French Public Procurement Tender Monitoring Workflow

Overview

This n8n workflow automates the monitoring and filtering of French public procurement tenders (BOAMP - Bulletin Officiel des Annonces des Marchés Publics). It retrieves tenders based on your preferences, filters them by market type, and identifies relevant opportunities using keyword matching.

Who is this for?

• Companies seeking French public procurement opportunities
• Consultants monitoring specific market sectors
• Organizations tracking government contracts in France

What it does

The workflow operates in two main phases:

Phase 1: Automated Tender Collection

• Retrieves all tenders from the BOAMP API based on your configuration
• Filters by market type (Works, Services, Supplies)
• Stores complete tender data in Google Sheets
• Handles pagination automatically for large datasets

Phase 2: Intelligent Keyword Filtering

• Downloads and extracts text from tender PDF documents
• Searches for your specified keywords within tender content
• Saves matching tenders to a separate "Target" sheet for easy review
• Tracks processing status to avoid duplicates

Requirements

• n8n instance (self-hosted or cloud)
• Google account with Google Sheets access
• Google Sheets API credentials configured in n8n

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Duplicate the Configuration Spreadsheet

1. Access the template spreadsheet: Configuration Template
2. Click File → Make a copy
3. Save to your Google Drive
4. Note the URL of your new spreadsheet

Step 2: Configure Your Preferences

Open your copied spreadsheet and configure the Config tab:

Market Types - Check the categories you want to monitor:

• Travaux (Works/Construction)
• Services
• Fournitures (Supplies)

Search Period - Enter the number of days to look back (e.g., "30" for the last 30 days)

Keywords - Enter your search terms as a comma-separated list (e.g., "informatique, cloud, cybersécurité")

Step 3: Import the Workflow

1. Copy the workflow JSON from this template
2. In n8n, click Workflows → Import from File/URL
3. Paste the JSON and import

Step 4: Update Google Sheets Connections

Replace all Google Sheets node URLs with your spreadsheet URL:

Nodes to update:

• Get config (2 instances)
• Get keyword
• Get Offset
• Get All
• Append row in sheet
• Update offset
• Reset Offset
• Ok
• Target offre

For each node:

1. Open the node settings
2. Update the Document ID field with your spreadsheet URL
3. Verify the Sheet Name matches your spreadsheet tabs

Step 5: Configure Schedule Triggers

The workflow has two schedule triggers:

Schedule Trigger1 (Phase 1 - Tender Collection)

• Default: 0 8 1 * * (1st day of month at 8:00 AM)
• Adjust based on how frequently you want to collect tenders

Schedule Trigger (Phase 2 - Keyword Filtering)

• Default: 0 10 1 * * (1st day of month at 10:00 AM)
• Should run after Phase 1 completes

To modify:

1. Open the Schedule Trigger node
2. Click Cron Expression
3. Adjust timing as needed

Step 6: Test the Workflow

1. Manually execute Phase 1 by clicking the Schedule Trigger1 node and selecting Execute Node
2. Verify tenders appear in your "All" sheet
3. Execute Phase 2 by triggering the Schedule Trigger node
4. Check the "Target" sheet for matching tenders

How the Workflow Works

Phase 1: Tender Collection Process

1. Configuration Loading - Reads your preferences from Google Sheets
2. Offset Management - Tracks pagination position for API calls
3. API Request - Fetches up to 100 tenders per batch from BOAMP
4. Market Type Filtering - Keeps only selected market categories
5. Data Storage - Formats and saves tenders to the "All" sheet
6. Pagination Loop - Continues until all tenders are retrieved
7. Offset Reset - Prepares for next execution

Phase 2: Keyword Matching Process

1. Keyword Loading - Retrieves search terms from configuration
2. Tender Retrieval - Gets unprocessed tenders from "All" sheet
3. Sequential Processing - Loops through each tender individually
4. PDF Extraction - Downloads and extracts text from tender documents
5. Keyword Analysis - Searches for matches with accent/case normalization
6. Status Update - Marks tender as processed
7. Match Evaluation - Determines if keywords were found
8. Target Storage - Saves relevant tenders with match details

Customization Options

Adjust API Parameters

In the HTTP Request node, you can modify:

• limit: Number of records per batch (default: 100)
• Additional filters in the where parameter

Modify Keyword Matching Logic

Edit the Get query node to adjust:

• Text normalization (accent removal, case sensitivity)
• Match proximity requirements
• Context length around matches

Change Data Format

Update the Format Results node to modify:

• Date formatting
• PDF URL generation
• Field mappings

Spreadsheet Structure

Your Google Sheets should contain these tabs:

• Config - Your configuration settings
• Offset - Pagination tracking (managed automatically)
• All - Complete tender database
• Target - Filtered tenders matching your keywords

Troubleshooting

No tenders appearing in "All" sheet:

• Verify your configuration period isn't too restrictive
• Check that at least one market type is selected
• Ensure API is accessible (test the HTTP Request node)

PDF extraction errors:

• Some PDFs may be malformed or protected
• Check the URL generation in Format Results node
• Verify PDF URLs are accessible in a browser

Duplicate tenders in Target sheet:

• Ensure the "Ok" status is being written correctly
• Check the Filter node is excluding processed tenders
• Verify row_number matching in update operations

Keywords not matching:

• Keywords are case-insensitive and accent-insensitive
• Verify your keywords are spelled correctly
• Check the extracted text contains your terms

Performance Considerations

• Phase 1 processes 100 tenders per iteration with a 10-second wait between batches
• Phase 2 processes tenders sequentially to avoid overloading PDF extraction
• Large datasets (1000+ tenders) may take significant time to process
• Consider running Phase 1 less frequently if tender volume is manageable

Data Privacy

• All data is stored in your Google Sheets
• No external databases or third-party storage
• BOAMP API is publicly accessible (no authentication required)
• Ensure your Google Sheets permissions are properly configured

Support and Updates

This workflow retrieves data from the BOAMP public API. If API structure changes, nodes may require updates. Monitor the workflow execution logs for errors and adjust accordingly.