find-engineering-firm
Drive the ServiceGraph API (https://api.servicegraph.co) to find,
shortlist, and enrich US real-world engineering firms — buildings,
infrastructure, energy, manufacturing — via the pro_services
dataset. The catalog tags firms with industry:engineering_services
and a ~23-tag service sub-taxonomy.
This is NOT for software engineering. "Software engineering firm",
"engineering team", "engineering manager hire", "system architecture
review" — those are all software-developer territory. The first thing
this skill confirms is that the user means real engineering, not
software.
Always pin industry:engineering_services. Note the _services
suffix — older docs sometimes show industry:engineering but the
literal pin returns zero results in the live catalog. Sub-disciplines
are typically structured service_provided tags
(civil-engineering, structural-engineering, mep-engineering,
etc.) — confirm exact names via
/v1/datasets/pro_services/fields?include_values=1. Surveying is
surveying-mapping, not surveying.
Any HTTP client works (curl, fetch, requests). Examples below use curl.
When NOT to use this skill
The dominant failure mode is firing on software-engineering asks. Refuse those.
- Software / SaaS / app-development asks — even when phrased as "software engineering firm", "engineering team partner", "build our platform" → defer to
find-software-developer.
- In-house "engineering manager" hires — in modern B2B usage this is almost always software-engineering recruiting. Refuse.
- System / cloud / database architecture questions ("Postgres vs DynamoDB", "monolith vs microservices") — software topics.
- Architecture (buildings) —
find-architecture-firm covers that industry (when it exists). This skill covers engineering disciplines that work with architects (structural, MEP, civil), but the architect-of-record procurement is a different fire.
- Consumer/residential ("architect for a residential remodel", "engineer to inspect my house"). Catalog is B2B procurement only.
- Non-US firms / individual freelance engineers / DIY questions / engineering-software product comparisons (Revit, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Ansys).
MCP server (preferred for authed calls)
If your harness has the ServiceGraph MCP server loaded (tools
containing servicegraph), prefer those — OAuth 2.1 + PKCE keeps the
token in the harness sandbox. Otherwise use the REST flow below.
API surface (dataset id: pro_services)
Every endpoint requires the bearer (Authorization: Bearer vk_…).
No anonymous tier.
| Endpoint | Cost | Use it for |
|---|
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields[?include_values=1] | free | Confirm engineering_services industry value and sub-tag names. |
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=… | free | Validate filter. |
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent | free | {intent} → DSL filter + sanity count. |
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=…&limit= | free | Brief firm cards + per-row unlock hint + total. |
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex | free | One row brief; detail only if unlocked. |
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks | 10 credits / firm | {apexes:[...]} ≤100; atomic; 30-day TTL on detail. |
GET /v1/me/credits | free | Balance. |
Cost model. Discovery / validation / search / brief reads are
free. Detail (url, phone, email, social, address, full platforms
map) costs 10 credits per firm and lasts 30 days.
Auth
vk_* API keys minted in the dashboard. Keep the token out of the
LLM context — never read .env* into your context; dispatch via
shell.
-
Try the call first through a shell wrapper that sources .env.local:
( set -a; [ -f .env.local ] && . ./.env.local; set +a;
curl -sS -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY" \
'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/datasets/pro_services/fields' )
-
On 401 prompt the user:
"Open https://servicegraph.co/profile/api-keys, create a
key, and add SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY=vk_… to .env.local here
(or export it). Tell me when done. Please don't paste the key
into chat."
-
Retry after the user signals ready.
Filter DSL
GitHub-search-style.
filter := orExpr
orExpr := andExpr ("OR" andExpr)*
andExpr := notExpr (("AND")? notExpr)* # whitespace = implicit AND
notExpr := ("NOT" | "-") notExpr | atom
atom := "(" filter ")" | predicate
predicate:= IDENT op valueOrList | bareword
op := ":" | "=" | ">=" | "<=" | ">" | "<"
valueOrList := value ("," value)*
value := IDENT | NUMBER | tagAtEvidence
tagAtEvidence := IDENT "@" ("low"|"medium"|"high")
bareword := IDENT | NUMBER # → keyword:<bareword>
Four rules that bite: AND binds tighter than OR (use parens);
comma list = OR within one predicate; negation is -x or NOT x;
bareword = keyword search (quote multi-word phrases).
Engineering-flavored examples (validate yours with /check):
industry:engineering_services service_provided:civil-engineering state:FL transportation
industry:engineering_services service_provided:structural-engineering high-rise
industry:engineering_services service_provided:mep-engineering hospital
industry:engineering_services service_provided:mechanical-engineering hvac industrial
industry:engineering_services service_provided:environmental-engineering remediation
industry:engineering_services service_provided:geotechnical-engineering state:CA
industry:engineering_services service_provided:civil-engineering@high has:clutch
industry:engineering_services service_provided:electrical-engineering manufacturing
Sub-discipline → tag mapping (verify exact names via /fields;
~23 sub-tags so this isn't exhaustive):
| User asks for | Use |
|---|
| Civil engineering / sitework / transportation | service_provided:civil-engineering |
| Structural engineering | service_provided:structural-engineering |
| MEP (mechanical/electrical/plumbing) | service_provided:mep-engineering |
| Mechanical / HVAC | service_provided:mechanical-engineering |
| Electrical engineering | service_provided:electrical-engineering |
| Geotechnical / soils / foundations | service_provided:geotechnical-engineering |
| Surveying / land surveys / mapping | service_provided:surveying-mapping (NOT surveying) |
| Transportation engineering | service_provided:transportation-engineering |
| Environmental / remediation | service_provided:environmental-engineering |
| Manufacturing / process | service_provided:manufacturing-engineering |
| Aerospace | service_provided:aerospace-engineering |
| Energy (oil/gas/renewables) | service_provided:energy-engineering |
| Industrial automation / controls | service_provided:industrial-automation |
| Materials testing | service_provided:materials-testing |
| Acoustic / vibration | service_provided:acoustic-engineering |
| Biomedical | service_provided:biomedical-engineering |
Verticals (hospital, high-rise, semiconductor, retail, datacenter)
and credentials (PE-licensed, LEED, AICP) are keyword-only.
