CourtAPI — Federal Court Data vs LienDeadline
A side-by-side look at the CourtAPI — Federal Court Data and LienDeadline MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose CourtAPI — Federal Court Data for legal work as a local process; choose LienDeadline for legal. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose CourtAPI — Federal Court Data when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Legal domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
COURTAPI_APP_ID, COURTAPI_APP_KEY, COURTAPI_BASE_URL. - You want tools like
find_cases, get_case, get_dockets.
Choose LienDeadline when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Legal domain.
- You want tools like
calculate_supplier_deadlines, get_supplier_questions, calculate_supplier_deadlines_v3.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Legal | Legal |
| Quality signal | 56/100 · Good | 57/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | COURTAPI_APP_IDCOURTAPI_APP_KEYCOURTAPI_BASE_URL | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 1 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 10 | 7 |
| Full listing | View CourtAPI — Federal Court Data | View LienDeadline |
Tools & capabilities
CourtAPI — Federal Court Data tools 10
find_casesDiscover federal court cases you don't have the court+number for yet. Pass a party/company name, a (partial) case number, or free-text keywords. Returns court_code + case_number needed by all other tools. No PACER cost. Note: keyword search (search-filings) charges 1 CourtAPI API call per 25 results returned. Examples: query='Sbarro', query='1:14-bk', query='retail chapter 11 2026'.get_caseGet all metadata for a known case: title, chapter, judge, key dates (filed/closed/discharged), assets, liabilities, and links to sub-resources (dockets, claims, parties, etc.) with their last-modified timestamps. Always call this first after finding a case. The response includes a 'menu' object where each entry has a 'modified' timestamp (null = never purchased) showing what sub-resources are available. Free unless include_live_pacer=true.get_docketsGet the docket sheet for a case — all filings in chronological order with dates, descriptions, and attached document info (is_cached, download_cost). The header includes judge, attorneys, trustees, and 341 meeting date. Supports keyword search and date/number range filtering. Free unless include_live_pacer=true.get_documentGet a PDF attached to a docket entry. Always checks the cache first. If cached (is_cached=true), returns download_url + preview_url + ocr_link at no cost. If not cached and purchase=true, buys from PACER and returns download_url + receipt. If not cached and purchase=false (default), returns cost info so you can decide. docket_seq comes from docket entries (e.g. '42.00000'). part defaults to 1 (main doc).get_claimsGet the bankruptcy claims register — all proofs of claim filed by creditors, with amounts (filed/allowed/paid), claim type (secured/unsecured), creditor names, and filing dates. Essential for Chapter 11 analysis and creditor research. Supports keyword search and date/number range filtering.get_partiesGet all parties in a case (debtors, creditors, plaintiffs, defendants, trustees) and optionally their attorneys with firm name, contact info, and bar number. Useful for conflicts checks, service lists, and identifying who is involved.get_creditorsGet the creditor list for a bankruptcy case — all creditors scheduled in Schedules D/E/F, whether or not they filed a proof of claim. Different from get_claims (which shows filed proofs of claim).ncl_searchSearch PACER's National Case Locator across all federal courts at once. More comprehensive than find_cases for party name searches — queries PACER directly. Costs PACER credits. Returns up to ~50 cases per page; pass search_id + page to paginate. Use for: finding a person's cases across all courts, SSN lookups, cross-court party searches.list_courtsList all PACER courts with their court codes. Call this when you need a court_code and don't know it. Returns ~200 courts; use type to filter. Common codes: nysbke, debke, ilnbke, cacdbe, txnbke.get_pacer_credentialsCheck or update PACER credentials stored in CourtAPI. PACER credentials are required before any include_live_pacer=true call. action='check' → show stored username (password not returned). action='set' → store pacer_user + pacer_pass. action='validate' → test credentials without storing. action='delete' → remove stored credentials.
