PACER API

Name: PACER API API
Brand: PACER API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentLegal GovernmentCourt RecordsapiKey3 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Search federal court cases by name, number, or party; authenticate PACER users; retrieve CM/ECF court lookup data for individual courts.

Connect the PACER API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the PACER API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Install Jentic One Beta (Self-Hosted)

Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with PACER API API.

Search PACER Case Locator for federal cases by case name, case number, or party name

Filter case searches by court type (appellate, bankruptcy, civil, criminal) and date range

Authenticate PACER users via credentials to obtain session tokens for subsequent requests

Retrieve CM/ECF court lookup data including court IDs, names, types, and URLs in JSON or XML format

GET STARTED

Start building with PACER API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for PACER API, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) API for searching federal court cases and parties, authenticating users, and accessing court CM/ECF lookup data. PACER provides public access to case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy courts. The API exposes authentication, case locator search across federal cases and parties, and CM/ECF court lookup data in JSON and XML formats.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use PACER API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Legal Research Across Federal Courts

Law firms and researchers can search federal cases by party name, case name, or case number across appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The /api/pcl/search endpoint accepts filters for court type, date range, and party information, returning case IDs, case names, court names, filing dates, and associated parties. Combined with CM/ECF court lookup, researchers can quickly locate relevant cases and navigate to the appropriate court system.

POST /api/auth/login with PACER credentials to obtain a token, then GET /api/pcl/search with query parameters for caseName, partyName, courtType, and date range, passing the token in the X-PACER-Token header.

Automated Case Monitoring

Legal technology platforms can automate case monitoring by periodically searching for new cases involving specific parties or case types. The API returns case metadata including filing dates and party lists, enabling systems to alert attorneys when new cases appear or when parties of interest are involved in litigation. The date range filters allow incremental searches for newly filed cases.

Authenticate via POST /api/auth/login, then periodically call GET /api/pcl/search with partyName and dateFrom filters to detect new filings involving monitored entities.

Court Directory Integration

Legal software applications can integrate federal court directory data by accessing the CM/ECF court lookup endpoints. These return structured data about each federal court including court IDs, names, types (appellate, district, bankruptcy), state locations, and CM/ECF URLs. This enables applications to present court information, route users to the correct CM/ECF system, or build court selection interfaces.

Call GET /file-case/court-cmecf-lookup/data.json to retrieve the full list of federal courts with their IDs, names, types, states, and CM/ECF URLs.

Key Endpoints

3 endpoints — public access to court electronic records (pacer) api for searching federal court cases and parties, authenticating users, and accessing court cm/ecf lookup data.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

POST

/api/auth/login

Authenticate PACER user and obtain session token

GET

/api/pcl/search

Search PACER Case Locator for federal cases

GET

/file-case/court-cmecf-lookup/data.json

Get CM/ECF court lookup data in JSON format

POST

/api/auth/login

Authenticate PACER user and obtain session token

GET

/api/pcl/search

Search PACER Case Locator for federal cases

GET

/file-case/court-cmecf-lookup/data.json

Get CM/ECF court lookup data in JSON format

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

PACER credentials (loginId and password) are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault and used to obtain session tokens. The X-PACER-Token is injected automatically at execution time and never appears in agent prompts or transcripts.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent such as 'search federal court cases by party name' or 'get CM/ECF court list' and Jentic returns the matching endpoint with its schema and required authentication.

Time to first call

Direct PACER integration: 1-2 days to handle authentication flow, token management, and case search filtering. Through Jentic: under 30 minutes — search, load schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

CourtListener API

CourtListener offers free access to U.S. court opinions and dockets with bulk download options.

Use CourtListener for free bulk access to opinions and RECAP-sourced PACER data; use PACER API for official real-time case locator searches.

Complementary

Caselaw Access Project API

Harvard's Caselaw Access Project provides access to historical U.S. case law.

Use Caselaw Access Project for historical opinions; use PACER API for current federal case searches and dockets.

FAQs

Specific to using PACER API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the PACER API use?

The PACER API uses custom header-based authentication via the X-PACER-Token header. Users authenticate via POST /api/auth/login with their PACER username and password to obtain a session token, which is then passed in the X-PACER-Token header for subsequent requests. Through Jentic, credentials are stored encrypted and tokens are managed automatically.

What federal courts does the PACER API cover?

The PACER API covers all U.S. Federal Appellate Courts, District Courts, and Bankruptcy Courts. The Case Locator search can be filtered by court type (appellate, bankruptcy, civil, criminal), and the CM/ECF court lookup returns directory data for all participating federal courts.

Can I search for cases by party name?

Yes. The GET /api/pcl/search endpoint accepts a partyName query parameter to search for federal cases involving a specific party. You can combine this with other filters like courtType and date range to narrow results.

Is the PACER API free?

The PACER API requires a PACER account, which may incur per-page fees for accessing case documents and docket sheets. However, many search and directory functions may be available at no charge or reduced fees. Check PACER's fee schedule for current pricing.

How do I get CM/ECF court URLs through the API?

Use GET /file-case/court-cmecf-lookup/data.json to retrieve a list of all federal courts with their CM/ECF URLs, court IDs, names, types, and state locations. The endpoint returns structured JSON data.