MCP: Court Rules

The Court Rules MCP server gives AI agents access to structured filing rules for 20+ courts and 630+ judges. Six tools let you list courts, search judges, retrieve rules, search filing requirements, look up court holidays, and generate compliance check parameters.

What you get

Six court rules tools:

Tool	Purpose
`list_courts`	List all courts with status and judge counts
`search_judges`	Search judges by district, name, or type
`get_judge_rules`	Get all rules for a specific judge (page limits, format, procedures)
`search_filing_rules`	Search filing requirements: e-filing, service, timing, fees, courtesy copies
`list_court_holidays`	List court holidays and closure dates with official source URLs
`check_compliance`	Generate compliance check parameters for the REST API (`/api/v1/check`)

The same MCP server also provides three enforcement data tools for monitoring privacy enforcement actions across 21 jurisdictions. See MCP: Enforcement Data.

Quick start

Add the Court Rules MCP server to your client. Sample data works immediately, no API key needed.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http court-rules https://mcp.courtrules.app/mcp

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "court-rules": {
      "url": "https://mcp.courtrules.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "court-rules": {
      "url": "https://mcp.courtrules.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "court-rules": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.courtrules.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Codex CLI

codex mcp add court-rules --url https://mcp.courtrules.app/mcp

Windsurf

Add to Windsurf MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "court-rules": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.courtrules.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Once connected, try asking your agent: “What are Judge Amon’s page limits for motions in EDNY?”

Sample vs Full access

The hosted MCP server has two access tiers:

	Sample	Full
Auth required	No	OAuth 2.1
Court rules	3 courts, 3 judges	20+ courts, 630+ judges
Filters	Disabled	Full query support
Use case	Try before you authenticate	Production integration

Sample data is available immediately, no sign-up needed. Try any tool to see real court rules data before authenticating. To upgrade to full access, sign in at console.courtrules.app or contact api@courtrules.app. See Authentication for setup details.

Tool reference

list_courts

List all courts. Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`status`	string	Optional filter: “live”, “preview”, or “coming_soon”

Example response:

[
  { "district_id": "edny", "name": "Eastern District of New York", "judge_count": 47 },
  { "district_id": "sdny", "name": "Southern District of New York", "judge_count": 72 },
  { "district_id": "cdca", "name": "Central District of California", "judge_count": 47 },
  { "district_id": "ndca", "name": "Northern District of California", "judge_count": 43 },
  { "district_id": "sdfl", "name": "Southern District of Florida", "judge_count": 46 }
]

search_judges

Search for judges by district, name, or type. Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`district_id`	string	District identifier (e.g., “edny”, “sdny”, “cdca”)
`name`	string	Partial name match
`judge_type`	string	”district”, “senior”, “magistrate”, “chief_district”, etc.
`limit`	number	Max results (default 20)

Example response:

[
  {
    "judge_slug": "carol-bagley-amon",
    "judge_name": "Carol Bagley Amon",
    "judge_type": "senior",
    "district_id": "edny",
    "status": "active"
  },
  {
    "judge_slug": "frederic-block",
    "judge_name": "Frederic Block",
    "judge_type": "senior",
    "district_id": "edny",
    "status": "active"
  },
  {
    "judge_slug": "gary-r-brown",
    "judge_name": "Gary R. Brown",
    "judge_type": "district",
    "district_id": "edny",
    "status": "active"
  }
]

get_judge_rules

Get all extracted rules for a specific judge. Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`judge_slug`	string	Yes	Judge identifier (e.g., “carol-bagley-amon”, “frederic-block”)
`district_id`	string	Yes	District identifier (e.g., “edny”)

Example response:

