GET /v2/monitor

Lightweight change detection. Returns a boolean, count, and latest activity timestamp.

Overview

GET /v2/monitor returns a minimal response — has anything changed since last_checked, how many new filings, and when the latest one occurred. It is designed for agents running high-frequency monitoring loops where minimizing response payload matters.

Use /v2/monitor to check for changes, then call /v2/case only when changed is true to retrieve the full filing details.

Base URL: https://api.docketlayer.ai

Price: $0.99 USDC per successful query

Sandbox: Add ?test=1 or X-DocketLayer-Test: 1 — returns fixture data, no charge

Request

Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
case_id	string	Yes	Case identifier — e.g. 1:24-cv-01234
court_code	string	Yes	Court identifier — e.g. nysd, deb, cand
last_checked	string	Yes	ISO-8601 timestamp with timezone offset

last_checked is required on /v2/monitor. To get an initial snapshot without a prior timestamp, use /v2/case.

Example request

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

Response

{
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_01jt7y4kx0",
    "queried_at": "2026-04-29T12:00:00Z",
    "query_cost_usd": 0.99,
    "coverage_status": "full",
    "sandbox": false,
    "tag": null
  },
  "case_id": "1:24-cv-01234",
  "court_code": "nysd",
  "changed": false,
  "change_count": 0,
  "latest_activity_at": null
}

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
meta.queried_at	string	ISO-8601 timestamp — use as last_checked in your next call
changed	boolean	Whether any new filings were detected since last_checked
change_count	number	Number of new filings since last_checked
latest_activity_at	string | null	Timestamp of the most recent new filing; null if none

Usage pattern

import time

def monitoring_loop(case_id, court_code, last_checked):
    while True:
        result = client.get(
            "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/monitor",
            params={
                "case_id": case_id,
                "court_code": court_code,
                "last_checked": last_checked
            }
        ).json()

        if result["changed"]:
            # Retrieve full filing details
            details = client.get(
                "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case",
                params={
                    "case_id": case_id,
                    "court_code": court_code,
                    "last_checked": last_checked
                }
            ).json()
            handle_new_filings(details["delta"]["new_filings"])

        last_checked = result["meta"]["queried_at"]
        time.sleep(3600)  # Check every hour

Both /v2/monitor and /v2/case cost $0.99 per query. The efficiency gain of /v2/monitor is in response payload size, not price. For most monitoring workflows, calling /v2/case directly with last_checked is simpler and equally cost-effective.