CourtListener MCP Server

by vaquill-ai Your server? Claim it

answering

CourtListener is answering right now. Last checked 15 min ago. It exposes 34 tools. Last commit 6 Sep 2026.

MCP for CourtListener: US federal and state opinions, dockets, judges, plus eCFR regulations.

Uptime history 47 days of history · worst day 97%

47 days agonow

97.8%

Uptime 24h

89 of 91 checks

Tools

read from the server

369 ms

Response time

average over 24h

Stars

last commit 6 Sep 2026

What the code does

We read the source, 18 h ago · tools taken from the live server · rules 3dff92dd89df

Capabilities

What this server is able to do. For an MCP server this is often the job itself — a terminal server runs commands because that is what it is for. Listed so you know what you are plugging in, not as an accusation.

Checks whether it runs in a sandbox app/server.py:94

    return Path("/.dockerenv").exists() or (

Is this your server and something here is wrong? Tell us — corrections are free and do not require a plan.

This code can reach further than it looks

We found places where it runs commands, builds paths or queries from values it is given. None of that is a flaw by itself — it becomes one when the code changes, and code changes quietly between releases. We re-read it on every one.

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 15 min ago.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add courtlistener-mcp --transport http https://courtlistener-mcp.vaquill.ai/mcp/

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "courtlistener-mcp": {
      "url": "https://courtlistener-mcp.vaquill.ai/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.courtlistener-mcp]
url = "https://courtlistener-mcp.vaquill.ai/mcp/"

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "courtlistener-mcp": {
      "url": "https://courtlistener-mcp.vaquill.ai/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "courtlistener-mcp": {
      "url": "https://courtlistener-mcp.vaquill.ai/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

Available tools 34

Read directly from the server with tools/list, grouped by what they act on. If a tool disappears, we record the date.

ecfr

ecfr_get_ancestry

Get the ancestry chain (title -> ... -> node) for a CFR node on a date.

ecfr_get_daily_search_counts

Get search result counts broken down by date (daily histogram).

ecfr_get_hierarchy_search_counts

Get search result counts distributed across the CFR hierarchy.

ecfr_get_search_count

Get the total number of CFR sections matching a search query.

ecfr_get_search_suggestions

Get search-term suggestions for a partial CFR query.

ecfr_get_search_summary

Get summary details (counts + metadata) for a CFR search query.

ecfr_get_source_xml

Fetch the source regulation TEXT (XML) for a CFR node on a snapshot date. Pass a part or section to scope the request. Fetching an entire large title at once can time out on the eCFR side, so narrowing is strongly recommended. Returns the raw XML under ``content_xml``.

ecfr_get_title_search_counts

Get search result counts broken down by CFR title.

ecfr_get_title_structure

Get the full hierarchical structure (title -> section) of a CFR title on a date.

ecfr_get_title_versions

List the available content versions (issue dates) for one CFR title.

ecfr_list_agencies

List all agencies that appear in the CFR, with their title/chapter references.

ecfr_list_all_corrections

List CFR corrections, optionally filtered by title and/or effective date.

ecfr_list_corrections_by_title

List all corrections for a single CFR title.

ecfr_list_titles

List all 50 CFR titles with their latest amended/issue dates and status.

ecfr_search_regulations

Full-text search over federal regulations, returning matching sections with hierarchy.

citation

citation_batch_lookup_citations

Look up multiple legal citations in a single request. This is more efficient than making individual requests for each citation. Accepts up to 100 citations at once.

citation_enhanced_citation_lookup

Enhanced citation lookup combining citeurl parsing with CourtListener data. This tool first uses citeurl to parse and validate the citation format, then optionally queries the CourtListener API for additional case information.

citation_extract_citations_from_text

Extract all legal citations from a block of text using citeurl. This tool finds and parses all legal citations within a given text, including both long-form and short-form citations (like 'id.' references).

citation_lookup_citation

Look up a legal citation to find the opinion it references in CourtListener. This tool accepts various citation formats including: - U.S. Reporter citations (e.g., "410 U.S. 113") - Federal Reporter citations (e.g., "123 F.3d 456") - WestLaw citations (e.g., "2023 WL 12345") - State reporter citations

citation_parse_citation_with_citeurl

Parse a legal citation using citeurl's advanced citation recognition. This tool uses the citeurl library to parse legal citations and extract structured information including tokens, normalized format, and URL generation. Returns detailed information about the citation including: - Recognized citation format and source - Extracted tokens (volume, reporter, page, etc.) - Generated URL if available - Normalized citation text

citation_verify_citation_format

Verify if a citation string is in a valid format using citeurl's advanced parsing. This tool performs validation using citeurl's comprehensive citation templates to check if a citation appears to be in a recognized legal citation format. This is much more accurate than simple regex matching. Returns information about the citation format and any detected issues.

audio

get_audio

Get oral argument audio information by ID from CourtListener.

search_audio

Search oral argument audio recordings in CourtListener.

dockets

search_dockets

Search federal cases (dockets) from PACER in CourtListener.

search_dockets_with_documents

Search federal cases (dockets) with up to three nested documents. If there are more than three matching documents, the more_docs field will be true.

cluster

get_cluster

Get an opinion cluster by ID from CourtListener.

court

get_court

Get court information by ID from CourtListener.

docket

get_docket

Get a specific court docket by ID from CourtListener.

opinion

get_opinion

Get a specific court opinion by ID from CourtListener.

opinions

search_opinions

Search case law opinion clusters with nested Opinion documents in CourtListener.

people

search_people

Search judges and legal professionals in the CourtListener database.

person

get_person

Get judge or legal professional information by ID from CourtListener.

recap

search_recap_documents

Search federal filing documents from PACER in the RECAP archive.

status

status

Check the status of the CourtListener MCP server. Returns: A dictionary containing server status, system metrics, and service information.

Endpoints

URL	Transport	State	Latency	Checked
https://courtlistener-mcp.vaquill.ai/mcp/	streamable-http	answering	205 ms	15 min ago

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CourtListener — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can CourtListener do?

It exposes 34 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: citation_batch_lookup_citations, citation_enhanced_citation_lookup, citation_extract_citations_from_text, citation_lookup_citation, citation_parse_citation_with_citeurl, citation_verify_citation_format and 28 more. The full list with descriptions is on this page — we take it from the server itself via tools/list, not from a README. How MCP servers expose tools in the first place →

What is CourtListener mostly used for?

Its tools cluster around ecfr, citation and audio. That is what this server is built to work with — the grouping comes from the actual tool names, not from a category we assigned.

Is CourtListener working right now?

We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 89 of 91 checks got a reply (97.8%), average response time 369 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.

How do I connect CourtListener?

Copy the ready config from this page — we generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each with the file path that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.

Does CourtListener need an API key?

No. CourtListener completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 34 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.

How fast is CourtListener?

It answers our handshake in 369 ms on average, which is faster than 42% of all working MCP servers we measure. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.

Is CourtListener open source?

Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in Python, 3 stars on GitHub and 3 open issues. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.