[
  {
    "rule_id": "rule-001",
    "content": {
      "logic_type": "PageWordLimitRule",
      "summary": "Memoranda of law in support of or in opposition to motions shall not exceed 20 pages",
      "page_limit": 20,
      "trigger": { "document_type_set": ["brief_support", "brief_opposition"] },
      "source_citation": { "document": "Individual Rules", "section": "§2.B", "page": 3 }
    },
    "doc_kind": "standing_order",
    "document_date": "2024-06-15",
    "source_url": "https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/..."
  },
  {
    "rule_id": "rule-002",
    "content": {
      "logic_type": "PageWordLimitRule",
      "summary": "Reply memoranda shall not exceed 10 pages",
      "page_limit": 10,
      "trigger": { "document_type_set": ["brief_reply"] },
      "source_citation": { "document": "Individual Rules", "section": "§2.B", "page": 3 }
    },
    "doc_kind": "standing_order",
    "document_date": "2024-06-15",
    "source_url": "https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/..."
  },
  {
    "rule_id": "rule-003",
    "content": {
      "logic_type": "FormatConstraint",
      "summary": "All documents must be double-spaced with 12-point font and one-inch margins",
      "source_citation": { "document": "Individual Rules", "section": "§2.A", "page": 2 }
    },
    "doc_kind": "standing_order",
    "document_date": "2024-06-15",
    "source_url": "https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/..."
  }
]

search_filing_rules

Search extracted filing rules across active source documents. Use this for e-filing requirements, service and proof of service, filing timing, fees, courtesy copies, rejection and cure windows, and courtroom preferences. Unlike get_judge_rules, which returns everything for one judge, this searches across courts and judges by keyword and rule type. Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`q`	string	No	Search terms matched against summary, source text, tags, and structured data
`district_id`	string	No	Court identifier (e.g., “il-cook-circuit”, “ca-los-angeles-superior”)
`judge_slug`	string	No	Judge, calendar, department, or courtroom slug. Use `"court"` for court-level rules
`logic_type`	string	No	Rule type, e.g. `ElectronicFilingRule`, `FilingTimingRule`, `ServiceRule`, `FilingFeeRule`
`workflow_phase`	string	No	One of `FILING`, `CASE_INITIATION`, `MOTION_PRACTICE`, `TRIAL_PREP`, `POST_JUDGMENT`
`case_type`	string	No	Filter by case type. General rules and rules without a case-type limit are always included
`include_court_rules`	boolean	No	When `judge_slug` is set, also include court-level rules. Default `true`
`include_raw_content`	boolean	No	Include the full validated rule object. Default `false`
`limit`	number	No	Max results (default 100, max 500)

Example response:

{
  "rules": [
    {
      "rule_id": "8f2c1a4e-...",
      "district_id": "edny",
      "judge_slug": "court",
      "logic_type": "ElectronicFilingRule",
      "summary": "All documents must be filed electronically through ECF unless the filer is pro se",
      "citation": "Local Civil Rule 5.2",
      "source_text": "Except as otherwise provided, all documents shall be filed electronically...",
      "provenance": {
        "source_url": "https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/local-rules",
        "document_version_id": "3b91..."
      }
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "total": 1, "limit": 100, "include_court_rules": true }
}

On sample access this tool searches a narrow corpus (page limits and formatting for one EDNY judge), so e-filing, service, fee, and courtesy copy queries return an empty rules array with a _notice explaining why. Authenticate for the full corpus.

list_court_holidays

List court holidays and closure dates. Returns the official source URL and the last time Court Rules checked that source, so you can show provenance alongside a deadline calculation. Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`district_id`	string	No	Court identifier (e.g., “edny”)
`year`	number	No	Calendar year (e.g., 2026)
`date_from`	string	No	Start date filter (YYYY-MM-DD)
`date_to`	string	No	End date filter (YYYY-MM-DD)
`limit`	number	No	Max results (default 50, max 200)

Example response:

