Courtlistener MCP Server - install, status & alternatives [2026]

01 · Install Courtlistener MCP Server

before you install - you'll need

Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL, COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add cyanheads-courtlistener-mcp-server --transport http https://courtlistener.caseyjhand.com/mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cyanheads-courtlistener-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://courtlistener.caseyjhand.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

https://courtlistener.caseyjhand.com/mcp

transport: streamable-http

endpoint alive - responded to MCP initialize · probed 2026-09-30

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions · remote - your agent's requests go to courtlistener.caseyjhand.com

endpoint auth accepted our unauthenticated MCP initialize - no credentials needed to connect

license Apache-2.0 - declared in the repository

npm package @cyanheads/courtlistener-mcp-server - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@cyanheads)

registry namespace io.github.cyanheads is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Courtlistener MCP Server can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

With this server connected, an agent can fetch full text and metadata for an opinion cluster - returns all opinion variants (majority, concurrence, dissent), retrieve the citation network for an opinion: opinions cited by it (citing) or that cite it (cited_by), resolve legal citations (e.g., "410 U.S. 113") to cluster IDs and case metadata - one entry per citation found in the input, and fetch docket metadata and entry list for a single federal case.

The 14 tools it gives your agent

Extracted from the project's README - what courtlistener-mcp-server lets an agent do.

courtlistener_search_opinions: - Full-text search across 9M+ written court opinions with field-level filtering, date ranges, status, and sort
courtlistener_get_opinion: - Fetch full text and metadata for an opinion cluster - returns all opinion variants (majority, concurrence, dissent)
courtlistener_get_citations: - Retrieve the citation network for an opinion: opinions cited by it (citing) or that cite it (cited_by)
courtlistener_lookup_citation: - Resolve legal citations (e.g., "410 U.S. 113") to cluster IDs and case metadata - one entry per citation found in the input
courtlistener_search_dockets: - Search RECAP federal court dockets by party name, attorney, court, and date
courtlistener_get_docket: - Fetch docket metadata and entry list for a single federal case
courtlistener_get_parties: - Fetch all parties and attorneys of record for a RECAP federal docket by docket ID
courtlistener_search_judges: - Search judge records by name, appointing president, court, and political affiliation
courtlistener_get_judge: - Fetch full biographical profile, appointment history, and education for a single judge
courtlistener_lookup_courts: - List courts filtered by jurisdiction type, active/inactive status, and scraper coverage
courtlistener_search_oral_arguments: - Search appellate oral argument audio recordings by case name, court, and date argued
courtlistener_get_oral_argument: - Fetch full detail for a single oral argument - panel, duration, MP3 link, and speech-to-text transcript

show all 14 tools

courtlistener_search_financial_disclosures: - Search federal judicial financial disclosure filings by judge and year - category counts, itemized gifts, and source PDF
courtlistener_get_financial_disclosure: - Fetch one disclosure's parsed line items - investments, debts, positions, income, gifts - with coded values decoded to dollar ranges; selectable by category

Latest releases

v0.7.2 · 2026-09-29

Request pacing and rate-limit recovery hints · Requests are paced against a shared minute/hour queue - a short burst waits and succeeds instead of failing outright; a call that can't open a slot within its wait budget…

v0.7.1 · 2026-08-25

mcp-ts-core ^0.12.3 - SDK v2 wire tightening · Tool inputs are strict: an undeclared argument key is rejected by name, and every advertised inputSchema carries additionalProperties: false · The advertised outputSchema…

v0.7.0 · 2026-07-30

Jurisdiction filter mirrors CourtListener's own Court.JURISDICTIONS · choices exactly. · jurisdiction accepts nine previously-missing codes, reaching the · tribal, territory, and military benches: TRS, TRA, TRT, TRX…

04 · Who maintains Courtlistener MCP Server

courtlistener-mcp-server is maintained by cyanheads. We track 137 MCP servers from cyanheads - 131 actively maintained, 1,856 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Dec 2024. Full record: all servers from cyanheads.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/cyanheads/courtlistener-mcp-server
category: other - ranked #293 of 998 actively-maintained other servers as of 2026-09-30.
release cadence: 10+ releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-09-29)
registry: io.github.cyanheads/courtlistener-mcp-server (active, first published 2026-05-26 · 26 versions)
packages: npm:@cyanheads/courtlistener-mcp-server · npm:@cyanheads/courtlistener-mcp-server

06 · Courtlistener MCP Server FAQ

Is Courtlistener MCP Server still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-30, its last commit was 2026-09-20 and it shipped 10+ releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

What can Courtlistener MCP Server do?

With this server connected, an agent can fetch full text and metadata for an opinion cluster - returns all opinion variants (majority, concurrence, dissent), retrieve the citation network for an opinion: opinions cited by it (citing) or that cite it (cited_by), resolve legal citations (e.g., "410 U.S. 113") to cluster IDs and case metadata - one entry per citation found in the input, and fetch docket metadata and entry list for a single federal case.

How do I install Courtlistener MCP Server?

Run `npx -y @cyanheads/courtlistener-mcp-server`. The README documents 3 environment variables (MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL, COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN) to set first. Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL, COURTLISTENER_API_TOKEN before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Courtlistener MCP Server require authentication?

No - the endpoint accepted our unauthenticated MCP initialize when probed on 2026-09-30; you can connect without credentials.

07 · Alternatives to Courtlistener MCP Server

Alternatives to Courtlistener MCP Server

Maintained other servers if Courtlistener MCP Server isn't the fit.

More MCP servers to compare · Docgen MCP Server · Eur Lex MCP Server · Git MCP Server · Guardian MCP Server · Gutenberg MCP Server

More TypeScript MCP servers · Crossref MCP Server · DevOps Status MCP Server · Eia Energy MCP Server · Ensembl MCP Server · see all