MCP: Court Rules

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

What you get

Four 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)
`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/..."
  }
]

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

check_compliance

Integration patterns

Pre-filing compliance

Error handling

Next steps

Getting Started

Check Filing Compliance

Monitor Enforcement Actions

Use with AI Agents

​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

​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

check_compliance

Integration patterns

Pre-filing compliance

Error handling

Next steps