Identifying firms — apex
Firms are identified by their apex domain (aecom.com, not
www.aecom.com/about).
Recipes
A. Civil engineering for transportation, in a state
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:civil-engineering+state:FL+transportation&limit=10
# Present, get pick of 3. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
{ "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }
B. Structural engineering + commercial high-rise
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:structural-engineering+(high-rise OR commercial)&limit=10
C. MEP for a hospital project
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:mep-engineering+hospital&limit=10
D. Mechanical / HVAC for industrial facility
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:mechanical-engineering+hvac+industrial&limit=10
E. Indirect intent — "stamp the drawings"
User: "We're building a 10-story office and need a structural engineer to stamp the drawings."
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:structural-engineering+commercial&limit=10
PE-license details surface from the unlocked platforms map / firm
detail. If the user wants only PE-licensed firms, add pe as a keyword.
F. Geotechnical in California
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:geotechnical-engineering+state:CA&limit=10
Avoid pinning narrow keywords like seismic on top — engineering
verticals tend to collapse below k=20 quickly. The full state pool
of ~20 geotechnical firms is more useful than a 2-firm pool after
keyword narrowing.
G. Quality threshold — be careful
Engineering firms aren't reviewed like agencies; rating>=N collapses
civil/structural/MEP pools sharply. Prefer @high + size + geography
as the quality proxy instead of a rating gate:
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:civil-engineering@high+state:CA+-company_size_signal:solo&limit=10
If the user insists on rated firms, add has:clutch (more lenient
than rating>=4).
H. BYO apex list — enrich domains
User pastes 8–20 engineering firm domains:
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex per domain — free brief
(404 = not in catalog, no charge). A 404 often means the domain
is a software firm tagged industry:it_services instead of real
engineering.- User picks N to fully enrich.
POST /unlocks = 10×N credits,
atomic, detail returned.
- Re-runs within 30-day TTL are free.
Gotchas
- Always pin
industry:engineering_services. Without it, civil-engineering / mep-engineering / electrical-engineering keywords could leak into other industries (architecture firms sometimes list MEP coordination as a sub-service).
- It's
engineering_services, not engineering. The literal pin industry:engineering returns zero results. Same drift logic for surveying-mapping (not surveying).
- The hardest boundary is software-engineering. "Engineering firm" / "engineering team" in modern B2B usage almost always means software in tech contexts. Defer those to
find-software-developer. Real engineering is for buildings, infrastructure, energy, manufacturing — not for SaaS apps.
- "Engineering manager" hires are recruiting, not procurement.
- Architecture firms are a separate industry. Architect-of-record procurement (form/aesthetics) is a different fire; this skill is for the engineering disciplines that work with architects.
- Consumer/residential is out of scope ("architect for my house remodel", "engineer to inspect my deck"). B2B-only.
- Engineering verticals are rating-sparse. Civil/structural/MEP firms aren't reviewed like agencies —
rating>=N collapses pools below k=20. Use @high evidence + size + geography as the quality proxy.
- Narrow keywords artificially shrink pools. A keyword like
seismic on top of a CA geotech filter yields only ~2 firms vs ~20 without it. Drop narrowing keywords for default-required verticals.
- Engineering-software product comparisons (Revit, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Ansys, Bentley) are NOT procurement.
- Briefs DO include
apex, name, location, ratings. They DON'T include url, phone_primary, email_primary, legal_name, address_full, full platforms — those require an unlock.
not_found / not_in_dataset 404 = not in pro_services. Skip; not charged.- Unlock is atomic. N apexes either all charge (up to 10×N credits) or none on 402.
- Within-TTL re-views are free (
was_cached:true).
Errors
JSON envelope: {"error": {"code": "...", "message": "..."}}.
| Status | Code | What to do |
|---|
| 400 | filter_parse_error | position included; fix and re-validate with /check. |
| 400 | kind_in_filter | Strip any kind: from filter. |
| 400 | field_not_in_dataset | Drop the disallowed field. |
| 400 | invalid_apex | Re-normalize. |
| 401 | unauthorized / invalid_audience | Re-prompt for fresh vk_…. |
| 402 | insufficient_credits | needed and balance; nothing charged. |
| 404 | not_found / not_in_dataset | Skip; not charged. |
| 429 | rate_limited | Honor Retry-After. |
End-to-end example
User: "Three civil engineering firms in Florida focused on
transportation infrastructure, ideally with PE-licensed engineers."
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields?include_values=1
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=industry:engineering_services+service_provided:civil-engineering+state:FL+transportation+pe
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=...&limit=10
# Present briefs. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
{ "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }
GET /v1/me/credits