This guide walks you through the complete government contracting process — from finding opportunities to submitting winning proposals — and shows you how to use SAM.gov Hunter at every step.

Whether you're a small business owner new to federal contracting or an experienced contractor looking to streamline your workflow, this guide covers the entire bid lifecycle.

Government contract opportunities are posted on SAM.gov (System for Award Management). SAM.gov Hunter connects directly to the SAM.gov Opportunities API to search and filter opportunities in real-time.

Key Search Filters

• Keyword — search by service type, industry, or specific terms
• NAICS Code — North American Industry Classification System codes matching your capabilities
• Set-Aside Type — Small Business, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB, etc.
• State — filter by place of performance location
• Procurement Type — Solicitations, Pre-solicitations, Sources Sought, Combined Synopsis
• Posted Date / Response Deadline — filter by timing

Once you find a potential opportunity, you need to carefully review the solicitation to determine if it's a good fit. Use this AI-assisted prompt framework to extract key information:

The Analysis feature breaks down any solicitation into actionable sections:

• Scope of Services — what the government needs done
• Place of Performance — where the work happens
• Site Visit — mandatory or optional site visit details
• Key Deadlines — questions due, site visit, proposal due (in EST)
• Set-Aside & Limitations — subcontracting limitations, size standards
• Submission & Evaluation — how proposals are scored
• Draft Email — pre-written email to the contracting officer with clarifying questions
• Data Sheet — all key fields extracted for quick reference

Quick Scan vs Full Analysis

Quick Scan uses a faster model (Haiku) to give you a rapid overview from the metadata alone. Full Analysis uses Sonnet with your uploaded documents for comprehensive, document-level analysis.

Most government contracts require or benefit from teaming with subcontractors. SAM.gov Hunter searches for potential subcontractors in two ways:

• SAM.gov Entity Search — finds registered businesses matching the NAICS code and location
• Suggestions — recommends companies based on the opportunity requirements

Each result shows the company name, UEI, CAGE code, address, and point of contact. You can generate a subcontractor agreement directly from the search results.

When you find a potential subcontractor, use this script to make initial contact by phone:

After the phone call, send this follow-up email with the scope of work attached:

Your Subcontractor Roster is a permanent database of subcontractors you've vetted across all opportunities. For each subcontractor, you can track:

• W-9 Status — Pending (red) → Received (amber) → Verified (green)
• Teaming Agreement — None (gray) → Drafted (amber) → Signed (green)
• Contact Info — name, email, phone, UEI, CAGE code
• Per-Opportunity Assignment — assign subs to specific opportunities with role and status

A Scope of Work defines exactly what work will be performed under the contract. A strong SOW typically includes these sections:

SOW Structure

• Period of Performance — timeline, start date, milestones
• Place of Performance — primary work location, access requirements, site restrictions
• Scope of Services — detailed description of all required services
• Pre-Work Requirements — licenses, permits, certifications, insurance, site assessments
• Waste Characterization / Technical Requirements — specific technical procedures
• Labeling and Marking — compliance requirements (EPA, DOT, etc.)
• Documentation — manifests, waste profiles, characterization records, photos
• Transportation — vehicle requirements, DOT compliance, emergency procedures
• Safety — PPE requirements, safety plans, incident reporting
• Quality Control — inspections, acceptance criteria, corrective actions

Before submitting any bid, work through this checklist to ensure nothing is missed:

Sam Hunter identifies every specific requirement from the solicitation — fill-in fields, narrative sections, uploads, and certifications. Each requirement shows:

• Page number and section reference from the solicitation
• Whether it's required or optional
• Description of what to provide
• Input field for your response

Your responses are saved automatically and can be exported as a Requirements Response document or included in the Readiness Report.

A government proposal typically follows this structure:

Proposal Structure

1. Cover Page — company name, logo, solicitation details, contact info, certifications (WOSB, SBA, etc.)
2. Cover Letter — addressed to the contracting officer, acknowledging all requirements, brief capability statement, proprietary notice, validity period
3. Table of Contents — Technical Approach, Key Personnel Qualifications, Experience
4. Technical Approach
   • Company qualifications and experience
   • Personnel qualifications and certifications
   • Technical approach and methodology
   • Quality control procedures
   • Safety plan overview
5. Past Performance / Experience
   • Client name, location, reference contact, phone
   • Contract description with bullet points of work performed
   • 2-3 relevant past contracts minimum

A compliance matrix is the federal evaluator's checklist — a row-per-requirement document that lists every solicitation requirement with where you addressed it and which evaluator section it satisfies. SAM.gov Hunter's Compliance Matrix tab auto-builds this from your extracted requirements.

