Finding Opportunities using Discover

Overview

Discover finds opportunities that fit your business, based on the past performance recorded in GovDash, so you can quickly see which opportunities you’re best suited to win.

Click through the interactive walkthrough below for a quick tour of Search, the Watchlist and Search Profiles, or follow the steps below.

Accessing Discover

To open Discover, select Discover under Modules in the left navigation menu.

Discover opens to the Watchlist tab. Select Search to browse opportunities, then choose Public, Private, or Forecast. See Watchlist below for details.

Using Discover

GovDash provides you with multiple avenues to find opportunities, both through recommendations and search.

Recommendations and Relevance

When you use a search profile, GovDash puts the opportunities that best fit that profile at the top of your results. Every team starts with a Past Performance profile built from the NAICS codes, PSCs, and customers in the contracts and documents you upload to Contract.

Need to upload your contracts?

If you need assistance uploading your contracts in order to take advantage of this profile, check out our support article here for guidance and best practices.

Each opportunity will be displayed on a card with pertinent information prominently displayed, such as the current status, the type of opportunity, NAICS and PSC codes, set asides, and more.

Opportunity Matching

Each card shows how well the opportunity matches your selected profile. Hover over Match details to see the score out of 100 and which profile criteria matched.

Search

Type in the search bar to search by keyword, code, or agency, or just describe what you’re looking for. To narrow your results, select Filters and choose a filter such as Terms, Status, Source System, Organization, NAICS, PSC, Set Aside, Location, Notice Type, Posted Date, or Due Date. To narrow an organization or agency down to its sub levels, select Adv. next to the Organization filter.

Search Profiles

To learn more about setting and configuring Search profiles to tailor your results, check out our support article here.

Sources

Discover provides public and private source options. Select Search at the top of the page, then choose Public or Private to switch between them. Publicly available sources such as PIEE, SAM.gov, and State, Local & Education (SLED) sources are in Public, while sources that need an integration or a closed portal login (such as eBuy) are in Private. You only see Private if you have permission to view private opportunities.

By default, Discover will provide all public sources within Public for you to view. To filter specific sources within Discover results, select the Source System drop down in the filters and choose your source.

From here, you can continue to filter for specific states, statuses, industries, governments or departments, and more using the filters at the top.

Within the results, you can quickly determine which source the opportunity is from based on the tag in the top right of the card.

Some opportunities are posted on more than one source, such as SAM.gov and PIEE. When this happens, Discover lists the opportunity once for each source, and each card shows that source's latest notice along with its source tag. Click the title on any card to open the notice from that source. On the opportunity page, Alternate Sources lets you switch between the sources (see Discover Opportunity Pages).

Filtering by source?

The Source System filter checks every source an opportunity is posted on, not just the one that posted most recently. For example, if you select only PIEE, you'll still see the PIEE version of an opportunity even when SAM.gov posted the newest notice. Discover shows only the cards for the sources you selected.

Within each record you can view the source link and list of documents that were downloaded from the opportunity page. By adding the opportunity to your Pipeline, the documents will automatically download and associate with the record, making it quick and easy for you to get started with your capture process.

Watchlist

The Watchlist is a shared list where your team saves opportunities from Discover, reviews them together, and decides which ones to pursue. Items can come from Public, Private, or Forecast results, and can be added by you, a teammate, or Dash.

Research Preview

The Watchlist is labeled Research Preview next to the Watchlist and Search tabs. It's available to every team, and we're still improving it. To share your thoughts, select Feedback on the Watchlist tab.

If you can’t add, reject, or remove Watchlist items, or can’t run Dash, ask your GovDash administrator to check your Discover permissions.

Adding a notice to the Watchlist

1. Select Search at the top of Discover, then select Public, Private, or Forecast.

2. Find the opportunity you want to save.

3. Select the bookmark button labeled Add to watchlist on the opportunity.

4. GovDash confirms with Added to watchlist, and the bookmark fills in so you can see at a glance which opportunities are already saved. The opportunity now appears on the Watchlist tab for your whole team. To take it back off, select the filled bookmark (labeled Remove from watchlist). You can also use Remove from watchlist on the Watchlist tab.

