Acquisition regulation data

A regulation section identifies one numbered unit in one edition of the FAR, DFARS, DFARS PGI, or GSAM. Use Search regulations to find text by topic and Get regulation section to read a citation verbatim. Keep the citation and edition together when quoting or following a result.

Choose an edition explicitly

The same citation can have different text in different editions, and a citation can exist in only one edition. Get_Regulation_Section requires edition on every call; it does not choose an edition from the agency or default to the latest text. To compare editions, make a separate call for each.

The tool's label Codified (48 CFR) names an edition. It does not mean every record in that edition is CFR regulatory text: PGI and GSA manual guidance are also included. An edition is not a historical snapshot selected by date, and a current lookup does not establish the wording incorporated into an older contract.

On Search_Regulations, set regulation_editions: ["codified"] or regulation_editions: ["overhaul"] to keep results in one edition. Without that filter, results can mix editions. Search normally returns metadata rather than the full body; request body explicitly or use the exact-citation tool.

Read agency applicability separately from the text

Pass a GovTribe agency ID from Search federal agencies as federal_agency_id to add an applicability report. date takes YYYY-MM-DD and defaults to today when omitted. A date without an agency ID is rejected.

{
  "tool": "Get_Regulation_Section",
  "arguments": {
    "citation": "FAR 19.502-2(b)",
    "edition": "codified",
    "federal_agency_id": "<federal_agency_govtribe_id>",
    "date": "2026-11-05"
  }
}

The report evaluates the numerically mapped FAR part using the agency's recorded deviation memos, resolving a subordinate agency to its top-level agency when available. A qualifying adoption, supplement, or revision selects Overhaul; a rescission selects codified. The report can also recognize a recorded earlier in_force_since date. Read the selected memo's scope alongside the result.

Coverage is FAR Parts 1–53 and DFARS or PGI Parts 201–253 through their corresponding FAR parts. For example, DFARS Part 219 is evaluated through FAR Part 19. GSAM, including GSAR, is outside this report's coverage, as are DFARS appendices and parts outside that range. A FAR deviation report for GSA is not a GSAR/RGO applicability decision.

The report never changes text. If applicability.governing_edition differs from the requested edition, read that edition in another call when it is relevant to the question. The report is a part-mapping heuristic from recorded memos, not a clause-level governing-edition determination. It maps every DFARS Part 252 clause to FAR Part 52 without consulting its prescription or source memo. Check the clause prescription, relevant clause deviation and source memo scope against the procurement before relying on the reported edition; a memo for the mapped part alone is insufficient.

Distinguish GSAR from GSA manual text

GSAR is the regulatory portion of GSAM, so search with regulations: ["GSAM"]. The exact-citation tool accepts GSAR but normalizes it to GSAM in its response. GSAM and GSAR text remains available through the tools even though it has no public GovTribe section page.

Use is regulatory, not the citation prefix or edition label, to interpret the source's marking:

null does not mean manual text. Neither regulation_section_regulatory: true nor regulation_section_regulatory: false matches records with no value. Leave that filter out when you need to discover unmarked GSAM material too. Classification as GSAR text alone does not establish that a clause applies to a particular contract.

Check when the returned text takes effect

A successful lookup can return text published before its effective date. Check section.effective_date in an exact lookup, or effective_date on a search result, before describing the text as in force.

For example, GSAM 538.7102-1 in the Overhaul edition has an effective date of November 30, 2026. Before that date, the lookup can return status: "found" together with an effective_note saying it is not in force yet. Publication and retrievability are different from effectiveness.

effective_note compares the section's date with today, not with the optional agency applicability date. When answering about another date, compare effective_date with that date yourself. An absent note or a null effective date does not establish agency-specific applicability. Clause date identifies the month and year printed on a clause; it is not a substitute for the effective date.

Resolve renamed RGO clauses

Some numbers printed in the RGO differ from the numbers used for the stored GSAM records:

These are lookup differences, not automatic aliases. Search for the title in GSAM's Overhaul edition when a printed citation misses, then use the returned citation and edition. Verify the title and source text before treating a candidate as the same clause. In an answer, make the printed and stored numbers explicit when the difference matters.

{
  "tool": "Search_Regulations",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "economic price adjustment",
    "regulations": ["GSAM"],
    "regulation_editions": ["overhaul"],
    "fields_to_return": ["citation", "title", "edition", "is_regulatory", "effective_date", "source_url"]
  }
}

Interpret held, reserved, and missing records

Some RGO text is held for review when its extraction cannot be verified against an independent transcription. Held sections are not built for retrieval; held parts and subparts retain their headings and hierarchy without the unverified body, so verified child sections remain reachable. A held section that was previously built can be withdrawn during reconciliation. This is a data-verification condition, not a statement that the legal provision was repealed. There is no separate held lookup status. A missing record does not establish whether the source number is held, renamed, outside coverage, or absent for another reason; inspect the source before assigning a cause.

Search excludes records flagged as reserved and withdrawn records. Exact lookup does not apply the search's reserved-record exclusion: a reserved record can be found without supplying substantive requirements. Contents can also include reserved entries. Public pages retain reserved numbers in their outline and mark them as reserved. Do not turn a placeholder or an empty body into an operative requirement.

other_editions identifies non-withdrawn section records in other editions, not proof that the same paragraph or alternate exists there. It is omitted when there are none.

available is also omitted when empty. It lists top-level section paragraphs or alternate designators, not every nested paragraph. For a missing paragraph within an alternate, inspect the alternate itself rather than assuming the offered base-section paragraphs belong to that alternate.

Follow supplements and source links

For a FAR citation, include_supplements: true lists up to 50 non-reserved, non-withdrawn supplement sections in the requested edition whose most specific FAR analog matches that number. It does not list every descendant under a FAR part. For a broader search across matching FAR analogs, use supplements_far_sections on Search regulations with an edition filter. Other regulations return an empty supplements list from exact lookup.

Regulation pages publish the codified edition of FAR, DFARS, and PGI. GSAM and GSAR, Overhaul, and withdrawn sections have no GovTribe public section page, so use the returned source_url when available. A null govtribe_url does not mean the tool has no text.

Related articles

• Regulation section: Review the record fields and relationships.
• Get regulation section: Read a citation, paragraph, or alternate in a chosen edition.
• Search regulations: Find sections by topic, outline, prescription, or cross-reference.
• Regulation pages: Browse codified text and Federal Register history.