How to Search CourtListener with Claude

Yes, Claude can search CourtListener. CourtListener by DocketDrafter is a free, open-source extension that lets Claude Cowork and Claude Code conduct serious case-law and federal docket research from primary sources. Claude can search CourtListener opinions and RECAP dockets, download full opinions and available filings, read them, compare them, and build a reusable research library on your computer.

For most lawyers, the easiest way to install it is to follow this video:

You can also watch the installation video on YouTube or open the project on GitHub.

What CourtListener by DocketDrafter can do

Once installed, you can ask Claude to:

• search federal and state court opinions available through CourtListener
• retrieve the full text of an opinion by citation or CourtListener URL
• search federal dockets and filing descriptions in the RECAP Archive
• inspect docket entries and download selected PDFs that are available in RECAP
• check whether a citation resolves to a real case in CourtListener
• save downloaded opinions and filings in a reusable local library

The built-in citation lookup checks existence, while the full workflow goes much further. Claude can download the opinion, read its reasoning and disposition, compare quotations, and evaluate whether the cited language supports a proposition in your brief. For current validity and later treatment, pair that source review with a citator or a deliberate review of later citing decisions.

How to install it in Claude Cowork

You need the Claude desktop app and a free CourtListener account.

1. Create or view your free CourtListener API token.
2. Download courtlistener.mcpb.
3. Double-click the downloaded file and choose Claude if macOS asks which application should open it.
4. Click Install.
5. Paste your CourtListener API token when prompted.
6. Choose a folder for your research library. The default is Documents/CourtListener Library.
7. Save and enable the extension, then begin a new Cowork conversation.

Treat the API token like a password. Do not paste it into a Claude conversation or share it in a screenshot. Claude stores the extension credential using your operating system's secure credential storage.

If you update the extension, quit and reopen Claude before starting a new conversation.

A better way to ask Claude for case law

After installation, you can use ordinary language. The important part is telling Claude to use CourtListener and to read the opinions before characterizing them.

Try a prompt like this:

Use CourtListener to find the leading U.S. Supreme Court and Second Circuit decisions explaining when a preliminary injunction is available. Search first, identify the most relevant opinions, then download and read the three strongest candidates. Give me a short explanation of the governing test with a link to each opinion. Distinguish what you verified from the full text from anything based only on search metadata. Do not tell me a case is still good law unless you separately analyze its later treatment.

This prompt forces a useful sequence:

1. Search for potentially relevant cases.
2. Review the search results as leads, not holdings.
3. Download promising opinions.
4. Read their full text.
5. Explain the law with links an attorney can inspect.

That distinction matters. A search result can establish a case name, citation, court, and date. Claude should not describe the holding until it has retrieved and read the opinion.

How to find and download a federal filing

The RECAP Archive contains millions of federal docket entries and filings collected from PACER. A useful example is the copyright litigation between The New York Times and OpenAI.

You can ask:

Use CourtListener to find the federal docket for The New York Times Company v. Microsoft Corporation and OpenAI. Find the complaint from the actual docket entries, confirm the filing description and entry number, and download the complaint if its PDF is available in RECAP. Then summarize the causes of action and link me to the docket.

Claude should search the docket metadata, identify the correct filing, inspect the relevant entry, and only then download the PDF. It should not assume that a complaint is docket entry 1.

Downloaded docket materials are saved under the dockets folder inside your CourtListener Library. Opinions are saved under cases. Opinions include compact Markdown and HTML versions that Claude can read efficiently. Docket PDFs remain available as ordinary files outside Claude.

Why some docket PDFs are missing

CourtListener's docket collection comes from RECAP. A PACER document is generally available for free through RECAP only after somebody has obtained it and contributed a copy to the archive. Some docket metadata may therefore be visible even when the underlying PDF is unavailable.

If a document is missing, a PACER user can install the free RECAP browser extension, purchase the document through PACER, and contribute it automatically for future users. PACER charges and access rules still apply to that purchase.

CourtListener inside a serious research workflow

CourtListener's unusual advantage is that it works directly inside Claude. Claude can search, retrieve, read, and compare public primary sources without requiring you to copy each opinion manually from a separate research platform. The downloaded material remains in a local folder that you can inspect and reuse across the matter.

Westlaw and Lexis offer broader commercial coverage, editorial annotations, headnotes, and KeyCite or Shepard's. CourtListener gives you an agent-native primary-source workflow. Many attorneys will benefit from using both.

A practical workflow may use both:

• CourtListener for AI-assisted discovery and full-text analysis inside Claude
• official sources, Westlaw, or Lexis for coverage gaps, editorial research, and final validation

How to install it in Claude Code

Claude Code is more technical, but you do not need to perform the installation by yourself. You can paste the following prompt into Claude Code and let Claude walk through the setup with you:

Help me install CourtListener by DocketDrafter from https://github.com/DocketDrafter/docketdrafter-plugins. Follow the repository's Claude Code installation instructions. First check whether I have Git, Python 3.10 or newer, and UV. If anything is missing, explain what you want to install and ask for my permission before doing it. Ask me to enter my CourtListener API key securely when it is needed. Do not print the key in the conversation or commit it to a file. After installation, verify that the CourtListener MCP server connects successfully.

Claude can check the prerequisites, run the commands, and explain any decisions that require your approval. You will still need a free CourtListener API token. Treat it like a password and do not paste it directly into the chat.

If you prefer to install it manually, you need Python 3.10 or newer, UV, Git, and Claude Code. First clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/DocketDrafter/docketdrafter-plugins.git

Then add the local MCP server, replacing your-api-key with your CourtListener token:

claude mcp add courtlistener \
  --env COURTLISTENER_API_KEY=your-api-key \
  -- uv run --directory docketdrafter-plugins/plugins/courtlistener/mcp server.py

By default, research is saved to ~/Documents/CourtListener Library. To choose another location, add a COURTLISTENER_DATA_DIR environment variable when configuring the server.

I tested this installation path on August 18, 2026 with Claude Code 2.1.235. Claude Code recognized the server and reported that it was connected.

CourtListener API limits

CourtListener applies rate limits to its API. As of August 18, 2026, its documentation states that authenticated users receive 5 requests per minute, 50 per hour, and 125 per day by default. The limits use rolling windows, and higher access may be available through Free Law Project membership or a commercial agreement.

See CourtListener's REST API documentation for the current limits. If Claude receives an HTTP 429 response, the connection may be configured correctly but temporarily rate-limited. Wait before making more requests rather than repeatedly retrying.

Privacy, coverage, and final review

CourtListener searches go directly from your computer to CourtListener. DocketDrafter does not operate an intermediary research server for this extension. Opinions and filings are saved to the library folder you select.

CourtListener coverage differs from commercial databases, and some source text may come from OCR. For filing-specific work, complete the ordinary final review: inspect important authorities, confirm quotations and procedural posture, and check current validity through an appropriate treatment-review process.

Get the free extension

Watch the step-by-step installation video, then visit the DocketDrafter legal research tools on GitHub to install CourtListener by DocketDrafter.

The extension is free and open source. If you have trouble installing it, email me at tommy@docketdrafter.com.

DocketDrafter also builds firm-specific drafting playbooks for attorneys using Claude and other AI agents. You can learn more on the DocketDrafter website, but you do not need the paid product to use this extension.