Search PACER Cases

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/tools/pacer.ts:29-114 (registration)

  The registerPacerTools function registers 'search_pacer_cases' (and two other tools) onto the MCP server. Called from src/index.ts line 41.

  export function registerPacerTools(server: McpServer): void {
    // ── Search cases ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  
    server.registerTool(
      "search_pacer_cases",
      {
        title: "Search PACER Cases",
        description:
          "Search federal court case records from PACER. Filter by party name, court code, " +
          "case type, and date range. Returns case metadata including title, parties, court, " +
          "and filing date. Source: PACER, updated daily. " +
          "Note: This dataset is coming soon and may not have data yet.",
        inputSchema: {
          party: z
            .string()
            .optional()
            .describe("Party name to search for (plaintiff or defendant)"),
          court: z
            .string()
            .optional()
            .describe(
              "Federal court code (e.g. cacd = Central District of California, " +
              "nysd = Southern District of New York, txed = Eastern District of Texas)",
            ),
          case_type: z
            .string()
            .optional()
            .describe("Case type (e.g. civil, criminal, bankruptcy)"),
          date_from: z
            .string()
            .optional()
            .describe("Start date for filing date range (YYYY-MM-DD)"),
          date_to: z
            .string()
            .optional()
            .describe("End date for filing date range (YYYY-MM-DD)"),
          limit: z
            .number()
            .int()
            .min(1)
            .max(100)
            .optional()
            .describe("Maximum number of results (default 25, max 100)"),
        },
      },
      async ({ party, court, case_type, date_from, date_to, limit }) => {
        const res = await apiGet<PacerCasesResponse>("/api/v1/pacer/cases", {
          party,
          court,
          case_type,
          date_from,
          date_to,
          limit: limit ?? 25,
        });
  
        if (!res.ok) {
          if (res.status === 404) {
            return {
              content: [
                {
                  type: "text" as const,
                  text: "PACER dataset is not yet available. This data source is coming soon.",
                },
              ],
            };
          }
          return {
            content: [
              {
                type: "text" as const,
                text: `API error (${res.status}): ${JSON.stringify(res.data)}`,
              },
            ],
            isError: true,
          };
        }
  
        const { count, data } = res.data;
        const summary = `Found ${count} PACER case(s).`;
        const json = JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
  
        return {
          content: [{ type: "text" as const, text: `${summary}\n\n${json}` }],
        };
      },
    );

• src/tools/pacer.ts:74-113 (handler)

  The async handler function for 'search_pacer_cases'. It calls apiGet to /api/v1/pacer/cases with query parameters (party, court, case_type, date_from, date_to, limit), handles 404 for unavailable dataset, and returns formatted results.

  async ({ party, court, case_type, date_from, date_to, limit }) => {
    const res = await apiGet<PacerCasesResponse>("/api/v1/pacer/cases", {
      party,
      court,
      case_type,
      date_from,
      date_to,
      limit: limit ?? 25,
    });
  
    if (!res.ok) {
      if (res.status === 404) {
        return {
          content: [
            {
              type: "text" as const,
              text: "PACER dataset is not yet available. This data source is coming soon.",
            },
          ],
        };
      }
      return {
        content: [
          {
            type: "text" as const,
            text: `API error (${res.status}): ${JSON.stringify(res.data)}`,
          },
        ],
        isError: true,
      };
    }
  
    const { count, data } = res.data;
    const summary = `Found ${count} PACER case(s).`;
    const json = JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
  
    return {
      content: [{ type: "text" as const, text: `${summary}\n\n${json}` }],
    };
  },

• src/tools/pacer.ts:35-72 (schema)

  Zod-based input schema for 'search_pacer_cases': optional fields party, court, case_type, date_from, date_to, and limit (int, 1-100, default 25).

  title: "Search PACER Cases",
  description:
    "Search federal court case records from PACER. Filter by party name, court code, " +
    "case type, and date range. Returns case metadata including title, parties, court, " +
    "and filing date. Source: PACER, updated daily. " +
    "Note: This dataset is coming soon and may not have data yet.",
  inputSchema: {
    party: z
      .string()
      .optional()
      .describe("Party name to search for (plaintiff or defendant)"),
    court: z
      .string()
      .optional()
      .describe(
        "Federal court code (e.g. cacd = Central District of California, " +
        "nysd = Southern District of New York, txed = Eastern District of Texas)",
      ),
    case_type: z
      .string()
      .optional()
      .describe("Case type (e.g. civil, criminal, bankruptcy)"),
    date_from: z
      .string()
      .optional()
      .describe("Start date for filing date range (YYYY-MM-DD)"),
    date_to: z
      .string()
      .optional()
      .describe("End date for filing date range (YYYY-MM-DD)"),
    limit: z
      .number()
      .int()
      .min(1)
      .max(100)
      .optional()
      .describe("Maximum number of results (default 25, max 100)"),
  },

• src/client.ts:44-76 (helper)

  The apiGet helper function used by the handler to make HTTP GET requests to the Verilex API.

  export async function apiGet<T = unknown>(
    path: string,
    params?: Record<string, string | number | undefined>,
  ): Promise<ApiResponse<T>> {
    const url = buildUrl(path, params);
  
    const headers: Record<string, string> = {
      Accept: "application/json",
      "User-Agent": "verilex-mcp-server/0.1.0",
    };
  
    // Forward x402 payment token if present in env (for paid endpoints)
    const paymentToken = process.env.VERILEX_PAYMENT_TOKEN;
    if (paymentToken) {
      headers["X-Payment-Token"] = paymentToken;
    }
  
    const res = await fetch(url, { headers });
    const data = (await res.json()) as T;
  
    const stale = res.headers.get("X-Data-Stale");
    const lastUpdated = res.headers.get("X-Data-Last-Updated");
    const ageSeconds = res.headers.get("X-Data-Age-Seconds");
  
    return {
      ok: res.ok,
      status: res.status,
      data,
      stale: stale === "true",
      lastUpdated: lastUpdated ?? undefined,
      ageSeconds: ageSeconds ? Number(ageSeconds) : undefined,
    };
  }

• src/index.ts:41-42 (registration)

  Registration call site - registerPacerTools(server) is invoked to register all PACER tools including search_pacer_cases.

  registerPacerTools(server);
  registerWeatherTools(server);