{
  "holidays": [
    {
      "district_id": "edny",
      "calendar_year": 2026,
      "holiday_date": "2026-01-19",
      "holiday_name": "Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.",
      "source_url": "https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/holiday-schedule",
      "last_checked_at": "2026-05-13T12:00:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "meta": { "total": 1, "limit": 50 }
}

check_compliance

Generate compliance check parameters for the Court Rules REST API. This tool formats your check request; the actual compliance check runs at api.courtrules.app/api/v1/check (requires an API key). Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`judge_slug`	string	Yes	Judge identifier
`district_id`	string	Yes	District identifier
`document_scope`	string	Yes	Document type (brief_support, brief_opposition, brief_reply, etc.)
`page_count`	number	Yes	Total body pages
`word_count`	number	Yes	Total word count
`motion_type`	string	No	Motion type (Rule_56, Rule_12, etc.)
`is_pro_se`	boolean	No	Whether filer is pro se

This tool does not perform compliance checks directly. It generates the parameters and a curl example for calling the REST API. Example response:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Compliance checking requires the REST API. Use https://api.courtrules.app/api/v1/check for live checks.\n\nYou can use the following parameters in your API call:\n{\n  \"judge_slug\": \"gary-r-brown\",\n  \"district_id\": \"edny\",\n  \"document_scope\": \"brief_support\",\n  \"page_count\": 25,\n  \"word_count\": 6500\n}\n\nExample:\ncurl -X POST https://api.courtrules.app/api/v1/check \\\n  -H \"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY\" \\\n  -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n  -d '{\"judge_slug\":\"gary-r-brown\",\"district_id\":\"edny\",\"document_scope\":\"brief_support\",\"page_count\":25,\"word_count\":6500}'"
    }
  ]
}

Integration patterns

Pre-filing compliance

Check documents against judge-specific rules before filing:

get_judge_rules (judge_slug, district_id) -> show requirements during drafting
check_compliance (page_count, word_count, etc.) -> validate before filing
Surface failures and warnings in your document editor

This is the core workflow for legal tech platforms integrating filing compliance. Call get_judge_rules early in the drafting process so users see requirements before they finish writing, then call check_compliance as a final gate before submission.

Error handling

MCP tool calls return errors as text content, not HTTP error codes. If a tool encounters an error (invalid parameters, database unavailable), the response will contain a descriptive error message in the content array:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Error: No judge found with slug \"invalid-slug\" in district \"edny\"."
    }
  ]
}

Common error patterns:

Invalid judge_slug: "No judge found with slug \"...\" in district \"...\"."
Invalid district_id: "No court found with ID \"...\"."
Database error: "Error querying courts: ..." or "Error searching judges: ..."

The hosted server at mcp.courtrules.app does not currently enforce rate limits on MCP tool calls.

Next steps

REST API Quickstart to run compliance checks directly via HTTP
Coverage Levels to understand the three rule layers (FRCP, Local Rules, Standing Orders)
MCP: Enforcement Data for privacy enforcement tools on the same MCP server

Getting Started

Check Filing Compliance

Monitor Enforcement Actions

Use with AI Agents

MCP: Court Rules

MCP: Court Rules

What you get

Quick start

Claude Code

Claude Desktop

Cursor

VS Code

Codex CLI

Windsurf

Sample vs Full access

Tool reference

list_courts

search_judges

get_judge_rules

search_filing_rules

list_court_holidays

check_compliance

Integration patterns

Pre-filing compliance

Error handling

Next steps

​MCP: Court Rules

​What you get

​Quick start

​Claude Code

​Claude Desktop

​Cursor

​VS Code

​Codex CLI

​Windsurf

​Sample vs Full access

​Tool reference

​list_courts

​search_judges

​get_judge_rules

​search_filing_rules

​list_court_holidays

​check_compliance

​Integration patterns

​Pre-filing compliance

​Error handling

​Next steps

MCP: Court Rules

What you get

Quick start

Claude Code

Claude Desktop

Cursor

VS Code

Codex CLI

Windsurf

Sample vs Full access

Tool reference

list_courts

search_judges

get_judge_rules

search_filing_rules

list_court_holidays

check_compliance

Integration patterns

Pre-filing compliance

Error handling

Next steps