About CommonGrants
CommonGrants is an open protocol for sharing information about grant opportunities, applications, and awards across platforms.
What is CommonGrants?
Section titled “What is CommonGrants?”CommonGrants defines a set of API endpoints and data models for common grant lifecycle tasks — from discovering opportunities to submitting applications and reporting on awards. The protocol is designed to support interoperability by default, while enabling customization to meet the needs of different platforms.
To simplify adoption, CommonGrants is implemented in TypeSpec, a language for defining APIs that compiles to OpenAPI, JSON Schema, and other common formats. This makes it easy to:
- Validate compliance across implementations
- Generate libraries and tools in different languages
- Extend the protocol without breaking existing tools
We also provide:
@common-grants/core: A TypeSpec library of canonical models and routes@common-grants/cli: A CLI to scaffold, define, and validate API implementations
Design principles
Section titled “Design principles”CommonGrants is guided by a few key principles:
- Standardization: A shared language for describing grants, applications, and awards
- Extensibility: A core schema with support for platform-specific extensions
- Interoperability: Tools and APIs that work across systems, not just within them
- Portability: Grant data that users and organizations can carry with them
Roadmap
Section titled “Roadmap”The CommonGrants protocol is evolving in phases, with a focus on real-world usability and adoption.
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Now: Foundation and feedback
- Base models and routes for grant opportunity search
- CLI tooling and a core TypeSpec library
- Open specification and Request for Comments (RFC)
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Next: Application support and ecosystem tools
- Additional models and routes for grant applications
- SDKs and templates for platform integration
- Guides and examples to streamline adoption
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Later: Award reporting and production adoption
- Models for award tracking and reporting
- Adoption of the protocol within the SimplerGrants API
- Public directory of compatible tools and implementations
Background and inspiration
Section titled “Background and inspiration”CommonGrants builds on the design patterns and community principles behind:
- JSON Schema: For structured, self-validating data
- OpenAPI: For generating consistent APIs
- FHIR: For standardizing complex data across a fragmented ecosystem
- ActivityPub: For federated interoperability