Gov Court Records

Search US court opinions, dockets, and judges. 3 tools for federal court records research.

Security Scan

The skill's stated purpose (searching CourtListener records) matches its instructions, but it directs the agent to register and use a third-party MCP endpoint (hosted on apify.actor) and lists PACER as a data source while claiming 'zero cost' — these inconsistencies and the need to trust an external proxy warrant caution.

Purpose & Capability

The skill claims to search US court opinions, dockets, and judges (CourtListener) which aligns with the provided tools. Requiring the mcporter binary to register an MCP server is plausible given the OpenClaw MCP model, but the explicit inclusion of PACER as a data source while also asserting 'All data from free public APIs. Zero cost.' is inconsistent (PACER is a paid system).

Instruction Scope

The SKILL.md instructs the agent/user to add a remote MCP server URL (https://court-records-mcp.apify.actor/mcp) either via mcporter or by editing ~/.openclaw/mcp.json. That routes all queries through a third-party proxy, which can observe/search/record queries and results. The instructions do not request unrelated local files or credentials, but they do ask to modify a local agent config (persisting the server).

Install Mechanism

This is an instruction-only skill (no install spec), so nothing is written by the skill itself. However it requires the mcporter binary to be present; users must obtain/trust that binary independently. The remote endpoint is hosted on an apify.actor domain (a third-party hosting service) rather than an official CourtListener host, which increases the trust surface.

Credentials

No environment variables or credentials are requested, which is proportionate. However the SKILL.md references PACER as a source (a paid system) while asserting zero-cost public APIs; if PACER content is being provided via a proxy, that may imply the proxy is doing additional scraping or using credentials, which isn't explained.

Persistence & Privilege

always:false and user-invocable are appropriate. The main persistence concern is that the guide asks the user to add a remote server to ~/.openclaw/mcp.json (a persistent config change) — this is expected for MCP servers but means future queries will go through that endpoint until removed.

What to consider before installing

Before installing/using this skill: 1) Consider trust: the skill instructs you to add a third‑party MCP server (court-records-mcp.apify.actor). That endpoint will see every query and response — only add it if you trust that operator. 2) Verify mcporter: the skill requires a local mcporter binary; obtain it from a trusted source and verify it before use. 3) Question the PACER claim: PACER is normally paid; ask the author how PACER data is being provided for 'zero cost' and whether any credentials or scraping are involved. 4) If you need stronger privacy/assurance, prefer a skill that uses official CourtListener APIs or self-host the MCP proxy. 5) Check the linked GitHub repo (owner and code) and prefer reviews/community trust before adding the server to your ~/.openclaw/mcp.json. Removing the server from your config will stop future queries from going to that endpoint.

US Court Records

Search federal court opinions, dockets, and judges from CourtListener.

Setup

mcporter add gov-courts --url https://court-records-mcp.apify.actor/mcp --transport streamable-http

Or add to your OpenClaw MCP config (~/.openclaw/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "gov-courts": {
      "url": "https://court-records-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
      "transport": "streamable-http"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

court_search_opinions

Search US court opinions and case law by keyword, court, and date range.

Search for Supreme Court opinions on patent law
Find recent appellate decisions on data privacy

Parameters: query (required), court, dateAfter (YYYY-MM-DD), dateBefore, limit

court_search_dockets

Search court dockets and case filings.

Search dockets for Google antitrust case
Find recent patent infringement filings

Parameters: query (required), court, dateAfter (YYYY-MM-DD), dateBefore, limit

court_search_judges

Search judges in the US court system.

Search for judges in the 9th Circuit
Look up Judge Smith

Parameters: query (required), court, limit

Data Sources

• CourtListener — Free Law Project (court opinions, dockets, judges)
• PACER — Public Access to Court Electronic Records

Use Cases

• Legal research and case law analysis
• Litigation tracking
• Judicial background research
• Regulatory compliance research

All data from free public APIs. Zero cost. No API keys required.