When an opportunity is added, Dash starts a fit assessment for it. The item shows Assessing… until the assessment is ready.

Watchlist additions from Dash

Dash can also add opportunities to the Watchlist for you. When Dash is turned on for a search profile, it runs that profile on a schedule or when you start it, reviews the results, and adds the opportunities that fit. Depending on the profile’s settings, Dash can also search Forecasts and Private portals. To set up Dash on a profile, see Create and Manage Search Profiles.

Items Dash adds show an Added by Dash tag. If your Watchlist is empty, select Let Dash find opportunities to create a search profile for Dash to run.

Managing Dash runs

When at least one search profile has Dash active (scheduled, or run in the last 30 days), the top right of the Watchlist tab shows Dash runs and Manage profiles. Select Dash runs to see each active profile with its latest run status: Dash is running..., Last run with how long ago it ran, or Dash hasn’t run yet. Each profile has these controls:

• Start now: Runs Dash on that profile right away.

• View runs: Shows the profile’s run history.

• Edit: Opens the profile’s Dash settings on the Manage profiles page.

Select Manage profiles to create or edit search profiles and turn Dash on or off.

Above the list, a summary shows how many profiles Dash runs, when Dash last ran, and how many items it added this week. Select Show Dash’s picks to filter the Watchlist to items Dash added.

If you can view Discover but can’t edit it, you see a Dash runs button that opens your search profiles instead of the run controls. If no profiles have Dash active, only Manage profiles appears.

Reviewing the Watchlist

1. Select the Watchlist tab at the top of Discover.

2. Use the Added by and Status filters to narrow the list.

3. Select an item to open its details in the side panel.

• Added by: Show items added by Me, Dash, Dash for a specific search profile, or a teammate.

• Status: Show Watching, Promoted, or Rejected items. The list shows Watching items by default.

Each item can show:

• Source: A tag such as SAM.gov that shows where the opportunity came from.

• Added by Dash: Appears when Dash added the item from a search profile.

• Fit assessment: Dash’s read on how well the opportunity fits your company: Strong fit, Possible fit, Poor fit, or Not enough evidence. Assessing… means Dash is still working, and Assessment unavailable means Dash couldn’t complete one.

• Key details such as posted and due dates, agency, location, solicitation number, notice type, and set aside.

Viewing Watchlist item details

Select an item to open the side panel. It has these tabs:

• Overview: Who added the item and when (and from which profile, if Dash added it), key details, and the description.

• Fit: Dash’s fit assessment, including fit checks, scope, hard requirements, and past performance references. This tab appears when Dash has an assessment for the item. Select a source to open the attachment at the exact page it came from.

• Comments: Discuss the opportunity with your team. Type @ to mention a teammate.

• Tasks: Create and track tasks for the opportunity. To add the same tasks to every new Watchlist item automatically, set up a default task template in Settings > Tasks.

Select View Full Details to open the full opportunity page. Watchlist items can link to public, private, or forecast records, and the full page opens in the matching area of Discover. The full page also has the Comments and Tasks tabs, plus the Fit tab when Dash has an assessment, so your team’s notes stay with the opportunity. Private items only appear for users who can view private opportunities. To learn more about opportunity pages, see Discover Opportunity Records.

Adding a Watchlist item to your Pipeline

Select Add to Pipeline on an item, choose the classification level in Set Classification, then select Add to Pipeline to create an opportunity in your Pipeline. To link it to an opportunity that’s already in your Pipeline, select the arrow next to Add to Pipeline and choose Attach to opportunity. Either way, the item’s status changes to Promoted and the button changes to View in Pipeline.

