CourtListener website screenshot

CourtListener

CourtListener is a free legal research platform operated by the Free Law Project, a nonprofit organization. It provides a comprehensive REST API for accessing US court opinions, dockets, oral arguments, judge biographical data, financial disclosures, and citation networks from federal and state courts. The platform archives over 9 million case law decisions, 500 million PACER-related items, 3.4 million minutes of oral arguments, and data on 16,000+ judges. Access is available through a membership model with rate limits scaling by tier; an EDU tier is free for academic users.

CourtListener publishes 21 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Alerts API, Audio API, Citation API, and 18 more. Tagged areas include Legal, Court Data, Case Law, PACER, and Judicial.

The CourtListener catalog on APIs.io includes 3 JSON-LD contexts and 1 Spectral governance ruleset.

CourtListener’s developer surface includes authentication, documentation, engineering blog, pricing, and 9 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub
44.0/100 developing ▬ flat Agent 31/100 agent aware Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6
AccessFreemiumSelf serve⚡ Free to try
21 APIs
LegalCourt DataCase LawPACERJudicialCitationsOral ArgumentsFederal CourtsState CourtsOpen Data

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-28 · rubric v0.6
Composite quality — 44.0/100 · developing
Contract Quality 16.7 / 25
Developer Ergonomics 4.3 / 20
Commercial Clarity 10.0 / 20
Operational Transparency 0.7 / 13
Governance 7.0 / 12
Discoverability 7.4 / 10
Agent readiness — 31/100 · agent aware
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10
Idempotency 0 / 9
Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8
Request/Response Examples 0 / 7
Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7
Typed Event Surface 0 / 6
Agent Skills 0 / 5
Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4
Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3
A2A Agent Card 0 / 8
Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 0 / 4
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/court-listener: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Want it done for you? Prioritized profiling — $2,500 →

APIs 21

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

CourtListener Alerts API

The Alerts API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for alerts.

CourtListener Audio API

The Audio API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for audio.

CourtListener Citation API

The Citation API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for citation.

CourtListener Cited By API

The Cited By API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for cited by.

CourtListener Cites API

The Cites API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for cites.

CourtListener Courts API

The Courts API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for courts.

CourtListener Coverage API

The Coverage API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for coverage.

CourtListener Docket Alerts API

The Docket Alerts API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for docket alerts.

CourtListener Docket Entries API

The Docket Entries API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for docket entries.

CourtListener Dockets API

The Dockets API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for dockets.

CourtListener Financial Disclosures API

The Financial Disclosures API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for financial disclosures.

CourtListener FJC Database API

The FJC Database API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for fjc database.

CourtListener Jurisdiction API

The Jurisdiction API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for jurisdiction.

CourtListener Opinion API

The Opinion API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for opinion.

CourtListener Opinion Clusters API

The Opinion Clusters API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for opinion clusters.

CourtListener Opinions API

The Opinions API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for opinions.

CourtListener People API

The People API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for people.

CourtListener Positions API

The Positions API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for positions.

CourtListener RECAP Documents API

The RECAP Documents API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for recap documents.

CourtListener Search API

The Search API from CourtListener — 3 operation(s) for search.

CourtListener Visualizations API

The Visualizations API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for visualizations.

Scroll for all 21

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Court Listener Plans Pricing

7 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Court Listener Rate Limits

0 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Court Listener Finops

FINOPS

Semantic Vocabularies 3

JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.

Court Listener Context

1 classes · 54 properties

JSON-LD

Court Listener Docket Context

0 classes · 0 properties

JSON-LD

Court Listener Opinion Context

0 classes · 0 properties

JSON-LD

Spectral Rules 1

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

CourtListener API Rules

5 rules · 4 warnings 1 info

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 9

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

Audio

16 properties

JSON SCHEMA

citation

20 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Court

16 properties

JSON SCHEMA

coverage

1 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Docket

12 properties

JSON SCHEMA

jurisdiction

13 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Opinion

16 properties

JSON SCHEMA

PaginatedResponse

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Person

17 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Scroll for all 9

Examples 5

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Court Listener Audio Example

16 fields

EXAMPLE

Court Listener Docket Example

12 fields

EXAMPLE

Court Listener Opinion Example

14 fields

EXAMPLE

Court Listener Person Example

17 fields

EXAMPLE

Court Listener Search Example

4 fields

EXAMPLE

Security Posture 2

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Court Listener Authentication

apiKey/http · 3 schemes

SECURITY

Court Listener Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · DMARC

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Court Listener Agentic Access

37 operations

37 operations · 0 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation
Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess
AgenticAccess

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

GitHubOrg
GitHubOrg

Access & Security 2

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity
DomainSecurity
 Authentication
Authentication

