curl quickstart

curl cannot handle the x402 payment flow automatically — it does not have an x402 client library. However, you can use sandbox mode to test DocketLayer’s response structure from the command line without spending USDC.

Check coverage (free, no payment)

curl https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/status

Find the court_code for the court you want to query in the courts array.

Query in sandbox mode

Sandbox mode returns fixture data with no payment required. Add ?test=1 to any endpoint.

# Basic context — case header and primary parties
curl "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case?test=1&case_id=1:24-cv-01234&court_code=nysd"

# With last_checked — includes delta block
curl "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case?test=1&case_id=1:24-cv-01234&court_code=nysd&last_checked=2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"

# Full context
curl "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case?test=1&case_id=1:24-cv-01234&court_code=nysd&context=full"

# Monitor endpoint
curl "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/monitor?test=1&case_id=1:24-cv-01234&court_code=nysd&last_checked=2026-01-01T00:00:00Z"

Batch in sandbox mode

curl -X POST "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/cases/batch?test=1" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "queries": [
      {"case_id": "1:24-cv-01234", "court_code": "nysd"},
      {"case_id": "1:22-bk-11068", "court_code": "deb"}
    ]
  }'

Paid queries

For live paid queries, use the Python or JavaScript x402 client library — they handle the 402 challenge, transaction signing, and retry automatically. curl cannot replicate this flow without manual construction of the x402-payment header. See the Python quickstart or JavaScript quickstart for live query examples.

Pretty-printing responses

Pipe responses through jq for readable output:

curl -s "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case?test=1&case_id=1:24-cv-01234&court_code=nysd" | jq .

# Extract specific fields
curl -s "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/status" | jq '.courts[] | {code: .court_code, name: .name, coverage: .coverage}'

Getting started

API reference

Concepts

Guides

Integration quickstarts

Resources

Check coverage (free, no payment)

Query in sandbox mode

Batch in sandbox mode

Paid queries

Pretty-printing responses

​Check coverage (free, no payment)

​Query in sandbox mode

​Batch in sandbox mode

​Paid queries

​Pretty-printing responses

Check coverage (free, no payment)

Query in sandbox mode

Batch in sandbox mode

Paid queries

Pretty-printing responses