Both dialogs include Copy fit assessment and comments to the opportunity, which is checked by default. Leave it checked to have Dash post the item’s fit assessment and your team’s Watchlist comments and replies to the opportunity’s Notes, so everything your team learned while reviewing it comes along into capture. Teammates mentioned in those comments aren’t notified again. The checkbox only appears the first time an item is added to your Pipeline. To find the copied notes, open the opportunity and select Activity in the left menu. Learn more about Notes.

Rejecting or removing a notice

Reject an item when your team decides not to pursue it:

1. On a Watching item, select Reject.

2. In Reject this notice, select one or more reasons, add a comment, or both. You need at least one reason or a comment.

3. Select Reject.

Reasons include Wrong scope of work, Wrong agency, Set-aside mismatch, Incumbent is locked in, Not enough time to respond, Already tracking this, and Other. Rejecting is final. The item moves to Rejected, and GovDash records a team dislike so Discover shows fewer notices like it. Dash also uses your team’s recent rejections to decide which opportunities to add in future runs.

To take an item off the list without recording feedback, remove it instead:

1. On a Watching item, select the arrow next to Add to Pipeline.

2. Select Remove from watchlist.

3. Select Remove to confirm.

Removing deletes the item from the Watchlist. You can only remove items that are still Watching. Promoted and rejected items stay on the list as a record, and you can find them with the Status filter.

Watchlist statuses

• Watching: The starting status for every item, whether you, a teammate, or Dash added it. The Watchlist shows these by default.

• Promoted: The item was added to or attached to a Pipeline opportunity.

• Rejected: Your team rejected the item with a reason or comment. This can’t be undone.

Removed items are deleted, so they no longer appear under any status.

Watchlist bookmarks compared with Likes and Dislikes

• Watchlist bookmark: Saves the opportunity to your team’s shared Watchlist, where you can track its status, comment, add tasks, see Dash’s fit assessment, and move it to your Pipeline.

• Like or Dislike: Tells Discover what you want to see more or less of. Liked opportunities go to Likes, and disliked opportunities are hidden from results and go to Dislikes. Liking or disliking doesn’t add anything to the Watchlist.

Rejecting a Watchlist item also records a dislike for your team, but it keeps the item on the Watchlist as Rejected.

Forecasts

Forecasts help you get ahead of upcoming work by surfacing opportunities before the government releases a solicitation. To view forecasted opportunities, select Search at the top of Discover, then select Forecast.

Select Filters to narrow forecasts by Source, Contract Vehicle, Value, NAICS, Recompete, and more. Tags in the top right of each card show the forecast source, such as DHS APFS, and other details such as Existing Contract.

Forecast Sources

Forecasted opportunities are pulled from official agency forecast systems, such as the DHS Acquisition Planning Forecast System (APFS) and the GSA Acquisition Gateway.

In addition to agency-published forecasts, GovDash scans USAspending.gov award end dates to identify existing contracts approaching expiration that may be recompeted. These predicted recompetes appear alongside agency forecasts, giving you visibility into potential opportunities even before an agency publishes a forecast. On recompete records, you can view incumbent information, including details of the existing contract, directly within the opportunity.

Using Dash with Forecasts

You can also ask Dash to search forecasts for you. Describe what you’re looking for (for example, an upcoming FY26 opportunity valued over $10 million), and Dash applies the right filters and returns matching forecasts.

Just like other opportunities in Discover, forecasts can be added to your Pipeline, allowing you to begin your capture process well before the solicitation is released.

Using the eBuy Integration

After the connection to eBuy has been successfully established, you can view your eBuy opportunities within Discover. Select Search at the top of the Discover page, then select Private to find your eBuy opportunities.

Similarly to the public opportunities, you can easily search and filter your opportunity list, like, dislike, and add opportunities to your GovDash Pipeline. Using the link to the eBuy opportunity, you can also download any documents associated with the opportunity and upload them to the opportunity once it is in your Pipeline.

