Overview
Thebigdata_search tool is a search engine for financial documents, earnings call transcripts, news articles, analyst reports, your private uploaded files, SEC filings, and business content from thousands of companies and sources. It returns document chunks with full context, timestamps, and source attribution (URL). Ideal for research, analysis, fact-finding, and gathering company-specific information.
Request object
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
request | object | Yes | Search request object containing search_mode ("fast" or "smart") and a query object with text and optional filters. |
query parameters depending on search_mode. For more detail on how fast and smart modes differ, see Fast vs smart search.
- fast search_mode
- smart search_mode
request: You can copy and paste it in the MCP Inspector to test it out.
Search request example (fast mode)
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
search_mode | string | Yes | "fast" performs a direct semantic and lexical search. "smart" uses an AI agent to interpret the query and perform a more intelligent search. |
query.text | string | Yes | Natural-language search query. |
filters | object | No | Filter object to narrow results (see below). |
query.max_chunks | int | No | Maximum number of chunks to retrieve. |
Filters
All filters are optional and go insiderequest.query.filters.Filter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
reporting_entities | list[string] | Entity IDs of the company that authored or filed the document. |
entity | object (any_of / all_of / none_of) | Entity IDs of companies mentioned in the document, regardless of who published it. |
document_type | object (mode: INCLUDE/EXCLUDE, values: list) | Filter by document type. |
timestamp | object (start / end in ISO 8601) | Filter by publication date range. |
category | object (mode: INCLUDE/EXCLUDE, values: list) | Filter by source category: "transcripts", "filings", "news", "research", "my_files". |
keyword | object (any_of / all_of / none_of) | Filter by keywords found in documents. |
reporting_periods | list of objects (fiscal_year, fiscal_quarter) | Filter by fiscal reporting period. |
Response object
The response contains aresults array, where each element represents a matching document with the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
id | string | The unique identifier of the document, a 32-character hexadecimal string. |
headline | string | The title of the document. |
timestamp | datetime | The timestamp of the document. |
source | object | The source of the document, which contains the name of the source. |
chunks | list of objects | The content of the document, returned as relevant text chunks. |
url | string | Bigdata App URL that displays the original document. It can be customized to return the original document URL instead (see Returning the original document URL). |
Search example response
Returning the original document URL
By default, thebigdata_search tool returns the Bigdata App URL of the cited document in the url response parameter. Users who authenticated to the Bigdata MCP with their Bigdata username and password can open that document directly in the Bigdata App.
However, if your proprietary platform uses a single authentication credential or API Key to access the MCP and serve multiple clients, your end users will not have access to the Bigdata App. In that case, you can instruct the MCP server to return the original (public) URL of the document in the url response parameter instead of a link to the Bigdata App.
To do this, your proprietary platform must add the header parameter return-public-url with a value of True:

The
url field may be empty if the document is not publicly available. In that case, the client must download the entire document using the document ID.Usage Monitoring
The toolbigdata_search consumes API Query Units in the same way as the Search Service API. You can monitor the organization`s usage in the Developer Platform > Usage
Prompt examples
Company Brief
Generate a concise company brief with key business insights.
Investment Memo
Build a structured investment memo for a target company.
Earnings Preview
Prepare for upcoming earnings calls with key questions and context.
Earnings Q&A
Analyze earnings call transcripts with targeted questions and answers.