Overview
Most U.S. government data endpoints used by the application are publicly accessible open-data APIs that require no authentication. A few endpoints support optional API keys that raise rate limits or unlock direct access, and one endpoint (SEC EDGAR) requires an identifying User-Agent header.
Use this page when you need to:
- Understand which federal endpoints require credentials.
- Provision optional API keys for higher rate limits or authenticated access.
- Configure the SEC EDGAR
User-Agent header.
- Troubleshoot SAM.gov API key propagation delays.
Endpoint authentication matrix
Obtaining optional API keys
openFDA
Visit open.fda.gov/apis/authentication and submit your email. openFDA emails a key in roughly ten seconds and raises the per-minute request limit to 240.
SAM.gov Public API Key
- Go to sam.gov/workspace/profile/account-details.
- Sign in with Login.gov.
- Open Account Settings and generate a Public API Key.
Keys are prefixed with SAM- (for example, SAM-007a9afa-a177-4e68-8a71-be3ad125e71f).
SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI)
SAM.gov issues the Unique Entity ID (UEI) through the SAM Entity Management workspace when your organization completes entity registration. It is a 12-character alphanumeric identifier (for example, LX7PJGDDUUU1). The UEI both identifies your organization on SAM.gov and serves as the lookup key for the USASpending.gov fallback described below.
SEC EDGAR User-Agent requirement
The SEC requires every request to EDGAR to include an identifying User-Agent header. EDGAR rejects requests without one. Configure the header with your name (or organization) and a contact email:
When the header is set, the app sends EDGAR requests in the form:
SAM.gov GSA API Gateway propagation window
The GSA API Gateway provisions newly issued SAM.gov Public API Keys and must propagate them across gateway clusters before you can use them. Propagation can take up to 24 hours. During this window, calls to api.sam.gov may return HTTP 403 or 404, even though the key is valid.
The platform detects this state and automatically falls back to the USASpending.gov API, keyed by your Unique Entity ID (UEI). Live contract and award data continues to flow until SAM.gov gateway sync completes. Once the key is fully registered, direct SAM.gov calls resume automatically. No restart or reconfiguration is required.
Configuration reference
All keys are optional except where indicated. Configure them in your environment or through the Settings / Secrets panel in the app UI:
Leave optional keys unset to use the keyless public endpoints. The application transparently upgrades to authenticated requests when a key is present.
