# Turn COMMBUYS into an API > Read open Bid Solicitations, your Formal Quotes and the purchase orders waiting in the PO tab from COMMBUYS with one API call each. Or have a workflow check new bids every morning and list the purchase orders and change orders still to acknowledge. Page: https://fous.com/automate/commbuys Updated: 2026-11-12 Works with your own COMMBUYS account. Fous is an independent product. ## What you can build on COMMBUYS ### Find open bid solicitations Searches Bid Solicitations in Advanced Search by keyword, organization and Bid Opening Date, and reads the results table. - Takes: Keyword, organization (optional), opening date from and to (optional) - Returns: Bid Solicitation number, organization, buyer, description, bid opening date, status, alternate ID ### Get purchase orders to acknowledge Reads the Purchase Orders / Change Orders (Un-Acknowledged) section of the PO tab and the Summary tab of each purchase order listed there. - Takes: Nothing - Returns: Purchase order number, change order or new, organization, items ordered, ship-to address ### List your quotes by status Opens Documents, chooses Quotes and reads one list: Formal Quotes Working, Submitted, Withdrawn or Unsubmitted, or Active Informal Quotes. - Takes: Quote list, such as Formal Quotes Working - Returns: Quote number, Bid Solicitation number, description, status, bid opening date ### Acknowledge a purchase order Opens a purchase order from the PO tab, checks the Purchase Order and Purchase Order Receipt boxes and selects Proceed, which emails the buyer. - Takes: Purchase order number - Returns: Purchase order number, acknowledged, organization ## Automate COMMBUYS 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 bid solicitations for your keywords Starts: Every weekday at 7:00 1. For each keyword you name, find the open bid solicitations. 2. Keep the bids that were not there on the last run. 3. Email you the list with organization, description and bid opening date. ### Purchase orders and change orders still to acknowledge Starts: Every weekday at 8:00 1. Get the purchase orders in the Un-Acknowledged section of the PO tab. 2. Stop when there are none. 3. Post each one, marked new or change order, to your ERP or Slack webhook. ### Working quotes due in the next 7 days Starts: Every Monday at 8:00 1. List your quotes in Formal Quotes Working. 2. Keep the ones whose bid opening date, the deadline for responses, falls in the next 7 days. 3. Email you the list, soonest bid opening date first. 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 “Find open bid 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": "www.commbuys.com/find_open_bid_solicitations", "input": { "keyword": "HVAC", "opening_date_from": "2026-11-12", "opening_date_to": "2026-12-31" } }' ``` Example response: ``` { "status": "completed", "data": { "bids": [ { "bid_solicitation_number": "BD-27-1000-ACME1-ACME1-100001", "organization": "Town of Acme", "buyer": "Procurement Office", "description": "HVAC Preventive Maintenance, Town Hall and Library", "bid_opening_date": "2026-12-04T14:00:00-05:00", "status": "Sent", "alternate_id": "IFB-27-014" } ], "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. ## COMMBUYS’s own options The Operational Services Division's vendor guides describe COMMBUYS as a site you use in the browser, and they document no API or data feed for vendors. A vendor profile is free. Bid notices arrive by email for the UNSPSC codes you pick, and a quote's items can be exported and uploaded as a CSV file. | Option | What it covers | What it takes | | --- | --- | --- | | Bid notification emails | Emails when a bid is posted that matches the UNSPSC codes on your vendor profile, sent to up to three addresses. | A free COMMBUYS vendor profile with at least one UNSPSC code. | | Items Export and Upload | Exports a quote's items as a .csv file and uploads the filled-in file back into the quote's Items tab. | A quote in progress on a bid solicitation. The file must stay in .csv format. | | COMMBUYS by hand | Bids, quotes, purchase orders, change orders and Blankets, from the tabs and the Documents menu. A purchase order prints as PDF. | A free vendor profile, with the Seller role to acknowledge purchase orders. | Read on November 12, 2026: [COMMBUYS Vendor Registration](https://www.mass.gov/how-to/commbuys-vendor-registration), [Job Aids for Vendors Using COMMBUYS](https://www.mass.gov/lists/job-aids-for-vendors-using-commbuys), [QRG: Using the Items Export and Upload Tool](https://www.mass.gov/doc/qrg-commbuys-vendors-using-the-items-export-and-upload-tool/download). ## Signing in to COMMBUYS COMMBUYS signs you in with a Login ID and a password. You change the password at your first sign-in and then every 60 days. With Fous you sign in once through COMMBUYS's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API, and an expired session is signed back in. ## Worth knowing - **The Seller role decides who can act**: Only users with the Seller role can acknowledge a purchase order. The Seller Administrator manages the vendor profile and can give the Seller role to other staff. - **A change order means a second acknowledgement**: Change orders appear in the same Un-Acknowledged section of the PO tab. After you acknowledge one, the buyer sends a revised purchase order, which has to be acknowledged too. - **Acknowledge a bid to get its amendments**: Opening a bid asks whether to acknowledge receipt. If you choose No, you get no notices of updates or amendments to that bid. - **The Bid Opening Date is the deadline**: Responses are due by the Bid Opening Date. Until then a submitted quote can be withdrawn from its Summary tab, reopened, changed and submitted again. ## 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) - [BidNet Direct](https://fous.com/automate/bidnet-direct.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) - [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: [LaTAP](/automate/latap), [EAMS (Washington ESD)](/automate/eams-washington-esd), [Würth Online-Shop](/automate/wurth-online-shop), [Workday VNDLY](/automate/workday-vndly), [AAH Hub](/automate/aah-hub), [HealthCare.gov for agents and brokers](/automate/healthcare-gov-for-agents-and-brokers). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does COMMBUYS have an API? Not for vendors, as far as the Operational Services Division's vendor guides show. They describe the site used in the browser, bid notification emails for your UNSPSC codes, and a CSV export and upload for a quote's items. With Fous you can build your own methods on COMMBUYS with your account. ### Where do I find purchase orders that need acknowledging? In the Purchase Orders / Change Orders (Un-Acknowledged) section of the PO tab. Open the purchase order, check the Purchase Order and Purchase Order Receipt boxes and select Proceed; COMMBUYS then emails the buyer that you received it. ### Can I search COMMBUYS bids without an account? Yes. You do not have to be registered to search for a Bid Solicitation. To submit a quote online you register as a COMMBUYS vendor, which is free. ### How do I see the quotes I have started but not submitted? Open Documents, choose Quotes and select Formal Quotes Working. Formal Quotes Submitted lists completed quotes and Formal Quotes Withdrawn the ones withdrawn after submission. A quote can be changed and resubmitted until the Bid Opening Date. ### Is Fous affiliated with the Massachusetts Operational Services Division? No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own COMMBUYS 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 COMMBUYS (Massachusetts Operational Services Division). 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.