Document identifiers

How DocketLayer identifies court documents across different court systems, and what the document_identifier fields mean.

Each docket entry in a DocketLayer response may reference a court document. Because DocketLayer covers courts running different case management systems, document identifiers are not uniform across jurisdictions. The document_identifier and document_identifier_type fields together give you everything you need to locate a document in its source system.

The fields

{
  "entry_number": 42,
  "document_identifier": "0042",
  "document_identifier_type": "pacer_doc_id",
  "external_url": "https://ecf.nysd.uscourts.gov/doc1/..."
}

Field	Description
document_identifier	The identifier string in the source system
document_identifier_type	Which system’s identifier scheme this is
external_url	Direct link to the document in the source system — may be null

document_identifier_type values

Value	System	Notes
pacer_doc_id	PACER / CM/ECF	Numeric string. Accessing the document requires PACER credentials.
acms_document_guid	ACMS (2nd and 9th Circuits)	UUID format. ACMS is the appellate system for those circuits.
fct_recorded_entry_id	Federal Court of Canada	Numeric string from the FCT case management system.
tyler_envelope_id	Tyler Odyssey (state courts)	Identifier for the filing envelope in Tyler’s system.
tyler_event_id	Tyler Odyssey (state courts)	Identifier for a specific event within an envelope.
tyler_document_id	Tyler Odyssey (state courts)	Identifier for a specific document within an event.
none	Any	No document identifier available for this entry.

Accessing documents

DocketLayer returns docket metadata and document links. It does not retrieve, store, or serve the underlying document files.

For PACER documents: The external_url links directly to the document in PACER. Retrieving it requires valid PACER credentials. Visit pacer.gov to register or manage your credentials.

For state court documents: Access depends on the court’s public portal policy. Some state courts make documents freely available; others require a login or a fee. The external_url points to the document in the source system — whether you can retrieve it without credentials depends on that court’s rules.

For Federal Court of Canada: Documents are available through the FCT’s public portal at no charge.

When document_identifier is null

Some docket entries — particularly procedural notes, status entries, and certain sealed or restricted filings — have no associated document. document_identifier is null and document_identifier_type is none in these cases. external_url is also null.

Entry numbers

entry_number is the sequential number assigned by the source court’s case management system. For PACER courts, this corresponds to the docket entry number visible in the PACER interface. It is not the same as the document_identifier, though for many PACER entries they are numerically similar.

entry_number may be null for court systems that do not assign sequential entry numbers.