# Federal Court Records Scraper - PACER RECAP & Opinions (`haketa/federal-court-records-scraper`) Actor US federal court records scraper & API: search PACER / RECAP dockets, filings, documents, parties, attorneys, judges and opinions by query, court or date. Legal research, litigation monitoring and docket data — fast, no PACER account and no per-page fees. - **URL**: https://apify.com/haketa/federal-court-records-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Haketa](https://apify.com/haketa) (community) - **Categories:** News, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.80 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Federal Court Records Scraper ⚖️ — PACER / RECAP Dockets & Court Opinions Extract **US federal court records** — dockets, docket entries, filed documents, parties, attorneys, judges and full court opinions — as clean, structured data. **No PACER account, no per-page fees, no headless browser.** Search across all US federal courts (district, appellate, bankruptcy) and the Supreme Court, then export everything to **JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML**, or pull it straight from the **Apify API**. > 💡 **Why this actor?** PACER itself is login-gated and charges **$0.10 per page**. This actor gets you the federal court records you need — dockets, documents, parties, judges and opinions — **fee-free and ready to analyze**. --- ### 📋 Table of contents - [What does it do?](#what-does-it-do) - [Use cases](#use-cases) - [How to use it](#how-to-use-it-step-by-step) - [Input parameters](#input-parameters) - [Input examples](#input-examples) - [Output — data fields](#output--data-fields) - [Sample output record](#sample-output-record) - [Rate limits & large runs](#rate-limits--large-runs) - [Tips & best practices](#tips--best-practices) - [Frequently asked questions](#frequently-asked-questions) - [Changelog](#changelog) --- ### What does it do? Search and export **federal court data** across the entire US federal judiciary. Choose exactly what you want: - ✅ **Cases with documents (RECAP dockets)** — federal cases with their filed documents - ✅ **Dockets (metadata only)** — fast case-level metadata - ✅ **Opinions / case law** — judicial opinions and decisions, with citations - ✅ **Filing documents** — individual filings (complaints, motions, orders…) - ✅ **Judges** — federal judge profiles - ✅ **Oral argument audio** — appellate oral arguments For every case you get **case name, court, docket number, filing/termination dates, the assigned judge, nature of suit, cause of action, parties, attorneys, law firms, the PACER case ID**, and a list of **documents** (with descriptions, page counts and direct PDF links where available). --- ### Use cases **⚖️ Lawyers & litigation teams** - Track new filings against a company, person, or in a practice area. - Pull dockets and documents for case research and due diligence. - Build litigation datasets by court, judge, or nature of suit. **📊 Litigation finance & legal analytics** - Analyse filing trends, judge assignment, case duration and outcomes. - Monitor bankruptcy and IP cases at scale. - Feed structured docket data into models and dashboards. **📰 Journalists & researchers** - Find and follow newsworthy cases and parties. - Aggregate court opinions and case law for analysis. - Study the federal judiciary with clean, exportable data. **🏢 Compliance, insurance & due diligence** - Screen entities for federal litigation history. - Monitor parties of interest across all federal courts. **🤖 Data & AI teams** - Build legal-NLP datasets from opinions and filings. - Power retrieval over dockets, parties and documents. --- ### How to use it (step by step) No coding required. 1. Click **Try for free / Start**. 2. Choose **What to search** (e.g. "Cases with documents", or "Opinions / case law"). 3. Enter a **Search query** — a company, party name, keyword or case name (e.g. `Apple`). Or leave it empty and filter by court/date. 4. Optionally set a **Court ID** (e.g. `nysd`, `cand`, `scotus`) and a **date range**. 5. Set **Max items** (start with 100). 6. *(Recommended for big runs)* paste an **API token** to raise rate limits. 7. Click **Save & Start**, then export the results. --- ### Input parameters | Field | Type | Description | |------|------|-------------| | `searchType` | string | `r` cases+documents (RECAP), `d` dockets metadata, `o` opinions/case law, `rd` filing documents, `p` judges, `oa` oral arguments. | | `query` | string | Keywords, party/company, case name, citation. Empty = browse by filters. | | `court` | string | Court ID, e.g. `casd`, `nysd`, `cand`, `scotus`. Optional. | | `dateFiledAfter` | string | Only records filed on/after `YYYY-MM-DD`. | | `dateFiledBefore` | string | Only records filed on/before `YYYY-MM-DD`. | | `order` | string | Sort: newest first, oldest first, best match, recently argued. | | `startUrls` | array | Advanced: paste search URLs or raw API URLs. Overrides the builder. | | `maxItems` | integer | Max records. `0` = no limit. Default `100`. | | `courtListenerToken` | string (secret) | Optional API token to raise rate limits — recommended for large runs. The actor also works without it for small runs. | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | Proxy settings. Default: Apify Proxy on. | | `maxConcurrency` | integer | Keep low (1–2) for the most reliable runs. Default `1`. | --- ### Input examples **1) Federal cases mentioning a company, newest first** ```json { "searchType": "r", "query": "Apple", "order": "dateFiled desc", "maxItems": 200 } ```` **2) Recent cases in one court within a date range** ```json { "searchType": "d", "court": "nysd", "dateFiledAfter": "2026-01-01", "dateFiledBefore": "2026-06-01", "maxItems": 