# CourtListener RSS & Atom Feed Scraper (`muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper`) Actor

Scrape public CourtListener RSS and Atom feeds for legal research, docket monitoring, citation alerts, and case-law discovery. Returns unique IDs, titles, URLs, timestamps, authors, summaries, content, categories, and feed metadata.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Muhammad Afzal](https://apify.com/muhammadafzal) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 feed items

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## CourtListener RSS Scraper

Scrape public CourtListener RSS and Atom feeds into a clean Apify dataset for legal-research monitoring, docket updates, citation alerts, and case-law discovery.

### What it extracts

Each item includes its stable feed ID, title, item URL, publication/update timestamps, author, summary, optional feed content, categories, feed metadata, and scrape timestamp. The Actor reads the feed itself; it does not fetch full opinions, PACER documents, or authenticated alerts.

### Inputs

Use one or more of these modes:

```json
{
  "feedUrls": ["https://www.courtlistener.com/feed/court/all/"],
  "searchQueries": ["privacy"],
  "docketIds": ["4112546"],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "includeContent": true
}
```

CourtListener documents search feeds at `/feed/search/?q=...`, docket feeds at `/docket/{docket-id}/feed/`, and jurisdiction opinion feeds under `/feed/court/`. Direct `feedUrls` are recommended when you already have a feed-reader URL.

### Output

```json
{
  "itemId": "tag:courtlistener.com,2026:opinion/1",
  "title": "Example v. State",
  "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1/example-v-state/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-21T00:00:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-08-21T00:00:00Z",
  "author": "CourtListener",
  "summary": "A summary.",
  "content": null,
  "categories": ["Supreme Court"],
  "feedTitle": "All case law",
  "feedUrl": "https://www.courtlistener.com/feed/court/all/",
  "feedType": "atom",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-21T00:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Pricing and limits

The Actor uses Pay per event: one small start event plus one event per unique dataset item. At the default result price, 100 items cost about $0.10005 before any account-level platform details. `maxResults` is capped at 5,000 and the Actor makes at most 50 feed requests per run.

### Reliability and compliance

Requests use CourtListener’s public feed endpoints with bounded retries and a descriptive user agent. Failed feeds are recorded in `OUTPUT`; valid feeds continue. An empty feed is reported as an empty result, not as fabricated data. Respect CourtListener’s terms, robots/access policies, feed maintenance constraints, and applicable legal requirements. Do not use this Actor to bypass authentication, rate limits, or access controls.

### Use cases

- Schedule repeatable collection and export results to downstream workflows.
- Run a one-off research job and export the structured result as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS from Apify.
- Schedule the same input to monitor changes over time and send completed datasets to a webhook or integration.
- Feed schema-shaped records into a database, spreadsheet, BI tool, or AI workflow with the source URL retained for verification.

### Run CourtListener RSS Scraper with the Apify API

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

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper').call({
  "feedUrls": [],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "docketIds": [],
  "jurisdictionUrls": [],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "includeContent": true,
  "maxRequestRetries": 2
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);
```

You can also run the Actor from Apify Console, schedules, webhooks, the REST API, Make, Zapier, n8n, or the hosted Apify MCP server.

### Support

When reporting a problem, include the **Actor run ID**, a redacted input, the expected result, and a small public example URL when applicable. Do not post API tokens, cookies, credentials, or personal data in an issue.

### Frequently asked questions

#### Can I schedule CourtListener RSS Scraper?

Yes. Use an Apify schedule to run the same saved input at a chosen interval, then connect a webhook or integration to process the dataset when the run finishes.

#### How should I test a new input?

Begin with the prefilled example or a small limit. Confirm that the output fields, source coverage, runtime, and live charges match your workflow before increasing the scope.

#### How do I export the results?

Open the run's default dataset in Apify Console and export JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, or RSS. Applications can retrieve the same records through the Apify API client or REST dataset endpoint.

#### Can an AI agent call this Actor?

Yes. Add `muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper` through the hosted Apify MCP server or call it through the API. The Actor's input and dataset schemas help agents construct valid requests and interpret returned records.

### Recommended workflow

1. **Define the smallest useful scope.** Choose a representative public URL, query, identifier, or filter and keep the first result limit low.
2. **Run and inspect.** Check the run log, dataset item count, field coverage, source URLs, and live event or usage charges.
3. **Validate downstream assumptions.** Confirm nullable fields, deduplication keys, timestamps, and any locale-specific formats before importing records into another system.
4. **Scale gradually.** Increase limits or scheduling frequency only after the small run behaves as expected. Use Apify's maximum-cost and timeout controls to bound large jobs.
5. **Monitor changes.** Keep a small known-good input as a canary. If the source layout or API changes, compare the new dataset with a previously validated run and report the run ID when requesting support.

For recurring workflows, store the exact Actor input with your pipeline configuration. This makes runs reproducible and helps distinguish a source-data change from an input change.

# Actor input Schema

## `feedUrls` (type: `array`):

Use this when you already have CourtListener RSS or Atom URLs. Enter full https://www.courtlistener.com/.../feed/ URLs, such as https://www.courtlistener.com/feed/court/all/. This is the most flexible input mode.

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Use this to create CourtListener search feeds for new case-law results. Enter CourtListener search syntax such as privacy or cites:(12345). This is not a general web search.

## `docketIds` (type: `array`):

Use this to monitor docket updates by numeric CourtListener docket ID. Enter values such as 4112546. This is not a case number or RECAP document ID.

## `jurisdictionUrls` (type: `array`):

Use this for CourtListener jurisdiction opinion feeds copied from CourtListener. Enter URLs like https://www.courtlistener.com/feed/court/all/. This is not for arbitrary RSS providers.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Use this to cap unique feed items written to the dataset. Enter 1–5000. Defaults to 100; this is a total cap across all feeds.

## `includeContent` (type: `boolean`):

Use this to include Atom content or RSS encoded content when supplied by CourtListener. Defaults to true; set false for smaller records. This does not fetch full opinion or docket documents.

## `maxRequestRetries` (type: `integer`):

Use this to retry temporary feed failures. Enter 0–5. Defaults to 2; this is not a proxy count.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "feedUrls": [],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "docketIds": [],
  "jurisdictionUrls": [],
  "maxResults": 100,
  "includeContent": true,
  "maxRequestRetries": 2
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Dataset containing one normalized record per unique CourtListener RSS or Atom item.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

OUTPUT key-value record containing feed counts, result counts, and errors.

# 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("muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-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 '<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("muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper").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 muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,muhammadafzal/courtlistener-rss-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/kXELRoiS6Jra9jZXH/builds/3Ire9nrYL5rQmMKn3/openapi.json