MCP Sam Gov vs Next AI Draw IO
A side-by-side look at the MCP Sam Gov and Next AI Draw IO 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 Next AI Draw IO 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 Next AI Draw IO when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You want tools like
get_drawing_guide, get_shape_library, start_session.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Quality signal | 64/100 · Good | 73/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | BYOK (pay the provider) |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 13 | 36,406 |
| Directory activity | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 7 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 153 | 16 |
| Full listing | View MCP Sam Gov | View Next AI Draw IO |
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
Next AI Draw IO tools 16
get_drawing_guideReturn the drawing guide: XML format, layout, edge routing, style and editing rules. start_session already returns it; call this only if the guide is no longer in your context. With topic, returns a short XML reference for tables, layers or groups.get_shape_libraryGet the style syntax and shape names of a draw.io icon library. Call this BEFORE drawing with cloud, network or other icon shapes, and use the exact names it returns; never guess them. Libraries: - Cloud: aws4, azure2, gcp2, alibaba_cloud, openstack, salesforce - Networking: cisco19, network, kubernetes, vvd, rack - Business: bpmn, lean_mapping - General: flowchart, basic, arrows2, infographic, sitemap - UI/Mockups: android, material_design - Enterprise: citrix, sap, mscae, atlassian - Engineering: fluidpower, electrical, pid, cabinets, floorplan - Icons: webiconsstart_sessionStart a new diagram session, or continue a saved one with session_id, and open the browser for real-time preview. Starts an embedded server and opens a browser window with draw.io. The browser will show diagram updates as they happen. The result includes the drawing guide; follow it when drawing.list_saved_diagramsList the diagrams saved by earlier sessions (auto-save files), newest first, with their pages. Continue one with start_session session_id=<id>; the file path also works with load_diagram.create_new_diagramCreate a NEW diagram, REPLACING the whole document: every page and any unsaved user changes (the previous state stays in History). To add a tab use add_page; to change cells use edit_diagram. Before using icon shapes (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, Cisco...), call get_shape_library first. Follow the drawing guide returned by start_session (call get_drawing_guide if it is no longer in your context). Pass screenshot: true on the last call of a complex diagram to check the result. Accepted xml: 1) Only the mxCell elements of one page (recommended). The server adds <mxfile>, <mxGraphModel>, <root> and the root cells "0" and "1": <mxCell id="2" value="Shape" style="rounded=1;" x="40" y="40" w="120" h="60"/> 2) A bare <mxGraphModel> with <root> (one page). 3) A full <mxfile> with one or more <diagram> pages. Every page's <root> must start with <mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>. Rules: cells are siblings (never nested), ids are unique per page and start from "2", parent only for shapes inside a container, no XML comments, and shapes stay within x 0 to 800 and y 0 to 600. A style used by several cells is defined once with <mxStyle name="..." value="..."/> before the cells and used by name (see the drawing guide); html=1 and whiteSpace=wrap are added automatically. To clear the canvas to one blank page, send only the two root cells <mxCell id="0"/><mxCell id="1" parent="0"/>; the previous diagram stays in History.load_diagramLoad a .drawio diagram into the current session, REPLACING the entire diagram (all pages). To change an existing file, load it here, edit with edit_diagram, then export_diagram to the same path; never rewrite the file by hand. Provide ONE of two mutually exclusive sources: 'path' (the server reads the file from disk — you do NOT need to read the file yourself or pass its XML through create_new_diagram) or 'xml' (the raw file content you already have — from another tool, a repository read, or an API response — so no temporary file needs to be written first). Both accept plain XML and draw.io's compressed save format. .drawio.svg (Editable SVG, the format export_diagram writes) is accepted too; .png files (also draw.io's editable PNG) and plain .svg files cannot be loaded. After loading from 'path' (or from compressed 'xml'), call get_diagram before edit_diagram — you haven't seen the file's cell IDs yet. Plain-XML 'xml' content you supplied yourself is already known and can be edited immediately.edit_diagramEdit a specific page in the current diagram by ID-based operations (update/add/delete cells). All-or-nothing: if any operation fails, nothing is applied and every