SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search Scraper

Investors, researchers and compliance teams get SEC filings that mention a specific term as flat, structured records, instead of paging through EDGAR's search UI by hand. Filter by form type, date range or company and export results ready for analysis.

Get structured filing search results from SEC EDGAR as JSON, CSV or Excel, or call it as a tool from Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT or any MCP client. Built on the official EDGAR full-text search API that powers the search box at sec.gov/edgar/search, so it does not break when the website changes. Pay only for the filings you receive.

What you get

One record per matching filing document with company identity, form and dates: entity name, ticker and CIK (parsed from the filer line), all CIKs and display names on the filing, form type and root form, filing date and period ending, file type and description, business location, state and state of incorporation, SIC industry code, file number, document sequence, and ready-to-open links to both the filing document and its EDGAR filing index.

Every result is a flat record with stable field names, so it drops straight into a spreadsheet, a database or an AI agent's context.

Why use this instead of the website

• Combine a keyword or exact phrase with form type, date range, CIK and entity name filters in one call
• Pagination handled for you, with automatic retries and fair-access pacing
• Direct links built for you, no manual accession-number math
• Results in JSON, CSV, Excel or via API, or piped into Zapier, Make, n8n and Google Sheets
• Works as an MCP tool, so AI agents can search filings on demand
• No browser, no proxies, no personal data: fast runs and a tiny cost per result

Input

Field	Type	Default	Meaning
query	string	(required)	Search text. Multi-word phrases are auto-quoted for an exact match; quote it yourself to control this.
forms	array	all	Form types to include, e.g. 8-K, 10-K, 10-Q, S-1, 13F-HR, DEF 14A
startDate	date	12 months ago	Only filings filed on or after this date
endDate	date	today	Only filings filed on or before this date
ciks	array		Only filings from these filer CIK numbers
entityName	string		Only filings from a company or person matching this name
maxResults	integer	100	Cap on filings saved. You are charged per filing, so this caps your cost.

Example input:

{
  "query": "climate change",
  "forms": ["8-K"],
  "startDate": "2024-01-01",
  "endDate": "2024-02-01",
  "maxResults": 100
}

Output

Sample rows from a live run:

entity	form	filed	ticker
DANAHER CORP /DE/	8-K	2024-01-08	DHR
EOG RESOURCES INC	8-K	2024-01-11	EOG
DANAHER CORP /DE/	8-K	2024-01-08	DHR

Full example result:

{
  "id": "0000313616-24-000004:ex991pre-selecteddanaher.htm",
  "adsh": "0000313616-24-000004",
  "form": "8-K",
  "rootForms": ["8-K"],
  "fileDate": "2024-01-08",
  "periodEnding": "2024-01-08",
  "entityName": "DANAHER CORP /DE/",
  "ticker": "DHR",
  "cik": "0000313616",
  "ciks": ["0000313616"],
  "displayNames": ["DANAHER CORP /DE/ (DHR) (CIK 0000313616)"],
  "fileType": "EX-99.1PRE",
  "fileDescription": "EX-99.1PRE",
  "bizLocations": ["Washington, DC"],
  "bizStates": ["DC"],
  "incStates": ["DE"],
  "sics": ["3823"],
  "fileNum": ["001-08089"],
  "sequence": 3,
  "filingUrl": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313616/000031361624000004/ex991pre-selecteddanaher.htm",
  "indexUrl": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/313616/000031361624000004/"
}

Field reference: id, adsh, form, rootForms[], fileDate, periodEnding, entityName, ticker, cik, ciks[], displayNames[], fileType, fileDescription, bizLocations[], bizStates[], incStates[], sics[], fileNum[], sequence, filingUrl, indexUrl. entityName, ticker and cik are parsed from the first displayNames entry; ticker is null when EDGAR has none on file (common for individuals and older filers).

Pricing

Pay per event. You are charged $2.00 per 1,000 filings saved to the dataset, plus a fraction of a cent per run start. Nothing is charged for results you do not receive. Set "Max total charge per run" in the run options to cap spending on any run. When a run reaches your cap it stops cleanly and keeps everything it already saved.

Rough guide: 1,000 filings cost $2.00 and take about 15 seconds.

Use it from an AI agent (MCP)

This Actor is available as an MCP tool through the Apify MCP server. Add it to your client, then ask the agent for the data in plain language.

Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor (mcp.json / claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=brightpath-data/sec-edgar-full-text-search",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}

ChatGPT and other clients that support remote MCP servers: add https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=brightpath-data/sec-edgar-full-text-search as a connector with your Apify token.

Example prompt once connected: "Find 8-K filings from the last month that mention 'material cybersecurity incident' and list the company, ticker and filing date."

Use it from code

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/brightpath-data~sec-edgar-full-text-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"climate change","forms":["8-K"],"maxResults":100}'

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("brightpath-data/sec-edgar-full-text-search").call(run_input={"query": "climate change", "forms": ["8-K"], "maxResults": 100})
items = client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items

Limits and fair use

• SEC EDGAR full-text search covers filings from 2001 onward and returns at most 10,000 hits per query; narrow the date range or form types for queries that match more.
• Requests are paced at one every 500 milliseconds (well under the SEC's fair-access limit of 10 requests per second) and identify themselves with a descriptive User-Agent, as SEC's fair access policy requires.
• Up to 10,000 filings per run.

Data source and legal

Data comes from SEC EDGAR, the public filing system of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, through its official full-text search endpoint (efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index), the same one used by the search box at sec.gov/edgar/search. SEC filings are U.S. government records in the public domain. This Actor sends a descriptive User-Agent and paces requests under SEC's fair access policy, and does not bypass logins, paywalls or access controls. You are responsible for how you use the data.

Support

Found a problem or need a field added? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab. Fixes for broken runs are prioritized.