Federal Register Scraper: Rules, Notices & Orders

Federal Register Scraper searches the official federalregister.gov API and returns one row per document: final rules, proposed rules, notices and executive orders, with agencies, publication and effective dates, comment deadlines, docket IDs, CFR references, topics, signing dates, executive order numbers, PDF links and optional full text. It reads the public inspection desk and has a monitor mode that returns only documents new since your last run. Export CSV, Excel, JSON or XML. No login, no API key. Priced per document, nothing is charged for failed or empty runs.

The Federal Register is the daily journal of the US government. A search for "artificial intelligence" matched 1,585 documents on 2026-10-03, and a 10-document run finished in about 10 seconds. The public inspection desk held 108 unpublished documents that day.

🏛 What does the Federal Register Scraper do?

• Keyword search, for example "tariff", "drone" or "artificial intelligence", with filters by document type (Final Rules, Proposed Rules, Notices, Presidential Documents and executive orders), agency slug, dates or lookbackDays, CFR title and topic slugs, or significantOnly.
• Public inspection desk: documents filed with the Office of the Federal Register but not yet published.
• Full text of each document (first 20,000 characters, cleaned of HTML) as an optional extra.
• Monitor mode that returns only documents new since your last run.

📊 What data can you extract from the Federal Register?

Each row can carry up to 41 columns. The main ones:

Field	What it holds
recordType, documentNumber	document or public-inspection; official number, for example 2026-20281
title, type, subtype, action, abstract	Title, type, subtype, action, abstract up to 600 characters
agencies, agencySlugs	Every agency named on the document, as names and slugs
publicationDate, effectiveDate, commentsCloseOn, signingDate	Publication (expected for public inspection), effective, comment deadline and signing dates
executiveOrderNumber, proclamationNumber, president	Order or proclamation number and the signing president
significant	Yes or No, the significance flag
cfrReferences, topics, dates	CFR parts affected such as "26 CFR 54", topic tags, date text
docketIds, regulationIdNumbers	Docket IDs and RIN numbers, when present
citation, volume, startPage, endPage, pageCount	Citation and page data
htmlUrl, pdfUrl, jsonUrl, commentUrl and more	Page, PDF, API record and comment links
fullText, searchTerm, scrapedAt	Plain text (only when enabled), which search found it, and when

Fields the source does not provide are left out of that row.

📄 Sample output of a Federal Register search

Real row from a cloud run on 2026-10-03:

{
  "recordType": "document",
  "documentNumber": "2026-20281",
  "title": "Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE) Model",
  "type": "Rule",
  "abstract": "This final rule implements the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing Model (GLOBE Model)...",
  "agencies": [
    "Health and Human Services Department",
    "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services"
  ],
  "publicationDate": "2026-10-02",
  "effectiveDate": "2026-11-30",
  "docketIds": ["CMS-5545-F"],
  "htmlUrl": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/02/2026-20281/global-benchmark-for-efficient-drug-pricing-globe-model",
  "pdfUrl": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-02/pdf/2026-20281.pdf",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-04T04:00:31.559Z"
}

💵 How much does it cost to scrape the Federal Register?

Pay per event. Prices are FREE-plan prices; paid plans go down to $0.012 per document.

Event	Price	When it is charged
Document record	$0.015 per document ($15 per 1,000)	One Federal Register document saved to the dataset
Public inspection document	$0.015 per document	One public inspection document saved to the dataset
Full document text	$0.012 per document	Only when you enable full text and the text actually downloads

A 10-document run with full text costs about $0.27 (10 records plus 10 full texts). 1,000 documents cost 1,000 x $0.015 = $15.00, and $15.00 + 1,000 x $0.012 = $27.00 with full text. You are not charged for failed runs, invalid input, empty searches, duplicates or full texts that could not be fetched. With a maximum cost per run set, the actor stops cleanly at the limit.

🚀 How to scrape the Federal Register in 3 steps

1. Type one or more search terms.
2. Optionally pick document types, agencies and a date range.
3. Click Start and download CSV, Excel, JSON or XML.

