Get your CM/ECF dockets through an API

What you can build on CM/ECF

• Get a case's docket report

  Build this

  Runs Query for one case number on a court's CM/ECF site and reads the Docket Report: the case header and every docket entry.

  Takes

  Court, case number, entries filed since (optional)

  Returns

  Case number, case title, date filed, date terminated, date of last filing, docket entries with number, date filed, docket text and whether a document is attached

• Check deadlines and hearings

  Build this

  Opens Deadlines/Hearings from the Query menu for one case and reads the pending deadlines and hearings with their docket text.

  Takes

  Court, case number

  Returns

  Case number, deadline or hearing, due or set date, docket entry number, docket text

• List docket activity on your cases

  Build this

  Runs the Docket Activity report from the Reports menu for the case numbers and date range you give and reads each entry.

  Takes

  Court, case numbers, from date, to date

  Returns

  Case number, case title, entry number, date filed, docket text

• Find cases by party name

  Build this

  Runs Query with a last name or company name in the Last Name field and reads the list of matching cases.

  Takes

  Court, last name or company name

  Returns

  Case number, case title, party name, party role, date filed, date terminated

Automate CM/ECF with a workflow

A workflow runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

• New docket entries on your cases, every morning

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 7:00

  Step 1

  For each court on your list, run the Docket Activity report for your case numbers since yesterday.

  Step 2

  Keep the entries that were not there on the last run.

  Step 3

  Email you the new entries, one section per case, with entry number, date filed and docket text.

• Upcoming deadlines and hearings, sent to your docketing system

  Build this

  Starts

  Every Monday at 8:00

  Step 1

  For each case on your list, read Deadlines/Hearings in CM/ECF.

  Step 2

  Keep the deadlines and hearings that are new or changed since the last run.

  Step 3

  Post each one, with case number, type, date and docket text, to your docketing or calendar system's webhook.

• Party name check for a new matter

  Build this

  Starts

  When your intake system calls the workflow's webhook with a party name and courts

  Step 1

  For each court given, find cases by the party's name.

  Step 2

  Have an AI step group the matches by party role and open or closed.

  Step 3

  Post the matches to your intake system's webhook.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a method, it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get a case's docket report” would look like.

curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "pacer.login.uscourts.gov/get_docket_report",
    "input": {
      "court": "nysd",
      "case_number": "1:26-cv-04417",
      "filed_since": "2026-11-01"
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "case_number": "1:26-cv-04417",
    "case_title": "Acme Corp. v. Globex Inc.",
    "date_filed": "2026-05-14",
    "date_terminated": null,
    "date_of_last_filing": "2026-11-10",
    "entries": [
      {
        "number": 41,
        "date_filed": "2026-11-04",
        "docket_text": "LETTER MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer by Globex Inc.",
        "document_attached": true
      }
    ]
  }
}

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

CM/ECF’s own options

The judiciary publishes a PACER Authentication API, which signs in without a user interface, and a PACER Case Locator API for searching the national case index. For filing, it publishes XML specifications, among them opening bankruptcy cases from petition software and batch-filing creditors' claims. Docket reports and the Reports menu are read on each court's CM/ECF site, at $0.10 a page.

Read on November 12, 2026: PACER developer resources, PACER Authentication API user guide, PACER pricing: how fees work.

Signing in to CM/ECF

CM/ECF signs you in with your PACER username and password, and an upgraded PACER account works in every NextGen court. Users with filing access must enroll in multifactor authentication, with an authentication app or single-use backup codes. With Fous you sign in once through the site's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256.

Worth knowing

Every page read is billed

Docket reports, reports and searches cost $0.10 a page, and a search with no matches is still billed. A case's docket report is capped at 30 pages ($3), but Docket Activity without a case number has no cap.

One account, but filing is per court

One upgraded PACER account reaches every NextGen court. To file, you register in each court through Manage My Account, and the court must approve you as a filer.

Large pulls belong at night

The judiciary asks commercial users to run large automated pulls between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Central Time, and may suspend or reduce access for an account that disrupts operations.

A client code can gate searching

If your account requires a client code and none is given, you can still sign in to e-file, but you cannot search.

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