Versioning

DocketLayer uses path-based versioning. Breaking changes bump the major version and change the URL path.

DocketLayer uses path-based versioning. The current version is v2, served at https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/.

Version path convention

The major version is encoded in the URL path:

https://api.docketlayer.ai/v2/case
https://api.docketlayer.ai/v3/case   ← future

Minor and patch changes are backwards-compatible and do not change the path. Breaking changes bump the major version and introduce a new path.

Compatibility policy

• Additive changes (new fields, new optional parameters, new endpoints) are made without a version bump
• Breaking changes (removed fields, changed field types, renamed fields, changed behavior) require a new major version
• When a new major version ships, the previous version remains accessible for a minimum of twelve months

Current versions

Version	Path	Status	Sunset date
2.0.0	/v2/	Current	—
1.0	/v1/	Deprecated	2027-04-28

v1 deprecation

DocketLayer v1.0 entered formal deprecation on 2026-04-28. The /v1/ endpoints will continue to serve until 2027-04-28, after which they will return 410 Gone.

If you are on v1, migrate before the sunset date. See the migration guide for field mapping and code changes.

Breaking changes from v1 to v2

v1 field	v2 field	Notes
nature_of_suit	nature_of_proceeding	Renamed for jurisdiction-agnostic clarity
pacer_doc_id	document_identifier	Generalized; accompanied by document_identifier_type
pacer_link	external_url	Renamed for jurisdiction-agnostic clarity
related_cases	cross_references	Renamed; each entry now carries a typed relationship enum

All other v2 changes are additive. Existing enum values are unchanged.

Version discovery

The current API version is always available in the status endpoint response:

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

{
  "api_version": "2.0.0",
  "operational_status": "nominal",
  ...
}