⚙️ Federal Register Scraper input

Field	Default	Description
searchTerms	["artificial intelligence"]	One search per keyword
maxItems	10	Maximum documents across all searches (free plan: 10, paid: up to 1,000,000)
documentTypes	all	RULE, PRORULE, NOTICE, PRESDOCU
agencySlugs	all	For example securities-and-exchange-commission
publishedAfter, publishedBefore	none	YYYY-MM-DD
lookbackDays	0 (off)	Last N days; ignored when publishedAfter is set
significantOnly	false	Only documents marked significant
presidentialTypes	all	executive_order, proclamation, memorandum, determination, notice, other, presidential_order
cfrTitle, topics	0 (any), none	CFR title (1 to 50) and topic slugs such as energy
sortOrder	newest	newest, oldest or relevance
includePublicInspection, includeFullText	false	Public inspection desk; document text, billed per document
onlyNew, stateKey, resetSeen	false, empty, false	Monitor mode, monitor name, clear the seen list

All filters combine with each other. Example input for the five newest executive orders:

{
  "searchTerms": [],
  "documentTypes": ["PRESDOCU"],
  "presidentialTypes": ["executive_order"],
  "maxItems": 5
}

🔔 Only new results (monitor mode)

Turn on onlyNew and the actor skips every document this same search already returned in an earlier run. Skipped documents are not charged. Use stateKey for a separate monitor per purpose and resetSeen to start over.

• The seen list lives in a key-value store, federal-register-seen, in your own Apify account, keeping the 200,000 most recent ids per search.
• Changing a term, agency or date starts a new monitor; changing maxItems, sortOrder or includeFullText keeps the same one.
• maxItems means "up to N new documents". A document is marked seen only after it was saved and charged.
• Public inspection items and published documents are tracked separately.

Schedule it daily and add a webhook on "Run succeeded" to send new rows to Slack, email or Sheets.

📦 Federal Register Scraper output

Each document becomes one dataset row; a document matching several searches appears once.

📈 How does it compare to other Federal Register actors?

Competitor features and prices read from public Apify Store pages on 2026-10-09.

Capability	This actor	retrainmap/federal-register-documents	copious_atoll/federal-register-scraper
Types and agencies	4 types, any agency slug	4 types, 472 agency slugs	4 types, agency name or slug
Public inspection	Own rows, billed apart	PDF link field only	Not mentioned
Full text	Optional, 20,000 characters	Abstract only	Links only, no text
CFR references and topics	Fields plus CFR title and topic filters	Output fields only	Output fields only
Executive order number, signing date	Both, plus executive order filter	Signing date only	Both
Significance	Flag and filter	Flag only, mostly empty	Flag and filter
Only new documents	Built in, skipped rows free	Not mentioned	Not listed
Output fields	41	28 listed	23 in example
Price per 1,000	$15 (FREE plan), $12 top tier	$5.10 including run fee	from $1.00

Both rivals are cheaper: retrainmap shows $5.00 per 1,000 plus $0.10 per run. Pick this actor when you need the public inspection desk, full text or monitoring of new documents; pick a cheaper one for plain bulk records.

💼 Use cases for Federal Register data

Regulatory change monitoring, comment-window tracking, executive order logs, legal and compliance research, and policy intelligence on agencies moving on AI, tariffs or crypto.

🔌 Run the Federal Register Scraper via API and integrations

Run it from Python, JavaScript, curl, Make, Zapier, n8n or Google Sheets.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/RecordsData~federal-register-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"searchTerms":["tariff"],"maxItems":10}'

🤖 Federal Register Scraper MCP server for AI agents

AI agents can call this Actor through the Apify MCP server at https://mcp.apify.com?tools=RecordsData/federal-register-scraper.

Add this to your MCP client configuration (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=RecordsData/federal-register-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example agent prompt:

Use the Federal Register Scraper to find the 10 newest proposed rules about "tariff" published since 2026-09-01, and list each title, agency, comment deadline and PDF link. Leave full text off.

An agent should choose this Actor when it needs official US Federal Register documents with agencies, dates, docket IDs, CFR references and PDF links, or only the documents that are new since the last run.

⚖️ Is it legal to scrape the Federal Register?

The Federal Register is a US government publication in the public domain, and this actor uses the official public API at federalregister.gov, with no login and no bypassing of protections. You remain responsible for how you use the data under your local laws.

❓ Frequently asked questions

How do I search the Federal Register and export to CSV?

Enter your search terms in Federal Register Scraper, click Start, then open the Storage tab and download the dataset as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML. Each row is one document with type, agencies, publication date, docket IDs and PDF link. The free plan returns up to 10 documents per run.

