# Turn BidNet Direct into an API > Search BidNet Direct's open solicitations, read a bid's addendums and documents, and see its Plan Holder List with one API call each. Or have a workflow search your category codes each weekday morning and email you the new bids. Page: https://fous.com/automate/bidnet-direct Updated: 2026-11-12 Works with your own BidNet Direct account. Fous is an independent product. ## What you can build on BidNet Direct ### Search open solicitations Runs a solicitation search with your keywords and filters and reads the open bids in the results, with each one's issuing agency and closing date. - Takes: Keywords, state (optional), category code (optional) - Returns: Title, reference number, issuing agency, state, published date, closing date, status ### Read a solicitation's addendums and documents Opens one solicitation and reads Basic Information, Time Left to Bid, Categories, Addendums and Documents, and whether it accepts electronic submission. - Takes: Solicitation title or reference number - Returns: Title, issuing agency, closing date, time left to bid, categories, addendums with dates, document names, electronic submission accepted ### Get a solicitation's Plan Holder List Reads the Plan Holder List of one solicitation: the suppliers who downloaded its documents, and when. - Takes: Solicitation title or reference number - Returns: Supplier name, downloaded at ### Place a bid through EBS Opens a solicitation that accepts electronic submission, selects Place Bid, adds your documents under Submission and completes the Confirmation step. - Takes: Solicitation reference number, bid documents - Returns: Solicitation title, submission status, confirmed at ## Automate BidNet Direct with a workflow A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use. ### New solicitations for your categories, every morning Starts: Every weekday at 7:00 1. For each keyword and category code you name, search open solicitations. 2. Keep the solicitations that were not there on the last run. 3. Email you the list with title, issuing agency, state and closing date. ### New addendums on the bids you are preparing Starts: Every weekday at 12:00 1. For each solicitation on your list, read its addendums and closing date. 2. Keep the solicitations whose addendums or closing date changed since the last run. 3. Post each one, with the new addendums and the closing date, to your webhook. ### Who downloaded the bids you are watching, weekly Starts: Every Monday at 8:00 1. For each solicitation on your list, get its Plan Holder List. 2. Keep the suppliers that were not on the list on the last run. 3. Email you the new plan holders, grouped by solicitation. You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month. ## Once built, one call from your code Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Search open solicitations” would look like. Example request: ``` curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "method": "bidnetdirect.com/search_open_solicitations", "input": { "keywords": "road salt", "state": "Colorado" } }' ``` Example response: ``` { "status": "completed", "data": { "keywords": "road salt", "solicitations": [ { "title": "Bulk deicing salt, 2026 to 2027 season", "reference_number": "AC-2026-114", "issuing_agency": "Acme County", "state": "Colorado", "published_date": "2026-11-10", "closing_date": "2026-12-01T14:00:00-07:00", "status": "Open" } ], "count": 1 } } ``` An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request. ## BidNet Direct’s own options Sovra's pages for BidNet Direct describe no API or integration for suppliers. You work in the website: free Basic registration for member agency bids, paid plans that add states, email alerts matched to your category codes, and EBS for solicitations that accept electronic bids. | Option | What it covers | What it takes | | --- | --- | --- | | Email alerts and daily summaries | An email when a new solicitation, update or addendum matches your profile, plus an optional daily match summary. | Category codes, commonly NIGP codes, on your profile. Real-time matches are free; the daily summary comes with the paid plans. | | Local, Regional and National plans | Bids beyond member agencies in 1 state, 3 states or every state, with saved advanced searches. | $100, $200 or $330 a month. | | BidNet Direct by hand | Solicitation search, each solicitation's Addendums, Documents and Plan Holder List, and Place Bid through EBS. | A BidNet Direct account. Basic registration is free and covers member agency bids. | Read on November 12, 2026: [Bidnet Direct for suppliers](https://www.sovra.com/suppliers/solutions/bidnet-direct/), [Sovra pricing for suppliers](https://www.sovra.com/pricing-suppliers/). ## Signing in to BidNet Direct Sovra describes BidNet Direct as one account for all your opportunities, and your organization can add users and assign them roles. With Fous you sign in once through BidNet Direct's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API or written to logs, and an expired session is signed back in. ## Worth knowing - **Not every solicitation takes electronic bids**: Each solicitation states whether electronic submission is accepted, so a bid method should check that before it selects Place Bid. - **A bid counts only after Confirmation**: A red Bid Not Submitted indicator stays on the solicitation until the Confirmation step is complete. Read it back after every submission. - **Submit 12 to 24 hours before closing**: Sovra recommends submitting a bid 12 to 24 hours before the closing deadline, to leave time for troubleshooting. - **Free accounts see member agency bids**: Basic registration covers bids from member agencies, which post exclusively on BidNet Direct. Bids from other sources need a Local, Regional or National plan. ## More in Government: US state and local procurement - [PASSPort](https://fous.com/automate/passport.md) - [AASHTOWare Project Civil Rights & Labor](https://fous.com/automate/aashtoware-project-civil-rights-and-labor.md) - [Bonfire](https://fous.com/automate/bonfire.md) - [OpenGov Procurement](https://fous.com/automate/opengov-procurement.md) - [PlanetBids](https://fous.com/automate/planetbids.md) - [Cal eProcure](https://fous.com/automate/cal-eprocure.md) - [COMMBUYS](https://fous.com/automate/commbuys.md) - [eVA](https://fous.com/automate/eva.md) - [MyFloridaMarketPlace Vendor Information Portal](https://fous.com/automate/myfloridamarketplace-vendor-information-portal.md) - [NC eProcurement](https://fous.com/automate/nc-eprocurement.md) - [SFS Vendor Portal](https://fous.com/automate/sfs-vendor-portal.md) Other industries: [CDTFA Online Services](/automate/cdtfa-online-services), [Sunbiz](/automate/sunbiz), [Rexel France](/automate/rexel-france), [ShiftWise Flex](/automate/shiftwise-flex), [PCSE Online](/automate/pcse-online), [AXA Connect](/automate/axa-connect). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does BidNet Direct have an API? Not one that Sovra describes for suppliers. Its pages offer email alerts matched to your category codes, paid plans at $100, $200 or $330 a month for more states, and EBS for submitting bids online. Everything else is done in the website. ### How do I see who downloaded a bid's documents? Open the solicitation and read its Plan Holder List. It shows which other suppliers have downloaded the documents and when, which helps you spot likely competitors and primes open to subcontracting. ### What does a free BidNet Direct account cover? Basic registration is free and lets you browse and submit to member agency bids, with real-time bid matches. The Local plan adds one state for $100 a month, Regional three states for $200, and National every state for $330, each with saved advanced searches and a daily match summary. ### How does BidNet Direct decide which bids I am notified about? By the category codes on your profile, commonly NIGP codes. They drive the automatic emails when a matching solicitation is posted and make your profile searchable by buyers, so keep them current. ### Is Fous affiliated with Sovra? No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own BidNet Direct account, and a method reads and does only what that account can. Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of BidNet Direct (Sovra). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.