MCP Sam Gov vs Erd Editor
A side-by-side look at the MCP Sam Gov and Erd Editor MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose MCP Sam Gov for developer tools work as a local process; choose Erd Editor for developer tools as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose MCP Sam Gov when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
sam_search_opportunities, sam_search_shaping, sam_get_opportunity.
Choose Erd Editor when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
erd_list_documents, erd_open_document, erd_save.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 71/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | No auth required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 13 | 1,730 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 153 | 77 |
| Full listing | View MCP Sam Gov | View Erd Editor |
Tools & capabilities
MCP Sam Gov tools 153
sam_search_opportunitiesSearch SAM.gov federal contracting opportunities (keyless HAL). Returns up to 50 active notices with title, agency, NAICS, noticeId. Use for discovery — narrow with NAICS / agency / set-aside / state.sam_search_shapingPRE-SOLICITATION shaping radar (keyless HAL). Surfaces Sources Sought / Presolicitation / Special Notices BEFORE the RFP exists — the free, real-time analogue of paid agency-forecast feeds. Closes the pre-solicitation lifecycle gap: catch a requirement while it's still shapeable (submit capabilities, influence NAICS/set-aside/PWS). Defaults to noticeType ['r','p','s']; opt into k/i/u for combined-synopsis / intent-to-bundle / J&A tells. Each notice carries noticeTypeCode (rank r/p over s), postedDate, responseDeadline + daysUntilResponse (null when no deadline — counted, not hidden), and a uiLink. HONEST KEYLESS LIMITS: naics/setAside/placeOfPerformance are null in the list rows (call sam_get_opportunity(noticeId) for those); and a responseDeadlineFrom/To window is applied CLIENT-SIDE over the fetched page (the feed ignores rdlfrom/rdlto) and disclosed in _meta. data.totalRecords is the TRUE server-side count for the type+facet filter.sam_get_opportunityFetch full detail for a single SAM.gov notice by 32-char hex noticeId. Returns title, agency, solicitation #, POCs, response deadline, attachments (with download URLs), inline description body. Call BEFORE drafting bid/no-bid or compliance work.sam_fetch_descriptionReturn the full description / RFP body text for a notice as plain text. Useful when sam_get_opportunity returned a description URL instead of inline body, or for an LLM-friendly text dump.sam_attachment_urlBuild the public download URL for an attachment resourceId. The URL returns a 303 redirect to a signed S3 URL — fetch with redirect:'follow' to get the file bytes.sam_fetch_attachment_textExtract the TEXT of a SAM notice attachment (the actual RFP / SOW / Q&A / wage tables) by its download URL — so an AI can read the real solicitation, not just its metadata. Give it a sam_get_opportunity attachments[].url (resourceLinks). Keyless. Handles PDF (via pdfjs) + text/HTML; returns { format, text, pages, filename, sizeBytes, truncated, extracted }. HONEST: a DOCX / binary that can't be read keyless returns text:null + a note (never fabricated); a corrupt/encrypted PDF returns text:null + an extractionError note (never a crash); a DOWN fetch throws a retryable upstream_unavailable (never empty text); a 404 throws not_found. Only sam.gov / api.sam.gov URLs are fetched (SSRF hygiene). maxChars caps the text (default 200000) and truncation is disclosed.sam_lookup_organizationResolve a SAM.gov federal-organization id to its canonical fullParentPathName (e.g. 'VETERANS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF.VETERANS AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF.245-NETWORK CONTRACT OFFICE 5'). Use when sam_get_opportunity returned only an organizationId.sam_lookup_notice_fieldsBATCH-complete a sam_search_opportunities page in ONE call from the GSA daily bulk CSV (keyless). The keyless HAL list endpoint NULLS each result's naics/setAside/place-of-performance/responseDeadline/type; this tool returns those fields for 1..100 noticeIds at once (naicsCode, setAside + setAsideCode, popState/popCity/popZip/popCountry, responseDeadline, type, active, title) from a cached on-disk CSV index, instead of one sam_get_opportunity detail call per notice. OFF BY DEFAULT (no forced 226 MB download): enable by setting SAM_GOV_CSV_CACHE (a cache dir) or SAM_GOV_ENABLE_CSV=1 — when disabled the tool returns data.enabled:false + a structured 'how to enable' note (never fake data, no network). HONEST: _meta carries the CSV last-modified + index build time (freshness), a noticeId absent from the current snapshot returns found:false + nulls with an explicit 'not in current CSV snapshot' disclosure (never faked), a cold first call discloses 'index warming', and a download/parse failure is a structured retryable error (never a silent empty). setAsideCode (e.g. 'SBA') matches sam_get_opportunity's setAside; the snapshot can lag live by up to ~24h — confirm real-time-critical fields with sam_get_opportunity.usas_search_awardsAggregate share-of-wallet on USAspending. Given an agency × NAICS × fiscal year, returns top recipients by total obligated $ ONLY — per-recipient award COUNTS are NOT returned by this endpoint (`awards`/`totalAwards` are null, not 0); for real per-recipient contract counts use usas_search_awards_by_recipient (its _meta.totalAvailable) or usas_get_recipient_profile. Use for competitive landscape ('who wins at VA in 541512?').usas_search_individual_awardsLine-item federal contracts on USAspending. Returns specific awards (recipient + $ + sub-agency + state + description). Use AFTER usas_search_awards when the user wants 'show me the actual contracts'. Each result includes a generatedInternalId for usas_get_award_detail follow-ups.usas_search_subagency_spendingBreak down a parent agency's spending by sub-agency / office. Surfaces which office holds the budget (e.g. VA OI&T vs VHA, DoD vs Army vs DISA).usas_lookup_agencyResolve a user-friendly agency reference ('VA', 'Veterans Affairs', 'DHS') to USAspending's canonical toptier name + 4-digit code. ALWAYS call this FIRST if the user uses an abbreviation — other USAspending tools require the canonical name.- +141 more on the listing page