Searching Your eBuy Opportunities

The Private tab includes the same search bar found on the Public and Forecast tabs, located at the top of the opportunity list. Start typing to instantly narrow your eBuy opportunities by:

• Title

• RFQ ID

• Description

• Agency

• Contact name or email

• Solicitation number

• Contract identifier

Press / anywhere on the page to jump straight into the search bar, and click the x inside the bar to clear your search.

Contract Vehicles Available on GSA eBuy

GSA eBuy supports RFQs, RFPs, and RFIs posted under a growing list of acquisition vehicles, including:

• GSA & VA Multiple Award Schedules (MAS): All SINs across the consolidated schedule, including IT, professional services, facilities, and more

• GWACs: 8(a) STARS III, Alliant 2, Alliant 3, VETS 2, and Polaris (all pools)

• OASIS+: All six pools (Unrestricted, Total SB, 8(a), WOSB, HUBZone, SDVOSB) across 13 service domains; eBuy is the mandatory solicitation tool for all OASIS+ task orders

• Network Services & Telecom: EIS and CS3 (COMSATCOM)

• BPAs: Blanket Purchase Agreements established against MAS (e.g., 2GIT, SCRIPTS, GSS for IT Products, Governmentwide Printer)

• FSSI: Active Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative contracts

Opportunities are posted by SIN, domain, or contract category. Contractors must hold the applicable vehicle and be registered with the Vendor Support Center (VSC) in order for opportunities to be synced to GovDash.

Haven’t Setup Your Integration Yet?

Check out our integrations guide here for assistance with integrating eBuy with your GovDash account.

Discover Email Notifications

Discover Recap

Discover Recap emails send you relevant opportunities you may have missed. They only include opportunities you haven’t liked, disliked, or added to your Pipeline. There are two recap emails:

• Discover Recap (Daily): A recap of relevant Discover matches from the previous day.

• Discover Recap (Weekly): A recap of relevant Discover matches from the previous week, sent on Mondays.

To turn either email on or off, go to Settings > Notifications, select the Discover tab, and use the toggle next to each recap. Under Search Profiles, select Manage to set a notification schedule for a search profile.

Likes

To like an opportunity, select the thumbs up button on its card. In the dialog, you can add a note about why it’s a good fit, and check Update my profile to improve recommendations to have Dash update your search profile. Select Submit, or Skip to like it without a note. To undo a like, select the thumbs up button again. Likes tell Discover what you want to see more of. Liking an opportunity doesn’t add it to the Watchlist. To save an opportunity for your team to review, use the bookmark button instead (see Watchlist).

To see the opportunities you’ve liked, select Search at the top of Discover, then select Likes in the top right.

Dislikes

To hide an opportunity from your results, select the thumbs down button on its card. In the dialog, you can pick reasons or add a note (both optional), then select Submit, or Skip to dislike it without them. The opportunity moves to Dislikes, which you can open from the top right of the Search tab. Disliking doesn’t add or remove anything on the Watchlist. To undo a dislike, select the thumbs down button again.

Adding Opportunities to the Pipeline

You can move an opportunity from Discover straight into your Pipeline so your team can start capture. Select Add to Pipeline on any opportunity card, or on the opportunity’s full details page. In Set Classification, choose the classification level for the opportunity, then select Add to Pipeline.

Opportunity Records

Ready to start working with opportunities within the Discover? Click to learn more about opportunity records!

Sharing Opportunities

You can share an opportunity with your team or with people outside GovDash. Select the arrow next to Add to Pipeline, then select Share.

In Share this Opportunity, select Copy Link to copy a shareable link, or select Email to send the opportunity details and link from your email app.

Discover Settings

You can choose whether results include opportunities you’ve already added to your Pipeline or given feedback on (Likes or Dislikes). Select Profile at the top of your results, then turn on Include Pipeline or Include Feedback.

When an opportunity is already in your Pipeline, the Add to Pipeline button changes to View in Pipeline. Select it to open the opportunity in your Pipeline.