Pull your PACER docket sheets into your own systems

What you can build on PACER

• Get docket entries for a case

  Build this

  Runs the Docket Report for one case in one court's CM/ECF, limited to a Filed date range, and reads each entry on the docket sheet.

  Takes

  Court ID, case number, filed from, filed to (optional)

  Returns

  Case title, case number, court, date filed, document number, docket text, whether a document is linked

• Search cases by party name

  Build this

  Runs a party search in the PACER Case Locator, the nationwide index of federal cases, and reads the result rows.

  Takes

  Party name, filed from (optional)

  Returns

  Court ID, case number, case title, party name, case type, nature of suit, date filed

• List a case's parties and counsel

  Build this

  Opens Query, Party for one case in a court's CM/ECF and reads the active and terminated parties with their attorneys.

  Takes

  Court ID, case number

  Returns

  Party name, party type, terminated date, attorney name and contact details as listed

• Download a filed document

  Build this

  Opens a document number from a case's docket sheet and returns the PDF with the pages billed and the fee.

  Takes

  Court ID, case number, document number, attachment number (optional)

  Returns

  Document number, attachment number, pages billed, fee, PDF

Automate PACER 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 the cases you watch

  Build this

  Starts

  Every weekday at 5:30, Central time

  Step 1

  For each case on your list, get the docket entries filed since the previous weekday.

  Step 2

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

  Step 3

  Post each one, with court, case number, document number and docket text, to your docketing system's webhook.

• New cases naming your clients, from the PACER Case Locator

  Build this

  Starts

  Every day at 5:00, Central time

  Step 1

  For each client name, search cases by party name filed since yesterday.

  Step 2

  Keep the cases that were not in the last run.

  Step 3

  Email you the list, one section per client.

• Weekly docket summary for each matter

  Build this

  Starts

  Every Friday at 16:00, Central time

  Step 1

  For each case on your list, get the docket entries filed in the last 7 days.

  Step 2

  Stop when there are none.

  Step 3

  Summarize each case's new entries in a few lines and email you the summary.

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 docket entries for a case” 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_entries",
    "input": {
      "court_id": "candc",
      "case_number": "3:26-cv-04182",
      "filed_from": "2026-11-01"
    }
  }'

{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "court": "California Northern District Court",
    "case_number": "3:26-cv-04182",
    "case_title": "Acme Corp. v. Globex Inc.",
    "entries": [
      {
        "date_filed": "2026-11-09",
        "document_number": 27,
        "docket_text": "MOTION to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim filed by Globex Inc. Motion Hearing set for 12/17/2026 10:00 AM.",
        "document_linked": true
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}

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.

PACER’s own options

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes two APIs: the PACER Authentication API, which returns a token for a PACER username and password, and the PACER Case Locator API, which searches the nationwide index of federal cases and parties. Its developer page lists no API for docket reports or filed documents, which you open in each court's CM/ECF. Production searches are billed per page.

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

Signing in to PACER

PACER signs you in at pacer.login.uscourts.gov with a username and password, then multifactor authentication: a one-time passcode from an authenticator app, or a backup code. With Fous you sign in once through PACER's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, and code and AI agents never see it.

Worth knowing

Every page is billed, even empty searches

Pages cost $0.10, and search results are billed even when nothing matches, with no maximum. A document or docket report is capped at 30 pages ($3). Fees are waived at $30 or less a quarter.

Run large pulls between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

PACER asks commercial users to run large data pulls between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Central Time, and may suspend or reduce access for an account that causes disruption.

No link on an entry means no PDF in PACER

If a docket entry has no link on its number and no icon, the document is not in PACER and you order it from the court clerk's office.

Shared accounts need MFA planned

A shared PACER account can enroll up to ten authentication apps. After three skipped MFA prompts, User Update Required limits the account until MFA is set up.

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