Get regulation section MCP response

MCP tool response returned by the Get regulation section MCP tool: the lookup status, the cited text, the section record, and optional supplement and agency applicability details.

Returned by: Get regulation section MCP tool
Response type: Structured lookup result

Response Shape

The response is one structured lookup result for the citation and edition requested. Null top-level values and empty other_editions, available, and children lists are omitted, so check status first. Fields inside section can be null. An empty text string can be returned for a whole section without body text.

Field	Type	Notes
`status`	string	`found`, `withdrawn`, `not_found`, `part_not_found`, or `not_a_citation`. Always present.
`query`	string	The citation as given. Always present.
`citation`	string	The citation as GovTribe reads it, such as `FAR 52.219-14(c)`. GSAR citations read as `GSAM`, such as `GSAM 552.238-79`.
`edition`	string	The edition read: `codified` or `overhaul`.
`edition_label`	string	What the edition is: `Codified (48 CFR)`, `FAR Overhaul (class deviation)`, or `GSAR Overhaul (RGO class deviation)`.
`edition_note`	string	Which other editions also hold the section.
`effective_note`	string	Present only when the text takes effect after today, independent of the optional applicability `date`. Compare `section.effective_date` with the date relevant to the question.
`other_editions`	string array	Other editions with non-withdrawn records for the section, as values `edition` accepts. This does not guarantee the requested paragraph or alternate exists there.
`withdrawn`	string	On `withdrawn`: why no text is returned.
`section`	object	The section record, with every Regulation section MCP response field except `body`.
`text`	string	The Markdown the citation names: the whole section, one paragraph with its subparagraphs and tables, or one alternate. Stored text can be empty; use `children` for available contents.
`children`	object array	For a part or subpart: its contents in reading order, each with `citation` and `title`.
`available`	string array	On `part_not_found`: the section's top-level paragraphs, or its alternates.
`supplements`	object array	With `include_supplements`: up to 50 non-reserved, non-withdrawn DFARS, PGI, and GSAM sections in the same edition whose most specific FAR analog matches the citation, each with `govtribe_id`, `govtribe_type`, `name`, `citation`, `title`, and `edition`. Empty for other regulations.
`applicability`	object	With `federal_agency_id`: `federal_agency`, `date`, `covered`, `far_part`, `governing_edition`, `governing_edition_label`, any selected `deviation` memo, and a `note`.

The statuses mean:

found: The text is in text.
withdrawn: The section was removed. Its former text is not current and is not returned.
not_found: The citation is valid, but this edition has no such section. other_editions says where it exists.
part_not_found: The section exists, but not the paragraph or alternate named. available lists what it has.
not_a_citation: The text is not a regulation citation.

Follow-up Behavior

On not_found with other_editions, call again with one of those editions if that text answers the question.
On not_found with no other_editions, search for the section's title with the Search regulations MCP tool. Some clause numbers printed in GSA's RGO deviation are stored under their GSAR number, such as GSAR 552.516-90 under GSAR 552.216-90.
On part_not_found, inspect available when present or read the whole section. For a missing paragraph within an alternate, the offered list is the base section's top-level paragraphs; read the alternate itself before choosing another paragraph.
On not_a_citation, find the citation with the Search regulations MCP tool.
When applicability.governing_edition differs from edition, the note says to call again with the reported edition. This part-mapping heuristic reflects available indexed deviation records, not a clause-level governing-edition determination. DFARS Part 252 maps to FAR Part 52 without checking a clause prescription or source memo. Check the prescription, relevant clause deviation and source memo scope against the procurement before relying on the reported edition. applicability.covered is false when GovTribe's agency deviation records can't answer, as for any GSAM citation.
To read a supplement, call again with its citation and the same edition.