500 } ``` **3) Court opinions / case law on a topic** ```json { "searchType": "o", "query": "copyright fair use", "order": "score desc", "maxItems": 100 } ``` **4) Large run with a token (higher rate limits)** ```json { "searchType": "r", "query": "patent infringement", "courtListenerToken": "your-token", "maxItems": 5000 } ``` *** ### Output — data fields Each record is one dataset row. Core fields: | Field | Description | |------|-------------| | `recordType` | The search type (`r`, `d`, `o`, …) | | `caseName` | Case name | | `court` | Court name | | `courtId` | Court ID (e.g. `casd`) | | `docketNumber` | Docket number | | `docketId` | Internal docket ID | | `pacerCaseId` | PACER case ID | | `dateFiled` | Filing date | | `dateTerminated` | Termination date | | `dateArgued` | Argument date (where applicable) | | `assignedTo` | Assigned judge | | `referredTo` | Referred-to (magistrate) judge | | `suitNature` | Nature of suit | | `cause` | Cause of action | | `jurisdictionType` | Jurisdiction type | | `juryDemand` | Jury demand | | `parties` | Array of party names | | `attorneys` | Array of attorney names | | `firms` | Array of law-firm names | | `documentCount` | Number of documents attached | | `documents` | Array of documents (see below) | | `courtListenerUrl` | Link to the full record online | | `scrapedAt` | ISO timestamp | Each entry in `documents[]`: | Field | Description | |------|-------------| | `documentNumber` | Filing number | | `attachmentNumber` | Attachment number (if any) | | `shortDescription` / `description` | Document description | | `documentType` | Document type | | `pageCount` | Number of pages | | `isAvailable` | Whether the PDF is available | | `pacerDocId` | PACER document ID | | `entryNumber` / `entryDateFiled` | Docket-entry number & date | | `pdfUrl` | Direct PDF link (when available) | | `url` | Link to the document online | For **opinions** (`searchType: "o"`) you also get `caseNameFull`, `judge`, `citation`, `neutralCite`, `lexisCite`, `citeCount`, `status`, `posture`, `clusterId`. *** ### Sample output record ```json { "recordType": "r", "caseName": "Portus Singapore PTE Ltd v. Savant Systems, Inc.", "court": "District Court, S.D. New York", "courtId": "nysd", "docketNumber": "1:26-cv-04691", "docketId": 73437175, "pacerCaseId": "...", "dateFiled": "2026-06-03", "dateTerminated": null, "assignedTo": null, "suitNature": "830 Patent", "cause": "35:271 Patent Infringement", "jurisdictionType": "Federal Question", "parties": ["Portus Singapore PTE Ltd", "Savant Systems, Inc."], "attorneys": [], "firms": [], "documentCount": 2, "documents": [ { "documentNumber": 1, "shortDescription": "Exhibit D", "description": "COMPLAINT ...", "documentType": "PACER Document", "pageCount": 12, "isAvailable": true, "pacerDocId": "...", "entryNumber": 1, "entryDateFiled": "2026-06-03", "pdfUrl": "https://.../document.pdf", "url": "https://.../docket/73437175/1/..." } ], "courtListenerUrl": "https://.../docket/73437175/...", "scrapedAt": "2026-06-04T12:00:00.000Z" } ``` *** ### Rate limits & large runs For small runs the actor works out of the box. For larger runs, paste an **API token** to raise your rate limits and avoid throttling, and keep **concurrency low (1–2)** so the actor paces itself reliably. To pull very large volumes, split the job by **court** or **month**. *** ### Tips & best practices - 🔑 **Add a token** for any run over a few hundred items — it prevents throttling. - 🧪 **Start with `maxItems: 50`** to confirm your query and filters. - 🎯 **Use `court` + date filters** to keep result sets focused and relevant. - 🧱 **Split very large jobs** by court or month. - 🐢 **Keep concurrency at 1–2** for the most reliable runs. - 💾 **Use the Apify API / integrations** to push results into Google Sheets, a database, or a webhook, and **schedule** runs to monitor new filings. *** ### Frequently asked questions **Do I need a PACER account?** No. This actor gets you federal court records without a PACER account. **Will I be charged PACER's per-page fees?** No. **Do I need a token?** No for small runs. For large runs a token is recommended — it raises your rate limits. **Is every document available?** Document PDFs are available where they've been archived; the `isAvailable` field tells you per document. Case metadata (dockets, parties, entries) is broadly available even when a PDF isn't. **Can I monitor new filings?** Yes — schedule the actor (e.g. daily) with a query/court filter and export new records to a webhook or sheet. **What export formats are supported?** JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, HTML table, RSS — plus the Apify API and integrations. *** ### Changelog **0.1.0** - Initial release: search RECAP dockets, dockets metadata, opinions, filing documents, judges and oral arguments. - Cursor pagination, optional API token for higher rate limits, court/date filters. - Clean normalized schema with nested documents (descriptions, page counts, PDF links), parties, attorneys and firms. # Actor input Schema ## `searchType` (type: `string`): r = federal court cases with documents (RECAP dockets), d = docket metadata only, o = court opinions / case law, rd = filing documents, p = judges, oa = oral argument audio. ## `query` (type: `string`): Keywords, party name, company, case name, citation, etc. Supports the same query syntax as CourtListener (e.g. "Apple", "caseName:(Google)"). Leave empty to browse by filters only. ## `court` (type: `string`): Limit to a court by its CourtListener ID, e.g. 