Operate 1

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

RateLimits
RateLimits

Commercial 3

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Pricing
Pricing
 Plans
Plans
 FinOps
FinOps

Company 3

The organization behind the API

Website
Website
 LinkedIn
LinkedIn
 Blog
Blog

Other 1

Properties that don't map to a standard resource type

X
X

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑ 
aid: court-listener
name: CourtListener
description: 'CourtListener is a free legal research platform operated by the Free Law Project, a nonprofit organization.
  It provides a comprehensive REST API for accessing US court opinions, dockets, oral arguments, judge biographical data,
  financial disclosures, and citation networks from federal and state courts. The platform archives over 9 million case law
  decisions, 500 million PACER-related items, 3.4 million minutes of oral arguments, and data on 16,000+ judges. Access is
  available through a membership model with rate limits scaling by tier; an EDU tier is free for academic users.

  '
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: self-serve
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: false
  label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
  confidence: high
  source:
  - plans
  - authentication
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/court-listener.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/court-listener/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
tags:
- Legal
- Court Data
- Case Law
- PACER
- Judicial
- Citations
- Oral Arguments
- Federal Courts
- State Courts
- Open Data
apis:
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-alerts-api
  name: CourtListener Alerts API
  description: The Alerts API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for alerts.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Alerts
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-alerts-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-audio-api
  name: CourtListener Audio API
  description: The Audio API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for audio.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Audio
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-audio-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-citation-api
  name: CourtListener Citation API
  description: The Citation API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for citation.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Citation
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-citation-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-cited-by-api
  name: CourtListener Cited By API
  description: The Cited By API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for cited by.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Cited By
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-cited-by-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-cites-api
  name: CourtListener Cites API
  description: The Cites API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for cites.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Cites
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-cites-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-courts-api
  name: CourtListener Courts API
  description: The Courts API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for courts.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Courts
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-courts-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-coverage-api
  name: CourtListener Coverage API
  description: The Coverage API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for coverage.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Coverage
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-coverage-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-docket-alerts-api
  name: CourtListener Docket Alerts API
  description: The Docket Alerts API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for docket alerts.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Docket Alerts
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-docket-alerts-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-docket-entries-api
  name: CourtListener Docket Entries API
  description: The Docket Entries API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for docket entries.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Docket Entries
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-docket-entries-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-dockets-api
  name: CourtListener Dockets API
  description: The Dockets API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for dockets.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Dockets
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-dockets-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-financial-disclosures-api
  name: CourtListener Financial Disclosures API
  description: The Financial Disclosures API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for financial disclosures.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Financial Disclosures
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-financial-disclosures-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-fjc-database-api
  name: CourtListener FJC Database API
  description: The FJC Database API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for fjc database.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - FJC Database
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-fjc-database-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-jurisdiction-api
  name: CourtListener Jurisdiction API
  description: The Jurisdiction API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for jurisdiction.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Jurisdiction
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-jurisdiction-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-opinion-api
  name: CourtListener Opinion API
  description: The Opinion API from CourtListener — 1 operation(s) for opinion.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Opinion
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-opinion-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-opinion-clusters-api
  name: CourtListener Opinion Clusters API
  description: The Opinion Clusters API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for opinion clusters.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Opinion Clusters
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-opinion-clusters-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-opinions-api
  name: CourtListener Opinions API
  description: The Opinions API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for opinions.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Opinions
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-opinions-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-people-api
  name: CourtListener People API
  description: The People API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for people.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - People
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-people-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-positions-api
  name: CourtListener Positions API
  description: The Positions API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for positions.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Positions
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-positions-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-recap-documents-api
  name: CourtListener RECAP Documents API
  description: The RECAP Documents API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for recap documents.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - RECAP Documents
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-recap-documents-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-search-api
  name: CourtListener Search API
  description: The Search API from CourtListener — 3 operation(s) for search.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Search
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-search-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
- aid: court-listener:court-listener-visualizations-api
  name: CourtListener Visualizations API
  description: The Visualizations API from CourtListener — 2 operation(s) for visualizations.
  humanURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/
  baseURL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
  tags:
  - Visualizations
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/court-listener-visualizations-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
  - type: PythonSDK
    url: https://github.com/freelawproject/courtlistener-api-client
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/court-listener-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/court-listener-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/court-listener-authentication.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://www.courtlistener.com/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://wiki.free.law/c/courtlistener/help/api/rest/v4/overview
- type: GitHubOrg
  url: https://github.com/freelawproject
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/free-law-project
- type: Blog
  url: https://free.law/blog/
- type: Pricing
  url: https://free.law/membership
- type: X
  url: https://x.com/FreeLawProject
- type: Plans
  url: plans/court-listener-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/court-listener-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/court-listener-finops.yml
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com