# CourtListener Scraper - US Case Law & Opinions (`scrapesage/courtlistener-scraper`) Actor

Search US case law and court opinions via the free CourtListener API: case name, court, date filed, docket number, judge, parallel citations, cite count and precedential status. Search by keyword. No API key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapesage/courtlistener-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrape Sage](https://apify.com/scrapesage) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Integrations, Agents
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.10 / 1,000 result scrapeds

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/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 Scraper - US Case Law & Court Opinions

Search **US case law** and court opinions via the free **CourtListener** API (Free Law Project). Search by
keyword and get clean rows with **case name**, **court**, **date filed**, **docket number**, **judge**,
**parallel citations**, **cite count** and **precedential status**. No API key required.

### What you get per result

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `caseName` / `url` / `id` | Case name, CourtListener URL, and id |
| `court` / `courtId` / `jurisdiction` | Deciding court and jurisdiction |
| `dateFiled` / `dateArgued` | Filing and argument dates |
| `docketNumber` / `docketId` | Docket number and id |
| `judge` / `status` | Authoring judge and precedential status |
| `citation` / `neutralCite` / `lexisCite` / `citeCount` | Parallel citations and how often the case is cited |
| `suitNature` / `posture` / `syllabus` | Nature of suit, procedural posture, syllabus (when recorded) |

### Input

```json
{ "searchQueries": ["first amendment", "copyright infringement"], "searchType": "opinions", "maxItemsPerQuery": 100 }
```

- **Search terms** - keywords, party names or legal phrases, one per line.
- **Search type** - `opinions` (case law), `recap` (PACER dockets) or `oral-arguments`.
- **Import from a file** - paste a list, or link a public `.txt`/`.csv`, a Google Sheet/Drive link, or an Apify key-value-store record.
- **Output fields** - trim every record to exactly the columns you need.
- Optional **API token** for higher rate limits (free from CourtListener).

Leave everything empty and the run returns a small free sample so you can see the shape first.

### Reliability

Reads the official CourtListener REST v4 API directly - structured, no headless browser, no scraping of blocked
pages. A search that matches nothing, or an import that cannot be read, bills **$0** and says why. Long runs
stop cleanly before the timeout and save everything collected so far.

### Honest limits

- **Case-law records vary in completeness.** Parallel citations, judge, argument date, syllabus, posture and
  nature-of-suit are recorded only for the subset of courts/eras that publish them, so those fields are often
  empty - that is the source data, not a gap. Core fields (case name, court, date filed, docket, status, URL,
  cite count) are always present.

### Pricing

**$0.002 per result** on the FREE tier (tiered pricing lowers it with volume). Only results actually saved are
billed; empty searches and unreadable imports cost nothing.

### Output views

- **Results** - case name, court, date filed, docket, cite count and the URL.

### Use with AI assistants (MCP)

Available through the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) - an agent can pull
relevant case law for a legal question, build a citation graph, or monitor new opinions on a topic in one call.

# Actor input Schema

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

Case-law search terms, one per line (keywords, party names, legal phrases). <b>Leave empty and the run returns a small free sample.</b>

## `searchQueriesFromFile` (type: `string`):

Bulk-load search terms. Either <b>paste the whole list</b> (one per line), or give <b>a single link</b> to a public <code>.txt</code>/<code>.csv</code>, a Google Sheet/Drive link, or an Apify key-value-store record. A file that cannot be read says so and charges nothing.

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

Which CourtListener index to search.

## `maxItemsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

How many results to collect for each search term.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Overall cap across all search terms. You are only charged for results actually saved.

## `courtListenerToken` (type: `string`):

Optional free CourtListener API token for higher rate limits. Leave empty to use the public rate limit.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional. CourtListener is a public API and usually works without a proxy.

## `outputFields` (type: `array`):

Pick the fields you want and every record is trimmed to exactly those - handy for lean CSV/Sheets exports.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "first amendment"
  ],
  "searchType": "opinions",
  "maxItemsPerQuery": 100,
  "maxItems": 1000,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Each result - case name, court, date, citations - as a JSON item in the default dataset.

# 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 = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "first amendment"
    ],
    "searchQueriesFromFile": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapesage/courtlistener-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 = {
    "searchQueries": ["first amendment"],
    "searchQueriesFromFile": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapesage/courtlistener-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 '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "first amendment"
  ],
  "searchQueriesFromFile": ""
}' |
apify call scrapesage/courtlistener-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,scrapesage/courtlistener-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/24oPQiOoNRv9amDdN/builds/y4Pibr0zcVFfdJeHJ/openapi.json