failure is listed. Freshness: the server remembers the last diagram state you have seen, and rejects this call only if the user edited the diagram in the browser since then. You do NOT need to call get_diagram before every edit: a rejected call changes nothing and includes the current XML of the page, so you can rebuild your operations and retry. Call get_diagram first only when you don't know the current diagram content (cell IDs, structure) — e.g. the diagram wasn't created in this conversation, or you're unsure your memory of it is accurate. Multi-page targeting: - page_id / page_name / page_index are optional; when all omitted, the FIRST page is targeted - Use list_pages to discover what pages exist Operations: - add: Add a new cell. Provide cell_id (new unique id within the page) and new_xml. One cell per operation. - update: Replace an existing cell by its id. Provide cell_id and complete new_xml. - delete: Remove a cell by its id. Only cell_id is needed. Its children and connected edges are deleted too, so give only a container's id. For add/update, new_xml is the complete mxCell (inside its <object> wrapper when it has custom data, see the drawing guide) in the compact form (a shape with x, y, w, h; an edge with source and target). No XML comments. Every " inside new_xml must be escaped as \" in the JSON. Example - Add a rectangle on the default (first) page: {"operations": [{"operation": "add", "cell_id": "rect-1", "new_xml": "<mxCell id=\"rect-1\" value=\"Hello\" style=\"rounded=1;\" x=\"100\" y=\"100\" w=\"120\" h=\"60\"/>"}]} Example - Delete a cell on the default page: {"operations": [{"operation": "delete", "cell_id": "rect-1"}]}get_diagramGet the current diagram XML (fetches latest from browser, including user's manual edits). Call this when you don't know the current diagram content (cell IDs, pages, structure) — e.g. before editing a diagram you didn't create in this conversation, or after edit_diagram was rejected because the user changed the diagram in the browser. Returns the full <mxfile> by default. If a page selector is provided, returns just that page's <mxGraphModel> embedded in a one-page <mxfile> wrapper.get_selectionReturn the cells the user has selected in the preview: their ids and labels, for edges the source and target ids, for shapes the position and size, and the page they are on. Call this when the user refers to what they selected ("this box", "these arrows", "the selected shapes"), then act on the ids with edit_diagram. Says when nothing is selected. Needs the preview tab to be open.screenshot_diagramRender the diagram in the preview and return it as a PNG image, so you can see your own result. Call this once after drawing or heavily editing a complex diagram, then fix overlaps and edges that cross shapes. Without a page selector it shows the page on screen; with one it renders that page without changing what the user sees. Needs the preview tab to be open.export_diagramExport the current diagram to a file. Supports .drawio (XML), .png, .svg, and .drawio.svg (an SVG with the diagram embedded, which draw.io and load_diagram can open again). The format is auto-detected from the file extension, or can be specified explicitly. Images get a 20 px margin; a PNG has a white background (or the page's own background color) unless transparent is true. Multi-page behaviour: - .drawio with NO page selector: writes the full <mxfile> (all pages). - .drawio with a page selector: writes a single-page <mxfile> containing only that page. - .png / .svg with NO page selector: exports the currently active page in the browser. - .png with a page selector: renders that page without changing what the user sees. - .svg / .drawio.svg with a page selector: temporarily loads that page into the browser, captures it, then restores the full document (the user sees a brief flicker).list_pagesList every page (tab) in the current diagram. Returns each page's id, name, 0-based index, and cell count. Use this to discover what pages exist before targeting one with edit_diagram, get_diagram, export_diagram, rename_page, or delete_page.- +4 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"
]
}
}
}
Next AI Draw IO
{
"mcpServers": {
"next-ai-draw-io": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@next-ai-drawio/mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
MCP Sam Gov is categorized under Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Next AI Draw IO belongs to Developer Tools and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick MCP Sam Gov for developer tools work and Next AI Draw IO 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. Next AI Draw IO is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key 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 next-ai-draw-io 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. Next AI Draw IO has 73/100 (Great) with 7 views, 0 installs and 36,406 GitHub stars.