'casd' (S.D. Cal.), 'nysd' (S.D.N.Y.), 'cand' (N.D. Cal.), 'scotus'. Leave empty for all courts. ## `dateFiledAfter` (type: `string`): Only records filed on or after this date. ## `dateFiledBefore` (type: `string`): Only records filed on or before this date. ## `order` (type: `string`): How to sort results. ## `startUrls` (type: `array`): Optional. Paste CourtListener search URLs (courtlistener.com/?q=...) or raw API URLs (.../api/rest/v4/search/?...). When provided, the builder fields above are ignored. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of records to scrape. Use 0 for no limit (mind CourtListener's rate limits). ## `courtListenerToken` (type: `string`): Your free CourtListener API token (from your courtlistener.com profile). Optional, but strongly recommended — it raises your rate limits so large runs don't get throttled. The public search works without it for small runs. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): The CourtListener API has no anti-bot; proxies mainly help spread rate-limited requests. ## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`): Keep this low (1-2) to respect CourtListener's rate limits. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchType": "r", "query": "Apple", "order": "dateFiled desc", "maxItems": 100, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }, "maxConcurrency": 1 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `records` (type: `string`): All court records collected during the run. ## `runUrl` (type: `string`): Open this run in the Apify Console. # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "query": "Apple", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("haketa/federal-court-records-scraper").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "query": "Apple", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("haketa/federal-court-records-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "query": "Apple", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true } }' | apify call haketa/federal-court-records-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=haketa/federal-court-records-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Federal Court Records Scraper - PACER RECAP & Opinions", "description": "US federal court records scraper & API: search PACER / RECAP dockets, filings, documents, parties, attorneys, judges and opinions by query, court or date. Legal research, litigation monitoring and docket data — fast, no PACER account and no per-page fees.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "MI7tE43hhJ9EH8cuW" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/haketa~federal-court-records-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-haketa-federal-court-records-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/haketa~federal-court-records-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-haketa-federal-court-records-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/haketa~federal-court-records-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-haketa-federal-court-records-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "searchType": { "title": "What to search", "enum": [ "r", "d", "o", "rd", "p", "oa" ], "type": "string", "description": "r = federal court cases with documents (RECAP dockets), d = docket metadata only, o = court opinions / case law, rd = filing documents, p = judges, oa = oral argument audio.", "default": "r" }, "query": { "title": "Search query", "type": "string", "description": "Keywords, party name, company, case name, citation, etc. Supports the same query syntax as CourtListener (e.g. \"Apple\", \"caseName:(Google)\"). Leave empty to browse by filters only." }, "court": { "title": "Court ID (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Limit to a court by its CourtListener ID, e.g. 'casd' (S.D. Cal.), 'nysd' (S.D.N.Y.), 'cand' (N.D. Cal.), 'scotus'. Leave empty for all courts." }, "dateFiledAfter": { "title": "Filed after (YYYY-MM-DD)", "type": "string", "description": "Only records filed on or after this date." }, "dateFiledBefore": { "title": "Filed before (YYYY-MM-DD)", "type": "string", "description": "Only records filed on or before this date." }, "order": { "title": "Sort order", "enum": [ "dateFiled desc", "dateFiled asc", "score desc", "dateArgued desc" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to sort results.", "default": "dateFiled desc" }, "startUrls": { "title": "CourtListener URLs (advanced)", "type": "array", "description": "Optional. Paste CourtListener search URLs (courtlistener.com/?q=...) or raw API URLs (.../api/rest/v4/search/?...). When provided, the builder fields above are ignored.", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "url" ], "properties": { "url": { "type": "string", "title": "URL of a web page", "format": "uri" } } } }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max items", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of records to scrape. Use 0 for no limit (mind CourtListener's rate limits).", "default": 100 }, "courtListenerToken": { "title": "CourtListener API token (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Your free CourtListener API token (from your courtlistener.com profile). Optional, but strongly recommended — it raises your rate limits so large runs don't get throttled. The public search works without it for small runs." }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "The CourtListener API has no anti-bot; proxies mainly help spread rate-limited requests.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } }, "maxConcurrency": { "title": "Max concurrency", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 5, "type": "integer", "description": "Keep this low (1-2) to respect CourtListener's rate limits.", "default": 1 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```