CAGE code
A five-character identifier assigned to an entity with a federal registration, used across federal systems to identify a specific facility or location. It is issued as part of registration rather than applied for separately.
Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.
Also called Commercial and Government Entity code
In detail
For most grant recipients it is a byproduct: something that appears once registration completes and is then quoted on forms. It matters mainly because a lapse in the underlying registration takes it out of active status with everything else.
It identifies a location as well as an entity, so an organisation with several registered sites can hold several codes.
Against a UEI
A UEI identifies the entity in the federal award system and is the number a grant application asks for. A CAGE code identifies an entity at a location across a wider set of federal systems. Neither is stored here: both are properties of your organisation, checked live, and a copy of either would go stale without anyone noticing.
How GrantTrove stores it
- The only identifiers we store belong to the funder and the source: `ein` on a funder record, `source_post_id` and `source_fingerprint` on a grant.
- `ein` is stored as the digits the filing shows, formatted for display rather than reformatted in storage, and shown in mono with tabular figures like every other identifier in the product.
Common questions
Do I need a CAGE code to apply?
You need an active federal registration; the code comes with it rather than being obtained separately.
Do you store applicant identifiers?
No. We hold nothing about applicants at all.
Is it the same as a UEI?
No. Different systems, different purposes, both issued through registration.