The applicability report never changes the requested text and does not retrieve historical clause versions. It covers FAR Parts 1–53 and DFARS/PGI Parts 201–253 through their FAR parts. It does not cover GSAM or DFARS appendices. A covered part with no qualifying indexed memo defaults to codified; a missing matching record does not prove that codified text governs. Check the procurement and agency source guidance before relying on that fallback. A date without federal_agency_id is rejected. See Acquisition regulation data for the memo-selection rules and limits.

GSAM and GSAR sections have no public GovTribe page, so govtribe_url is null when requested. Their text and source_url remain available.

Example

This synthetic example illustrates the response structure. The text value is an explicit placeholder, not regulation text; retrieve the citation to obtain its actual text. Other sample metadata is illustrative.

{
  "status": "found",
  "query": "FAR 52.219-14",
  "citation": "FAR 52.219-14",
  "edition": "codified",
  "edition_label": "Codified (48 CFR)",
  "edition_note": "Also available in: FAR Overhaul (class deviation).",
  "other_editions": [
    "overhaul"
  ],
  "section": {
    "govtribe_id": "REGULATION_SECTION_ID",
    "govtribe_type": "regulation_section",
    "govtribe_url": "https://govtribe.com/regulations/far/52.219-14",
    "name": "FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting",
    "citation": "FAR 52.219-14",
    "title": "Limitations on Subcontracting",
    "regulation": "FAR",
    "regulation_label": "Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)",
    "edition": "codified",
    "edition_label": "Codified (48 CFR)",
    "kind": "clause",
    "kind_label": "Clause",
    "number": "52.219-14",
    "hierarchy": "Part 52 — Solicitation Provisions and Contract Clauses > Subpart 52.2 — Text of Provisions and Clauses",
    "clause_date": "Oct 2022",
    "prescribed_in": "FAR 19.507(e)",
    "cross_references": [
      "FAR 19.507(e)"
    ],
    "alternates": [],
    "fill_in_types": [],
    "far_analogs": [],
    "is_regulatory": null,
    "dfars_section": null,
    "source_url": "https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-52#FAR_52_219_14",
    "source_revision": "FAC 2026-01 March 13, 2026",
    "effective_change": "FAC 2026-01",
    "effective_date": "2026-03-13"
  },
  "text": "[Placeholder: full regulation text returned by the tool.]",
  "applicability": {
    "federal_agency": {
      "govtribe_id": "FEDERAL_AGENCY_ID",
      "name": "General Services Administration"
    },
    "date": "2026-11-05",
    "covered": true,
    "far_part": "52",
    "governing_edition": "overhaul",
    "governing_edition_label": "FAR Overhaul (class deviation)",
    "deviation": {
      "govtribe_id": "REGULATION_DEVIATION_ID",
      "name": "GSA RFO deviation, FAR Part 52 (Adoption, 2025-11-03)",
      "agency_label": "GSA",
      "far_part": "52",
      "kind": "adoption",
      "kind_label": "Adoption",
      "governing_edition": "overhaul",
      "deviation_number": "RFO-2025-52",
      "title": "Class Deviation: Revolutionary FAR Overhaul Part 52",
      "issued_date": "2025-10-31",
      "effective_date": "2025-11-03",
      "in_force_since": "2025-11-03",
      "summary": "Adopts the FAR Overhaul model deviation text for FAR Part 52.",
      "source_url": "https://www.acquisition.gov/DEVIATION_MEMO_PATH"
    },
    "note": "The available indexed memo GSA RFO deviation, FAR Part 52 (Adoption, 2025-11-03) selects the reported FAR Overhaul (class deviation) edition for mapped FAR Part 52 at General Services Administration on 2026-11-05. This part-mapping heuristic does not determine a clause edition. Verify the prescription, relevant clause deviation, source memo scope and effective date against the procurement. You asked for the Codified (48 CFR) text; call again with edition=overhaul to read the reported edition separately if relevant after those checks."
  }
}

Get regulation section MCP response

Response Shape

Follow-up Behavior

Example

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