Federal Register API: US Rules, Notices & Docs

Federal Register API searches and exports official US Federal Register documents — rules, proposed rules, notices and presidential documents — through the government's public JSON API. Filter by keyword, agency, document type and publication date. $3 per 1,000 documents. Near-zero legal risk: official open-government data.

What can this Federal Register scraper / API do?

• 📜 Full-text search across the Federal Register corpus.
• 🏛️ Filter by agency, document type (RULE / PRORULE / NOTICE / PRESDOCU) and publication date range.
• 🔗 Structured output: document number, title, type, abstract, agencies, HTML/PDF/public-inspection URLs, topics, CFR references and RINs.
• ⚡ Paginated up to your maxItems with a hard stop on max cost per run.
• 🤖 Flat input for Zapier, Make, n8n and the Apify MCP server.

Why use a Federal Register API?

• Compliance and regulatory monitoring for legal, policy and govtech teams.
• Track AI, climate, finance or health rulemaking with keyword alerts.
• Research presidential documents, proclamations and executive actions.
• Feed enrichment pipelines without scraping HTML.

How to use it

1. Enter a search term (optional) and any agencies / document types.
2. Optionally set publication date from/to.
3. Set Max documents (keep small for Try it).
4. Click Start or call the API.

Input

{
  "term": "artificial intelligence",
  "maxItems": 5,
  "order": "newest"
}

Empty input returns 5 newest Presidential Documents as a safe demo.

Output example

{
  "documentNumber": "2026-20972",
  "title": "Columbus Day, 2026",
  "type": "Presidential Document",
  "abstract": null,
  "agencies": ["Executive Office of the President"],
  "publicationDate": "2026-10-13",
  "effectiveDate": null,
  "htmlUrl": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/13/2026-20972/columbus-day-2026",
  "pdfUrl": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-13/pdf/2026-20972.pdf",
  "publicInspectionUrl": "https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-20972.pdf",
  "topics": [],
  "cfrReferences": [],
  "regulationIdNumbers": [],
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-13T05:00:00.000Z"
}

How much does it cost?

	This Actor
Per 1,000 documents	$3.00
Actor start	$0.005
Empty / failed query (0 docs)	run fails loudly — you are not charged for document events

Examples: 100 docs ≈ $0.31, 1,000 docs ≈ $3.01. Set a maximum cost per run to cap spend.

How to use the API (Python, JavaScript, cURL)

Every run is available through the Apify API. Get your API token in Apify Console → Settings → API & Integrations.

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("best_apis/federal-register-api").call(run_input={"term": "artificial intelligence", "maxItems": 20, "order": "newest"})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

JavaScript / Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('best_apis/federal-register-api').call({"term": "artificial intelligence", "maxItems": 20, "order": "newest"});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

cURL (run and get documents in one request)

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/best_apis~federal-register-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"term": "artificial intelligence", "maxItems": 20, "order": "newest"}'

Integrations

Connect results to Google Sheets, Slack, email, Zapier, Make, n8n, Airbyte, webhooks or AI agents through the Apify MCP server. Use Schedules for daily regulatory alerts. Export as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML.

FAQ

Is this the official Federal Register API? Yes — this Actor wraps https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/ and adds Apify scheduling, datasets, billing and integrations.

Do I need a proxy? Usually no. The default is direct. Enable Apify proxy only if your environment blocks the government domain.

What document types are supported? RULE, PRORULE (proposed rule), NOTICE, PRESDOCU (presidential document).

Is it legal? Federal Register content is U.S. government public information. This Actor only calls the official public API.

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Questions, bugs or feature requests? Open an issue on the Issues tab. We usually reply within 24 hours.