Install
Add this to your client's MCP configuration (Claude Desktop: claude_desktop_config.json; Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json; VS Code and others use the same "mcpServers" shape).
claude mcp add --transport http uk-contracts 'https://gateway.pipeworx.io/uk-contracts/mcp'{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-contracts": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/uk-contracts/mcp"
}
}
}@pipeworx/mcp-uk-contractsclaude mcp add uk-contracts -e 'PIPEWORX_API_KEY=<your pipeworx_api_key>' -- npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-uk-contracts@0.2.0{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-contracts": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-uk-contracts@0.2.0"
],
"env": {
"PIPEWORX_API_KEY": "<your pipeworx_api_key>"
}
}
}
}Environment variables
PIPEWORX_API_KEYsecret Optional Pipeworx API key. Without it calls are anonymous and capped daily; a free key raises the cap.
Documentation
From the project's README on GitHub, refreshed weekly. Links open on GitHub.
Contents
mcp-uk-contracts
UK Contracts Finder MCP.
Part of Pipeworx — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1688+ live data sources. This is an independent, unofficial integration — not affiliated with, endorsed by, or published by the upstream provider.
Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
search_notices | Full-text search of UK government procurement from Contracts Finder (Cabinet Office) — what the public sector bought, who supplied it, and for how much, plus open opportunities still out to tender. Covers NHS trusts, councils, police forces, universities and central government departments. Search by keyword ("MRI scanner", "agency nursing", "school catering", "cloud hosting") across notice title, description and awarded supplier, and narrow by publication date. Returns awarded contracts with supplier name and contract value by default, because a question about "contracts" usually means what was actually awarded. Keyless. The UK complement to EU tenders. |
get_notice | Get the full detail for a single UK Contracts Finder notice by the id returned by search_notices or recent_notices. Returns the complete (untruncated) description, buyer, contract value, awarded supplier, CPV classification, region, tender period and contact where published. Accepts either id form — search_notices returns a bare GUID and recent_notices an OCDS release id ("{guid}-{seq}"); they are separate id spaces on separate endpoints, and this tool routes to the right one for you. Keyless. |
recent_notices | List the most recent UK procurement notices from Contracts Finder, newest-first, optionally filtered by stage (tender/award). Same compact shape as search_notices. Keyless. |
find_a_tender_recent | Recent HIGH-VALUE UK government tenders and contract awards from the Find a Tender Service (find-tender.service.gov.uk) — the UK's above-threshold procurement portal (the post-Brexit replacement for EU TED, for larger public contracts). Use for "high value UK tenders", "above threshold UK government contracts", "Find a Tender notices", "large UK public sector contract opportunities". Returns recent notices newest-first. An optional keyword is matched over title, description, award title and AWARDED SUPPLIER — client-side, because the FTS API has no text search (it rejects a keyword parameter outright, allowing only stages/limit/cursor/updatedFrom/updatedTo). ALWAYS READ window_complete: false means the walk stopped at the page cap with more feed left, so a zero means "absent from the notices examined", not "not published" — narrow days until it is true. For a proper full-corpus keyword SEARCH of UK procurement, and for lower-value notices, use search_notices (Contracts Finder), which does have a real server-side index. Keyless. |
find_a_tender_notice | Full detail for one Find a Tender Service (high-value UK) notice by its OCID (e.g. "ocds-h6vhtk-06d27d", from find_a_tender_recent results). Returns title, buyer, description, CPV classification, value, deadlines, and documents. Keyless. |
Quick Start
Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-contracts": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/uk-contracts/mcp"
}
}
}What this endpoint actually serves
tools/list at https://gateway.pipeworx.io/uk-contracts/mcp returns the tools in the table
above plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools — ask_pipeworx,
discover_tools, search_within, remember/recall and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's initialize response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.
This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
ask_pipeworx, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.
Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed directly, instead of just this one's:
{
"mcpServers": {
"pipeworx": {
"url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
}
}
}Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1688+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed directly; ask_pipeworx
reaches all of them from either one.
No MCP client? Call it over HTTP
curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/uk_contracts_search_notices \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"keyword":"MRI","limit":20}'No account needed for the first calls. Inspect any tool: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/uk_contracts_search_notices. Find one: POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs with {"query":"..."}.
Standalone (no gateway account)
This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no gateway round-trip:
{
"mcpServers": {
"uk-contracts": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-uk-contracts"]
}
}
}Or run it directly to confirm it starts:
npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-uk-contractsIt speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers initialize/tools/list/tools/call
for only this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway
connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.
Using with ask_pipeworx
Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English — this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Uk Contracts data" })The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.
More
License
MIT
Frequently asked questions
What is Uk Contracts?
UK Contracts Finder MCP.
How do I install Uk Contracts?
It runs as a remote server. In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http uk-contracts 'https://gateway.pipeworx.io/uk-contracts/mcp'. For other clients, paste the JSON configuration from this page into their MCP settings.
Does Uk Contracts need an API key?
Yes. It expects PIPEWORX_API_KEY, which you set in its configuration.
Is Uk Contracts open source?
Yes. Its code is on GitHub under the MIT license.
Who maintains Uk Contracts?
It is published by pipeworx-io. AI.tn lists it but does not maintain or endorse it.
From the official MCP Registry. Listing is not an endorsement: review a server's code and permissions before giving it access to your data.