# legislation.gov.uk API: Search UK legislation > Search UK legislation by topic or title, with optional type and year filters. Closest title matches appear first; broader text matches fill remaining places. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by legislation.gov.uk. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/legislation.gov.uk/search-legislation - Method: `legislation.gov.uk/search_legislation`, version 1 - Website: legislation.gov.uk - Returns: title, year, type, number as cited, date enacted or made, link - Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing) - Sign-in: none needed - Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1ยข with pay as you go); failed runs are free - Verified: Nov 2, 2026 ## Inputs | Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `type` | string | no | `"northern_ireland_act"` | Kind of legislation, for example uk_act; any searches every kind. One of "any", "uk_act", "statutory_instrument", "scottish_act", "welsh_act", "northern_ireland_act". Default "any". | | `year` | integer | no | | Year of enactment or making, for example 2018. | | `query` | string | yes | `"education"` | Topic or title words to search, for example data protection. | | `max_results` | integer | no | `3` | Maximum laws to return, for example 20. Default 20. | ## Output From a run on Oct 31, 2026. Its input: ```json { "type": "northern_ireland_act", "query": "education", "max_results": 3 } ``` Its output: ```json { "laws": [ { "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2014/12", "type": "Northern Ireland Act", "year": 2014, "title": "Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014", "number": "2014 c. 12 (N.I.)", "enacted_or_made_date": "2014-12-11" }, { "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2022/15", "type": "Northern Ireland Act", "year": 2022, "title": "Integrated Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2022", "number": "2022 c. 15 (N.I.)", "enacted_or_made_date": "2022-04-26" }, { "link": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2016/20", "type": "Northern Ireland Act", "year": 2016, "title": "Shared Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2016", "number": "2016 c. 20 (N.I.)", "enacted_or_made_date": "2016-05-09" } ] } ``` ## Run it From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output: ```bash curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"legislation.gov.uk/search_legislation","input":{"type":"northern_ireland_act","query":"education","max_results":3}}' ``` From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`. ## Ask your agent - Find UK Acts of Parliament about modern slavery, with their citation numbers and dates of enactment - Which statutory instruments made in 2020 relate to coronavirus restrictions? Give me up to 50 with links. - Search legislation.gov.uk for Scottish Acts on land reform - I need a list of Welsh laws about the environment from 2016, including the date each was made - Look up Northern Ireland Acts concerning pensions on legislation.gov.uk and show the top 10 matches ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "query" ], "properties": { "type": { "enum": [ "any", "uk_act", "statutory_instrument", "scottish_act", "welsh_act", "northern_ireland_act" ], "type": "string", "default": "any", "description": "Kind of legislation, for example uk_act; any searches every kind." }, "year": { "type": "integer", "maximum": 9999, "minimum": 1000, "description": "Year of enactment or making, for example 2018." }, "query": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1, "description": "Topic or title words to search, for example data protection." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 20, "maximum": 100, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum laws to return, for example 20." } } } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "laws" ], "properties": { "laws": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "title", "year", "type", "number", "enacted_or_made_date", "link" ], "properties": { "link": { "type": "string", "description": "Legislation page link." }, "type": { "type": "string", "description": "Legislation type in words." }, "year": { "type": "integer", "description": "Year of the law." }, "title": { "type": "string", "description": "Name of the law." }, "number": { "type": "string", "description": "Number as cited." }, "enacted_or_made_date": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "format": "date", "description": "Date enacted or made, if provided." } }, "additionalProperties": false }, "description": "Matching laws, closest title first." } }, "additionalProperties": false } ``` ## See more - [legislation.gov.uk API: Get UK law section](https://fous.com/methods/legislation.gov.uk/get-law-section.md): Gets the latest available revised text of a section of a UK Act from legislation.gov.uk, or the Act's section contents when no section is given. The outstanding-changes flag describes the Act and may include changes outside the selected section. - [European Union API: Search EU law](https://fous.com/methods/eur-lex.europa.eu/search-eu-law.md): Searches EUR-Lex legal acts by topic, ranked by the site's relevance, filtered by document type, year of adoption and in-force status. Short names and ELI links are included when shown in the results. - [The National Archives API: Search judgments](https://fous.com/methods/caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search-judgments.md): Searches UK court judgments and tribunal decisions on Find Case Law by keywords or party names. Results can be filtered by court and by judgment date. - [GOV.UK API: Check a name against the UK Sanctions List](https://fous.com/methods/gov.uk/check-sanctions.md): Checks a name against the current UK Sanctions List and returns possible matches in the site's best-match order, with designation details. Results may include entries that only mention the name in their reasons, so check each entry before identifying anyone. - [Companies House API: List company filing history](https://fous.com/methods/find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/list-filing-history.md): Lists a UK company's Companies House filings, newest first, with date, form code, type, description, page count and PDF link. Finds the company by name, company number or Companies House link; a category picks accounts, confirmation statements, officers, address, capital, charges or incorporation filings. - [Companies House API: Search companies](https://fous.com/methods/find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search-companies.md): Searches the UK Companies House register by company name and returns each company's status, type, incorporation date and registered office address, in result order. - [European Union API: Get EU law article](https://fous.com/methods/eur-lex.europa.eu/get-law-article.md): Gets the official text and key dates of one article of an EU regulation or directive from EUR-Lex, in the latest consolidated version when there is one, in any official EU language. - [Federal Register API: Search rules and notices](https://fous.com/methods/federalregister.gov/search-rules.md): Find Federal Register rules, proposed rules, notices, and presidential documents by topic, agency, publication dates, and comment status. Significant means designated significant by the source; documents without that designation show no. - [All legislation.gov.uk methods](https://fous.com/methods/legislation.gov.uk.md)