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DocketLayer is designed for AI agents. Every design decision reflects how agents operate: no account setup, payment-as-authentication, predictable JSON structure, and a built-in MCP server so agents can call it natively without writing HTTP client code.

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Why agents need court data

AI agents operating in legal, financial, compliance, and insurance workflows need to know what is happening in court — when a motion is filed, when a judgment is entered, when a case is closed. Human attorneys monitor court dockets manually. Agents can do this continuously, at scale, across large portfolios. DocketLayer’s change detection model maps directly to how agents work: an agent checks a case, stores a timestamp, and on its next run queries only for what changed since then.

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Payment as authentication

Agents need to act autonomously — they cannot be interrupted to complete a sign-up flow or wait for an API key to be provisioned. DocketLayer has no accounts and no API keys. A funded Solana wallet is the only prerequisite. The x402 protocol handles payment inline with the request. From the agent’s perspective:
  1. Call the endpoint
  2. The x402 client library handles the 402 challenge and payment automatically
  3. Receive the data
No human intervention required at any point. The agent can be deployed and begin querying immediately.

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The MCP server

For agents built on Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible host, DocketLayer exposes a remote MCP server at https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/mcp. Connect it once and the agent can call DocketLayer tools natively in natural language — no HTTP client code required. See the MCP server guide for configuration and the MCP endpoint reference for the full tool list.

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The monitoring pattern

The canonical agent pattern for court monitoring: 
import time
from x402 import PaymentClient

client = PaymentClient(
    private_key=os.environ["SOLANA_PRIVATE_KEY"],
    network="solana-mainnet",
    currency="USDC"
)

def run_monitoring_cycle(portfolio, last_checked_map):
    for case in portfolio:
        key = (case["case_id"], case["court_code"])
        result = client.get(
            "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case",
            params={
                "case_id": case["case_id"],
                "court_code": case["court_code"],
                "last_checked": last_checked_map.get(key)
            }
        ).json()

        last_checked_map[key] = result["meta"]["queried_at"]

        if result.get("delta", {}).get("changed"):
            handle_new_filings(case, result["delta"]["new_filings"])
Key properties:
  • last_checked uses the server’s queried_at timestamp — no clock skew, no missed filings
  • Failed queries (500, 503, 429) are not charged — retry safely
  • delta.changed: false means no new cost for quiet cases beyond the $0.99 query fee

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Callbacks for event-driven agents

If your agent runs on a schedule and you want to decouple monitoring from processing, use callback_url. Your agent makes a query and your endpoint receives a signed push delivery when the result is ready. The agent does not have to wait or poll. 
result = client.get(
    "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case",
    params={
        "case_id": "1:24-cv-01234",
        "court_code": "nysd",
        "last_checked": last_checked,
        "callback_url": "https://yourapp.com/webhooks/docketlayer"
    }
).json()
# Synchronous result available immediately
# Signed copy also pushed to your callback URL asynchronously
See the callbacks guide for payload format and signature verification.

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Batch queries for large portfolios

Agents monitoring large case portfolios should use POST /v2/cases/batch. Up to 50 cases per call, one x402 payment covers the full batch. The payment transaction must be sized for $0.99 × N queries. 
result = client.post(
    "https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/cases/batch",
    json={
        "queries": [
            {"case_id": c["case_id"], "court_code": c["court_code"], "last_checked": last_checked_map.get((c["case_id"], c["court_code"]))}
            for c in portfolio
        ]
    }
).json()

for r in result["results"]:
    if r["status"] == "success" and r["response"].get("delta", {}).get("changed"):
        handle_new_filings(r, r["response"]["delta"]["new_filings"])

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Stop conditions

An agent monitoring a closed case will keep paying $0.99 per cycle with no useful return. Build stop conditions: 
def should_continue_monitoring(result):
    case = result.get("case", {})
    if case.get("status") in ("closed", "dismissed", "discontinued"):
        return False
    return True
Check case.status on every query and remove resolved cases from the portfolio.