LienDeadline tools 7
calculate_supplier_deadlinesCalculates a construction material supplier's preliminary notice and lien filing deadlines from delivery events (contract supplier-events-v2), for questions that need deadline dates. Available baselines cover Florida and Kansas private projects; other states and public projects return review_required, which is a valid result, not an error. How the parameters depend on each other: last_delivery_date is required when deliveries_complete is true. Florida (FL) takes florida_final_payment_status and florida_termination_status; Kansas (KS) takes kansas_extension_status; these are rejected for other states. Each takes yes, no or unknown: an omitted or unknown answer keeps the affected deadline under review, and a blanket review flag is not accepted. The Florida final-payment answer holds the notice for suppliers not hired by the owner. A Florida event date is accepted only with the matching yes answer. Delivery dates are furnishing dates, not invoice dates. Returns JSON with an overall status (calculated or review_required), preliminary_notice and lien_filing (each with its own status: calculated, not_required, review_required or awaiting_final_delivery, plus deadline, days_from_now, description and statute source_url), critical_warnings, statute_citations, an exact echo of the submitted inputs and a disclaimer. Invalid or contradictory facts return an error naming the field before any API call. Requires a customer key and consumes one plan calculation unit. No project is saved, notice sent or lien filed. Not legal advice.get_supplier_questionsReturns the current supplier-events-v3 scope support, jurisdiction-specific yes/no/unknown event questions, date policies, optional recurring_notice_intake descriptor, sources and exact rule/question identities for a material supplier. Requires a customer key; no delivery dates needed. Discovery does not consume calculation quota. A 503 means the reviewed source is unavailable. Approval of research alone does not activate a scope.calculate_supplier_deadlines_v3Evaluates supplier-events-v3 project facts against the exact discovered rule and question identities. Returns independent notice and lien outcomes with sources and an exact nested input echo. When RI discovery asks ri_mailed_within_200_days after ri_mailed=yes, confirm whether mailing occurred within 200 days of first delivery. No, Unknown or omitted confirmation requires review; recording alone does not establish a 40-day target. Only calculated outcomes contain calculated deadline dates. Report every candidate_deadlines entry with its ID, date and sources under the API explanation. For NH review fallbacks, first_furnishing is a conservative checkpoint and final_furnishing is informational pending contract grouping and qualifying completion; passing the first checkpoint does not itself establish expiry. A calculated contract_completion outcome uses only the returned deadline, without substituting the first checkpoint or recomputing a date. Review candidates do not establish filing deadlines, completion or scheduled reminders. An optional preliminary_notice.notice_duties collection contains independently required named notices, each with its own calculated date, explanation and sources; the legacy preliminary date is only their earliest summary. Report every validated duty without inferring duties from candidates or treating one notice as satisfying all duties. A separate optional preliminary_notice.planned_notice_targets collection contains qualified intent planning targets with their target dates, assumed filing dates, full ten- or thirty-day intervals, explanations and sources. Planning targets do not establish statutory expirations, actual filing, notice completion or scheduled notifications. An optional verified action_by is a Conservative action date planning target under qualified review; the statutory deadline and countdown remain unresolved, with explanation, sources and warnings. Optional recurring_notice_facts supplies actual Tennessee furnished months or New Hampshire account records. Tennessee recurring_notice_periods cover entered periods only, including paid and unknown states; known unpaid duties remain independent. New Hampshire recurring_notice_checkpoints are advisory check-ins with unresolved legal status, not legal deadlines, service, completion or scheduled reminders; they do not reset earlier gaps. Never infer intervening months or blanket completion. Stale identities return 409, unavailable reviewed sources return 503. Requires a customer key and consumes one plan calculation unit. No project is saved, notice sent or lien filed.calculate_lien_deadlineCustomer API tool: requires LIENDEADLINE_API_KEY, a dedicated LienDeadline customer key; without one it returns a configuration error and makes no request. Calculates the preliminary notice and lien filing deadlines for one construction invoice from its invoice or delivery date and state. Returns JSON with state, invoice_date, project_type, preliminary_notice_deadline, lien_deadline, waiver_due_date, prelim_deadline_days, lien_deadline_days, warnings such as weekend or holiday rollover, notes and a disclaimer. A date, day count or project_type the API does not return is null; missing warnings is [] and missing notes is an empty string. API denials (401 key, 403 scope, 429 rate limit) return a tool error. Successful calculations consume one API plan unit. Not legal advice.list_supported_statesCustomer API tool: requires LIENDEADLINE_API_KEY with the states:read scope. Returns count and the two-letter codes of the jurisdictions the customer invoice calculation accepts. It does not list editorial guides or the states with reviewed supplier baselines. Takes no parameters. Read-only.get_state_lien_guideReturns LienDeadline's editorial mechanics lien and preliminary notice guide for one state or DC: rules (rule summary with statute citations), deadline_rows (deadline table), faqs (common questions) and source_url (the guide's web page), roughly 4 KB of JSON. For questions about how a state's lien or notice rules work, why a deadline falls where it does, or which statute applies. An unknown state code returns an error. The guide is an editorial reference, not a calculation: its day counts are summaries, not computed deadlines. Public and read-only; no key needed.list_state_lien_guidesLists every published state lien guide in one response, without pagination: count plus state_code, title and slug for all 50 states and DC, in alphabetical order by state name. It lists editorial guides only and does not indicate which states have calculated deadlines. Takes no parameters. Public and read-only; no key needed.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
CourtAPI — Federal Court Data
{
"mcpServers": {
"courtapi-federal-court-data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@courtio/courtapi-mcp"
],
"env": {
"COURTAPI_APP_ID": "YOUR_COURTAPI_APP_ID_HERE",
"COURTAPI_APP_KEY": "YOUR_COURTAPI_APP_KEY_HERE",
"COURTAPI_BASE_URL": "YOUR_COURTAPI_BASE_URL_HERE"
}
}
}
}
LienDeadline
No confirmed install command for LienDeadline yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Frequently asked questions
CourtAPI — Federal Court Data is categorized under Legal and uses a local stdio subprocess. LienDeadline belongs to Legal and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Pick CourtAPI — Federal Court Data for legal work and LienDeadline for legal.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client. LienDeadline has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
CourtAPI — Federal Court Data has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. LienDeadline has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add courtapi-federal-court-data and liendeadline as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, CourtAPI — Federal Court Data has a quality signal of 56/100 (Good) with 3 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. LienDeadline has 57/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 1 GitHub stars.