How it works

When you upload a solicitation PDF on the Documents tab, the AI extracts every requirement (mandatory, optional, evaluation criteria) into a structured list. The Compliance Matrix tab consumes that list, auto-categorizes each row into Section L (Instructions to Offerors), Section M (Evaluation Criteria), Section I (Submission), or Other, and gives you status pills (Addressed / In Progress / Not Started / Blocker) plus owner avatars.

AI categorization

Always-on Haiku 4.5 categorizes new rows the moment you build the matrix. You can re-categorize manually with one click; the AI suggestions are a starting point, not the final word.

Export for submission

Click Export DOCX or Export XLSX to bundle the matrix for your proposal package. Federal evaluators expect this as a separate volume; some solicitations explicitly call it "Section M Compliance Matrix" in Section L instructions.

• Section L — Instructions: page caps, font, format, cover page, references
• Section M — Evaluation: technical approach (40%), past performance (30%), cost (30%) typical weights
• Section I — Submission: where to upload, deadline (date + time + zone), method
• FAR clauses — federal acquisition regulation references that must be acknowledged

Federal RFPs over a certain threshold typically split the proposal into multiple volumes — Technical, Past Performance, Cost, Management, and sometimes a Small Business Subcontracting Plan when the set-aside calls for one. Each volume has its own page cap, format, and evaluator. SAM.gov Hunter's Volumes Drafter splits the wizard into per-volume editors so each stays in scope.

Standard volume taxonomy

Most agencies follow some flavor of this split:

• Technical Volume — your approach, methodology, and risk profile (40-50% of total weight)
• Past Performance Volume — 3 contractually similar references, $500K+ each, last 5 years (20-30%)
• Cost / Price Volume — labor hours, rates, ODCs, fully-burdened by year (20-30%)
• Management Volume — org chart, key personnel resumes, retention strategy (10-20%)
• Small Business Subcontracting Plan — when set-aside requires (FAR 19.704)

Inside the drafter

Each volume opens in its own TipTap editor with a compliance overlay sidebar. The compliance overlay reads from your Compliance Matrix and shows which Section M requirements you have addressed (with cosine-match score), which are partial, and which are missing entirely. Live, no AI call needed.

• TipTap editor — bold/italic/lists/quotes/headings, full keyboard shortcuts
• AI Assist — regenerate/expand/summarize the selected paragraph (Sonnet 4.6)
• Threaded comments — collaborate with teammates on specific paragraphs (vendored Comment Mark — saves $588-12K/yr vs paid TipTap Cloud)
• Compliance overlay — live cosine-match score against Compliance Matrix rows

Export for submission

Three export formats:

• Combined DOCX — all volumes in one file with page breaks (most common for federal upload)
• Combined PDF — same but flattened (final-form upload)
• Per-volume ZIP — separate DOCX per volume + a manifest.txt (when the agency portal requires per-volume upload)

SAM.gov Hunter includes built-in document templates that auto-populate with data from your workflow:

• Cover Page — solicitation details, company info, contracting officer
• Consultant Agreement — legal agreement with scope, payment terms, compliance
• Subcontractor Agreement — payment, service delivery, ethics, compliance
• Proposal Template — cover letter, technical approach, past performance

Company Logo

Upload your company logo once in the Templates tab. It automatically gets inserted into the header of every generated template document.

The Bid Tracker workspace lets you manage all opportunities you're actively pursuing. Available in two views:

• Kanban Board — drag cards between columns: Tracking → Preparing → Submitted → Awarded/Lost/No-Bid
• List View — sortable list with expandable detail panels

Per-Bid Features

• Notes — free-form strategy notes, key contacts, important dates
• Quotes — line items with descriptions and amounts, auto-totaling
• Attachments — upload supporting files (PDFs, spreadsheets, etc.)
• Quick Links — jump to Analysis, Subs, Templates, or Proposal for any bid

Before submitting, do a final review:

1. Readiness Report — download from the Requirements tab to verify all checklist items and requirement fields are complete
2. Download Bundle — use the "Download All (.zip)" button on the Proposal tab to get everything in one package: proposal, analysis, subcontractor report, requirements response, and all filled templates
3. Review submission method — check whether it's email, SAM.gov upload, or mail and follow the instructions exactly
4. Submit before deadline — government deadlines are strict. Late submissions are almost always rejected
5. Update bid status — move the card to "Submitted" in Bid Tracker

SAM.gov Hunter pulls live data from USASpending.gov (the federal government's public spending database) to give you market intelligence that goes far beyond what SAM.gov shows. These features load automatically — no extra setup needed.