Erd Editor tools 77
erd_list_documentsLists ERD documents with path, open, active, dirty and readonly. With an editor serving the working directory (the VS Code extension, the Obsidian plugin or the JetBrains IDE plugin) it lists that editor's, every open project's in a JetBrains IDE; otherwise the ERD files under the working directory.erd_open_documentOpens a document for editing, in the ERD editor of the editor that serves it, if one does (the VS Code extension, the Obsidian plugin or the JetBrains IDE plugin). With create it makes the file first if missing; a name with no extension gets .erd.json.erd_saveSaves a document an editor holds to disk. VS Code keeps edits unsaved until this is called; Obsidian and JetBrains IDEs save them as they save the user’s edits, and this writes them at once. On disk, with no editor, edits are written at once and this does nothing.erd_undoReverts the last edit this agent made to the document, never the user’s edits. Calls that made no undo entry are skipped and named.erd_redoApplies again the edit erd_undo last reverted.erd_readReads a document as a snapshot, as DDL, as its raw JSON or, with the scripts format, its before and after scripts alone. The sql format of the whole document includes the document's before and after scripts. The sql format with tableIds, tableNames or groupNames gives the DDL of just those tables, the way to read a large schema; a read too large for one answer is refused with how to narrow it. For ids and details prefer erd_list and erd_get. Change a document only through the erd_ tools, never by writing its file.erd_listLists a document: its settings and counts, then a page of tables, each with its id, position and size on the ERD canvas (the width approximate, the height exact), with their indexes and relationships (each relationship once, with one of its tables) and, for a table in a table group or with a logical name, its groupId or logicalName; after the tables come the table groups, the memos, then the rows of the domain, term and word dictionaries, each with its name and what it gives a physical name or column. A small schema fits in one page. On a larger one, nextOffset and note say how to go on: query finds tables by a word, namesOnly lists every table name in a call or a few. Columns, comments, memo text, the tables of a group and every field of a dictionary row come from erd_get; the foreign keys a table holds, from erd_read sql with tableNames.erd_getGives the entities named, in full: tables with their columns and size, relationships with their columns, indexes with their columns, memos with their text, table groups with their tables, and words, terms and domains with every field. Ids and names that name nothing live are listed in missing; ids one answer has no room for are listed in notReturned, to ask for again.erd_list_checksLists what the word, term and domain dictionaries find, as the Checks sheet of the editor's Dictionary tab does, and changes nothing. Errors: a name two rows of one dictionary share, a link to a domain the document does not list, a forbidden word in a logical name or a term's name. Warnings: a word no dictionary lists, a synonym used for a standard word, each in a logical name or a term's name, a physical name other than the one the term of its logical name gives, a column type other than its domain's. Each check names its target (a table, a column with its table, or a word, term or domain row) with its names, the field read, the text found and, where the dictionaries have them, the suggestions to use instead, and counts gives each code's total. The words, terms and domains come first in sheet order, then each table and its columns in document order. With no dictionary row nothing is checked. A long list comes a page at a time: pass nextOffset, or list again from offset 0 after fixing some, since a fixed check leaves the list.erd_add_tableAdds an empty table at a free spot and returns its id in createdIds. Name it with erd_change_table_name.erd_remove_tableRemoves a table with its columns, indexes and every relationship that touches it.erd_change_table_nameRenames a table. The name is then its own: nameDerived goes off, so a later logical name leaves a name that is not empty as it is.- +65 more on the listing page
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
MCP Sam Gov
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-sam-gov": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov"
]
}
}
}
Erd Editor
{
"mcpServers": {
"erd-editor": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@dineug/erd-editor-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
MCP Sam Gov is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Erd Editor belongs to Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick MCP Sam Gov for developer tools work and Erd Editor for developer tools.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
MCP Sam Gov has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Erd Editor is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add mcp-sam-gov and erd-editor as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, MCP Sam Gov has a quality signal of 64/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 13 GitHub stars. Erd Editor has 71/100 (Great) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1,730 GitHub stars.