# Federal Register Rule Change Watch (`frankycheese/regulatory-change-watch`) Actor

Monitor Federal Register rules and notices against your keywords or agencies. Pay only for new documents or material source corrections, not every raw entry.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/frankycheese/regulatory-change-watch.md
- **Developed by:** [franklin mccheese](https://apify.com/frankycheese) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $150.00 / 1,000 new rule or notices

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Federal Register Rule Change Watch

Run daily or weekly. Pay only for newly seen Federal Register rules or notices that match your keywords or agencies.

### buyer wedge

Built for compliance teams, policy analysts, and industry associations who need a narrow regulatory-change feed—not another bulk document dump.

### why it is different

- **signal, not retrieval:** unmatched Federal Register documents are omitted and free.
- **agency filtering:** exact or phrase match against issuing agency names.
- **correction-aware:** a materially changed source record emits `SOURCE_CORRECTION` once.
- **replay-safe:** stable event IDs and provider idempotency keys suppress duplicate charges.
- **bounded spend:** `maxEvents` and `maxTotalChargeUsd` cap each run before charging.
- **audit evidence:** every row includes the official document number, citation, source fingerprint, timestamp, and disclaimer.

**price example:** four new rules plus one material source correction cost `$0.65`; unmatched and unchanged documents cost `$0.00`.

### source and scope

The Actor queries the official [Federal Register API](https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents.json) for RULE or NOTICE documents within a rolling publication-date window. No API key, browser, proxy, personal data, or AI inference is required. This Actor is an **internal screening aid** and emits new or corrected documents; it does not provide legal advice or claim regulatory interpretation.

### matching

At least one watch term is required:

- `keywords`: phrase match against rule titles and abstracts
- `agencies`: exact or phrase match against issuing agency names
- `documentTypes`: optional filter (`RULE` for final/proposed rules, `NOTICE` for notices)

`baselineMode=emit_matches` returns matching documents in the initial lookback window. Use `silent` to establish state without emitting or charging initial matches. Reuse the same `watchlistId`, settings, and `stateStoreName` for scheduled monitoring.

### output

Paid dataset rows are either:

- `NEW_RULE` — `$0.15`
- `SOURCE_CORRECTION` — `$0.05`

Unmatched documents, unchanged replays, silent baselines, malformed input, and failed source fetches are not paid events. A deterministic run report is stored as `REPORT` with source window, counts, receipts, state size, and claim scope.

### operational note

If the Federal Register API returns an error or an unexpected response shape, the run fails before state is advanced or events are charged. Event settlement is fail-closed: an ambiguous prior settlement refuses another provider charge.

### quick start

Start with a silent baseline so historical documents do not create paid events, then schedule the identical input daily or weekly.

```json
{
  "watchlistId": "regulatory-watch-epa",
  "keywords": ["clean air act", "emission standards"],
  "agencies": ["EPA"],
  "documentTypes": ["RULE"],
  "lookbackDays": 14,
  "baselineMode": "silent",
  "maxEvents": 20,
  "maxTotalChargeUsd": 5,
  "stateStoreName": "regulatory-watch-epa-state"
}
```

After the baseline, keep `watchlistId`, watch terms, and `stateStoreName` stable. Route returned `NEW_RULE` rows to a compliance review queue. Confirm every action against the linked Federal Register source; this feed is deliberately not a legal-advice or regulatory-interpretation system.

Other focused monitors: [FDA food recall matches](https://apify.com/frankycheese/fda-recall-match-delta), [8-K material events](https://apify.com/frankycheese/material-event-radar), and [drug safety signals](https://apify.com/frankycheese/drug-safety-signal).

# Actor input Schema

## `watchlistId` (type: `string`):

Stable 3-64 character ID for this regulatory watchlist.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Phrases matched against rule titles and abstracts.

## `agencies` (type: `array`):

Agency names to filter (e.g. EPA, FDA, SEC, FTC).

## `documentTypes` (type: `array`):

RULE for final/proposed rules, NOTICE for notices.

## `lookbackDays` (type: `integer`):

Rolling window for source queries.

## `baselineMode` (type: `string`):

Emit current matches or silently establish baseline.

## `maxEvents` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on paid signals per run.

## `maxTotalChargeUsd` (type: `number`):

Hard ceiling before any charge.

## `maxSourceRecords` (type: `integer`):

Bound the API response size.

## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`):

Reuse for scheduled runs to suppress replays.

## `resetState` (type: `boolean`):

Discard this watchlist's baseline.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "watchlistId": "my-regulatory-change-watch-watchlist",
  "keywords": [],
  "agencies": [],
  "documentTypes": [
    "RULE"
  ],
  "lookbackDays": 7,
  "baselineMode": "emit_matches",
  "maxEvents": 100,
  "maxTotalChargeUsd": 20,
  "maxSourceRecords": 1000,
  "stateStoreName": "regulatory-change-watch-state",
  "resetState": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

## `report` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("frankycheese/regulatory-change-watch").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("frankycheese/regulatory-change-watch").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call frankycheese/regulatory-change-watch --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,frankycheese/regulatory-change-watch"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/H6CtAx8YjA1FbdGlH/builds/sPZveWiwi2Aiut83O/openapi.json