", async (userInput: string) => {
  const trimmedInput = userInput.trim();

  if (["exit", "quit", "bye"].includes(trimmedInput.toLowerCase())) {
    console.log("\nGoodbye!");
    rl.close();
    process.exit(0);
  }

  if (!trimmedInput) {
    rl.prompt();
    return;
  }

  messages.push({
    id: crypto.randomUUID(),
    role: "user",
    content: trimmedInput,
  });

  console.log("\nAgent is thinking...\n");

  try {
    const response = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: {
        highergov: composioTools,
      },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    const { text } = response;

    if (text && text.trim().length > 0) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
        messages.push({
          id: crypto.randomUUID(),
          role: "assistant",
          content: text,
        });
      }
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("\nError:", error);
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    console.log("\nSession ended.");
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main().catch((err) => {
  console.error("Fatal error:", err);
  process.exit(1);
});
What's happening:
  • messages keeps the full conversation history in Mastra's expected format
  • agent.generate runs the agent with conversation history and Highergov toolsets
  • maxSteps limits how many tool calls the agent can take in a single run
  • onStepFinish is a hook that prints intermediate steps for debugging

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Highergov and Mastra AI:

typescript
import "dotenv/config";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
import { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { MCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { Composio } from "@composio/core";
import * as readline from "readline";

import type { AiMessageType } from "@mastra/core/agent";

const openaiAPIKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
const composioAPIKey = process.env.COMPOSIO_API_KEY;
const composioUserID = process.env.COMPOSIO_USER_ID;

if (!openaiAPIKey) throw new Error("OPENAI_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioAPIKey) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set");
if (!composioUserID) throw new Error("COMPOSIO_USER_ID is not set");

const composio = new Composio({ apiKey: composioAPIKey as string });

async function main() {
  const session = await composio.create(composioUserID as string, {
    toolkits: ["highergov"],
  });

  const composioMCPUrl = session.mcp.url;

  const mcpClient = new MCPClient({
    id: composioUserID as string,
    servers: {
      highergov: {
        url: new URL(composioMCPUrl),
        requestInit: {
          headers: session.mcp.headers,
        },
      },
    },
    timeout: 30_000,
  });

  const composioTools = await mcpClient.getTools();

  const agent = new Agent({
    name: "highergov-mastra-agent",
    instructions: "You are an AI agent with Highergov tools via Composio.",
    model: "openai/gpt-5",
  });

  let messages: AiMessageType[] = [];

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout,
    prompt: "> ",
  });

  rl.prompt();

  rl.on("line", async (input: string) => {
    const trimmed = input.trim();
    if (["exit", "quit"].includes(trimmed.toLowerCase())) {
      rl.close();
      return;
    }

    messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "user", content: trimmed });

    const { text } = await agent.generate(messages, {
      toolsets: { highergov: composioTools },
      maxSteps: 8,
    });

    if (text) {
      console.log(`Agent: ${text}\n`);
      messages.push({ id: crypto.randomUUID(), role: "assistant", content: text });
    }

    rl.prompt();
  });

  rl.on("close", async () => {
    await mcpClient.disconnect();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main();

Conclusion

You've built a Mastra AI agent that can interact with Highergov through Composio's Tool Router. You can extend this further by:
  • Adding other toolkits like Gmail, Slack, or GitHub
  • Building a web-based chat interface around this agent
  • Using multiple MCP endpoints to enable cross-app workflows

How to build Highergov MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Highergov MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Claude Agent SDK

Use Highergov MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Google ADK

Google ADK

Use Highergov MCP with Google ADK

LangChain

LangChain

Use Highergov MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK

Vercel AI SDK

Use Highergov MCP with Vercel AI SDK

LlamaIndex

LlamaIndex

Use Highergov MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI

CrewAI

Use Highergov MCP with CrewAI

FAQ

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 Mastra AI?

Yes, you can. Mastra AI 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.

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