---
title: "What Is FCI? CMMC Definition"
description: "FCI is information provided by or generated for the government under a contract that is not intended for public release: the trigger for CMMC Level 1."
url: https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/fci
sealed: 2026-07-02
amended: 2026-09-03
register: cmmc/glossary/fci
records: 3
digest: sha3:c3ea41dfb5557e09963aad865c19ce3d614d81860af624c28cb7a50c4f66e0ba
---

# What is FCI?

Register / Glossary

FCI is information provided by or generated for the government under a contract that is not intended for public release: the trigger for CMMC Level 1.

Sealed 2026-07-02 · Amended 2026-09-03

FCI stands for Federal Contract Information.

Federal Contract Information (FCI) is non-public information created or received while performing a federal contract. Handling FCI (but not CUI) generally puts a contractor at CMMC Level 1.

Level 1 covers 17 basic safeguarding practices from FAR 52.204-21 and is met with an annual self-assessment and senior-official affirmation — no third-party assessor required.

The line between FCI and CUI matters: assuming you are FCI-only when you actually handle CUI is one of the most common and costly scoping mistakes contractors make.

## Related records

Guides and articles describe the work. The evidence that work produces is described in three proof pages and one architecture page.

- **proof.state**: [Proof of State](https://policycortex.com/proof/state). What the environment was, as of a date someone else picks: point-in-time records, content hashed and chained.
- **proof.change**: [Proof of Change](https://policycortex.com/proof/change). Who or what altered the environment, under what authority, with before and after state hashes.
- **proof.agency**: [Proof of Agency](https://policycortex.com/proof/agency). What a machine was permitted to do before it acted, what it did, and what would have stopped it.
- **architecture**: [Architecture](https://policycortex.com/architecture). How the chain is built and where it lives: inside your tenant, with no egress of evidence.

### Related terms and reading

| Entry |
|---|
| [CUI: Controlled Unclassified Information](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/cui): CUI is government-created or -owned information that requires safeguarding under law, regulation, or government-wide policy, but is not classified. |
| [SPRS: Supplier Performance Risk System](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/sprs): SPRS is the DoD system where contractors post their NIST 800-171 self-assessment score and, under CMMC, their certification status and affirmations. |

Know the term. Then see the record behind it. [Request Access](https://app.policycortex.com/auth?mode=request-access) · [Book a call](https://policycortex.com/book)

Dates of record

- **Sealed**: 2026-07-02
- **Last amended**: 2026-09-03
- **Record**: https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/fci

## Register colophon

| Seq | Label | SHA3-256 | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| REC 0000 | HEAD | e2ffcc7adced | dd9307ef76eb |
| REC 0001 | DEFINITION | f979da5aa35e | e2ffcc7adced |
| REC 0002 | RELATED RECORDS | c3ea41dfb555 | f979da5aa35e |

Head sha3:c3ea41dfb5557e09963aad865c19ce3d614d81860af624c28cb7a50c4f66e0ba. Each digest is SHA3-256 over the previous digest, the register key, the record label, and the record copy; a second party can recompute it from this document.