Agency Spend Radar

When you open the Details tab for any opportunity, a collapsible Agency Spend Radar card appears below the Organization section. Click it to expand and see:

• Small Business Rate — what percentage of this agency's contracts go to small businesses
• Annual Spending Trend — bar chart showing 5 fiscal years of contract spending
• Top NAICS Codes — the industry categories this agency buys most
• Top Contractors — which companies win the most work from this agency

Market Pulse Dashboard

When you set a NAICS code in the search filters, a "Market Intel" link appears below the NAICS dropdown. Click it to open a dashboard above the search results showing:

• Total Market Size — how much the government spends in this NAICS (3-year total)
• Active Agencies — how many agencies buy in this NAICS
• Year-over-Year Growth — whether spending is growing or declining
• Top Agencies — ranked list of agencies by spending volume
• Top States — geographic distribution of where the money goes
• Annual Trend — 5-year bar chart of spending volume

Market Signals

Below the Competitor Intelligence card in the Details tab, you'll see a Market Signals grid with six key metrics:

• Competitors — number of unique contractors who have won in this agency+NAICS
• SB Win Rate — percentage of awards that went to small business set-asides
• Avg Award — typical contract size
• Market Size — total spending in this agency+NAICS (3 years)
• Re-compete — percentage of contracts that are follow-ons or renewals
• Avg Offers — average number of bids received (when available)

The Competitor Intelligence card appears automatically in the Details tab (between Past Pricing and Market Signals) when an opportunity has a NAICS code and agency name. It shows:

• Top competitors — companies that have won similar contracts from the same agency in the same NAICS code over the last 5 years
• Win count & total value — how many awards each competitor has won and their cumulative value
• Average award size — typical contract size per competitor
• Incumbent badge — the most recent winner of the same solicitation number is flagged as the incumbent

Data-Driven Bid/No-Bid Assessment

When you click "Run Bid/No-Bid Assessment", Sam Hunter now receives real competitor data and market signals alongside the solicitation details. The result includes a Win Probability percentage — a calibrated estimate based on actual market conditions, not just heuristics.

• Green (40%+) — strong opportunity worth pursuing
• Amber (20-39%) — consider carefully, competitive market
• Red (<20%) — difficult win, only pursue if strategically important

Teaming Network

Open the Subcontractors tab and you'll see a "Known Teaming Relationships" section at the top. This uses USASpending subaward data to show which prime contractors have subcontracted to which companies for this agency and NAICS code. Each relationship shows:

• Prime contractor name → Subcontractor name
• Number of contracts they've worked together
• Total subcontract value
• Most recent collaboration date

Click any contractor name anywhere in the app — pricing cards, competitor dossier, teaming network, or award notices — to open the Contractor X-Ray modal. It shows:

• Total Federal Spend — how much this contractor has received over 3 years
• Annual Spending Trend — 5-year bar chart showing growth or decline
• Top Agencies — which agencies this contractor works with most
• NAICS Codes — what industries they operate in
• Recent Awards — their latest contracts with amounts, agencies, and links to USASpending.gov

After search results load, the app automatically scores every opportunity on a 0-100 scale. Scores appear as color-coded badges on each result card:

• Green (70+) — strong opportunity based on market data
• Amber (40-69) — moderate opportunity, worth reviewing
• Red (<40) — challenging market conditions

How Scores Are Calculated

The score is based on five weighted factors drawn from USASpending data:

1. Market Size (25 pts) — larger markets mean more room for new entrants
2. Competition Density (25 pts) — fewer competitors = higher score
3. Small Business Fit (20 pts) — higher SB win rate = better for small businesses
4. Set-Aside Match (15 pts) — set-aside opportunities score higher than full & open
5. Trend Direction (15 pts) — growing markets score higher than declining ones

Sort by Score

Once scoring completes, a "Sort by Score" button appears in the results header (inside the menu on mobile). Click it to reorder results from highest to lowest score, putting your best opportunities at the top.

Mobile Menu

On mobile devices, the results toolbar buttons (Show Saved, Sort by Score, Bid Tracker, Guide, and theme toggle) are collapsed into a hamburger menu to keep the interface clean. Tap the "Menu" button next to the results count to access all actions.