# RECAP PACER Federal Docket Search API (`nexgendata/recap-pacer-docket-search`) Actor

Search the free RECAP archive of PACER federal-court dockets (CourtListener): case name, court, dates, cause, nature of suit. A Docket-Navigator-style alternative for litigation analysts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgendata/recap-pacer-docket-search.md
- **Developed by:** [NexGenData](https://apify.com/nexgendata) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 3 total users, 2 monthly users, 96.9% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$100.00 / 1,000 docket entries

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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

## RECAP PACER Federal Docket Search API

Search federal PACER dockets via the RECAP archive — case records without PACER fees.

> Factual public records — assembled for research and monitoring.

### ⏰ Run this as a monitoring subscription (recommended)

Regulatory data is monitoring data. Schedule a weekly sweep (`0 8 * * 1`) and catch new dockets as they post — an always-on official-records feed.

### 📊 What you get

Clean JSON, one record per docket (full output has 16 fields):

- `caseName` — Case Name
- `court` — Court
- `courtId` — Court Id
- `dateFiled` — Date Filed
- `docketNumber` — Docket Number
- `citation` — Citation
- `citeCount` — Cite Count
- `judge` — Judge
- `attorney` — Attorney
- `url` — Url

**Pricing:** $0.100 per docket (Pay-Per-Event) — about **10 dockets per $1**.

### 🤖 Use with AI agents

Point Claude, the OpenAI Agents SDK, an n8n flow or any MCP-aware client at it and pull official records on demand.

**Agentic payments (x402):** Supports agentic payment via x402 — agents can call this actor with USDC, no API key required.

### 🔗 Related regulatory actors

**US courts & enforcement records — one schema:**

[Court Opinions](https://apify.com/nexgendata/courtlistener-court-opinions) · [Federal Dockets](https://apify.com/nexgendata/courtlistener-federal-docket-scraper) · [Federal Judges](https://apify.com/nexgendata/courtlistener-federal-judges) · [Oral Arguments](https://apify.com/nexgendata/courtlistener-oral-arguments) · [Court Records Search](https://apify.com/nexgendata/court-records-search) · [Federal Litigation Records](https://apify.com/nexgendata/federal-litigation-intelligence) · [FTC Enforcement](https://apify.com/nexgendata/ftc-enforcement-actions-scraper) · [Enforcement RAG](https://apify.com/nexgendata/regulatory-enforcement-rag)

**Agent front door — Legal MCP:** [Legal MCP](https://apify.com/nexgendata/legal-mcp-server)

***

*Public official records and enforcement data, assembled for research and monitoring.*

# Actor input Schema

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

o = court opinions, r = RECAP dockets.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Full-text search (case name, party, topic).

## `court` (type: `string`):

Court ID filter (e.g. 'scotus', 'cafc').

## `dateFiledAfter` (type: `string`):

Only records filed on/after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

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

Maximum records to return.

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

Optional free CourtListener token to raise rate limits.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchType": "r",
  "query": "patent infringement",
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

# 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 = {
    "searchType": "r",
    "query": "patent infringement"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nexgendata/recap-pacer-docket-search").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 = {
    "searchType": "r",
    "query": "patent infringement",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nexgendata/recap-pacer-docket-search").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 '{
  "searchType": "r",
  "query": "patent infringement"
}' |
apify call nexgendata/recap-pacer-docket-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=nexgendata/recap-pacer-docket-search",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/gv9CV2xfD9SxraPqj/builds/p41D5nmlBRIWQ9bTQ/openapi.json