Can I filter Federal Register documents by publication date and document type?

Yes. Use publishedAfter and publishedBefore in YYYY-MM-DD format, the lookbackDays shortcut for the last N days, and the document type filter with Final Rules, Proposed Rules, Notices and Presidential Documents. You can sort newest, oldest or by relevance, and combine these with agency slugs and several search terms.

Does Federal Register Scraper include executive orders?

Yes. Select Presidential Documents (PRESDOCU) in documentTypes, and optionally executive_order in presidentialTypes, and the run returns executive orders from federalregister.gov. Each row has document number, title, signingDate, executiveOrderNumber where the source has it, publication date, citation, agencies, and HTML and PDF links.

How do I limit Federal Register results to one agency?

Add the agency slug, for example environmental-protection-agency, to the agencySlugs input. You can add several slugs in one run. The full slug list is at federalregister.gov/agencies, and an unknown slug makes the run fail with a clear message instead of an empty success.

What is the Federal Register public inspection desk?

It lists documents filed with the Office of the Federal Register that are not formally published yet, so you see them before they appear in the daily issue. Turn on includePublicInspection to get them as separate rows with recordType public-inspection, billed at $0.015 each on the free plan.

How do I track comment deadlines with Federal Register Scraper?

Rows for proposed rules carry commentsCloseOn, the date the public comment period closes, and commentUrl links to the comment page when the source has one. Filter your export on that column, or schedule a run and alert when a deadline is close. Final rules have no comment deadline.

How do I get only new Federal Register documents since my last run?

Set onlyNew to true and schedule the actor. Each run returns only documents the same search has not returned before, and skipped documents are free. Use stateKey for separate monitors and resetSeen to start over. The seen list lives in your own Apify account.

Why did my Federal Register Scraper run return 0 results?

The search matched no documents, or the date range and agency filters were too narrow. The run then finishes as SUCCEEDED with the message "Finished, but no items matched the input" and you are not charged. Loosen the filters or widen the dates and run it again.

Why did my Federal Register Scraper run fail?

The source, federalregister.gov, rejected the request or was unreachable and no document could be delivered, for example because of an unknown agency slug. The run status message says which. Failed runs are not charged, so you can fix the input and start again.

What happens if I send an empty or invalid input to Federal Register Scraper?

The platform rejects invalid values for fixed-list fields such as sortOrder or documentTypes with a 400 error before any run is created. Other mistakes, such as a date not in YYYY-MM-DD, end as SUCCEEDED with one free error row. Sending {} returns up to 10 documents for "artificial intelligence".

Do I pay for full text in Federal Register Scraper if I leave it off?

No. The full document text event ($0.012 per document on the free plan) is billed only when you enable includeFullText and the text actually downloads. With it off you pay just the document record price of $0.015 per document, so full text is a clear opt-in.

Why is full text missing on some Federal Register Scraper rows?

The federalregister.gov website, which serves the text files, sometimes rate limits heavy traffic. The row is then delivered without the fullText field, the run status says how many rows were affected, and you are not charged the full text event for them.

Does Federal Register Scraper need an API key?

No. It uses the official public federalregister.gov API, so it needs no API key, no source account and no login, only an Apify account to run it. The data is a US government publication in the public domain, with no personal data beyond what agencies publish.

How do I get only significant Federal Register rules?

Set significantOnly to true. The run returns only documents the Federal Register marks as significant, and the significant column shows Yes or No on each row. Combine it with documentTypes RULE and lookbackDays 30 to list the important final rules of the last month.

Can I get CFR references and topics for each document?

Yes. Rows include cfrReferences, for example "26 CFR 54", and topics where the source has them. You can also filter: cfrTitle keeps documents that amend or cite one CFR title from 1 to 50, and topics takes Federal Register topic slugs such as energy or imports.

Does Federal Register Scraper support webhooks?

There is no custom webhook option inside the actor. Apify runs support webhooks and schedules natively: schedule the actor with onlyNew on, add a webhook on "Run succeeded", and each run sends only the new documents to Slack, email, a database or your own endpoint.

💬 Support

Found a bug or need an extra field? Open an issue in the Issues tab of this actor or write to contact.punkrecordsdata@gmail.com.

Last updated: 2026-10-11