REST API · OpenAPI 3.0.3

Call the OpenCaseLaw corpus from any language

29 documented HTTP routes covering search, citation graph, statute lookup, doctrine timelines, and exports. Free. No API key. CORS enabled (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *). Same backend that powers Claude, ChatGPT, the Word add-in, and opencaselaw.ch/search.

Quickstart — search the corpus

curl -s "https://mcp.opencaselaw.ch/api/decisions?q=Mietrecht+K%C3%BCndigung&limit=5"

Returns:

{
  "total": 12847,
  "results": [
    { "decision_id": "bge_BGE_140_III_86", "court": "bge",
      "decision_date": "2014-04-15", "language": "de",
      "title": "Mietrecht; …", "regeste": "…",
      "citation_string_de": "BGE 140 III 86", "canonical_url": "https://mcp.opencaselaw.ch/entscheid/…" },
    …
  ],
  "limit": 5, "offset": 0
}

Quickstart — look up an article

curl -s "https://mcp.opencaselaw.ch/api/laws/OR?article=41"

{
  "sr_number": "220",
  "abbreviation": "OR",
  "title": "Bundesgesetz vom 30. März 1911 …",
  "consolidation_date": "2026-01-01",
  "language": "de",
  "articles": [
    { "article_num": "41", "heading": null,
      "text": "1 Wer einem andern widerrechtlich Schaden zufügt, …" }
  ]
}

Common parameters

Endpoint reference

• GET/api/decisionsSearch decisions. Returns paginated results with citation strings + canonical URLs.
• GET/api/decisions/{decision_id}Fetch a single decision with full text.
• GET/api/decisions/{decision_id}/export.docxExport as Word document (citation, regeste, structured Erwägungen).
• GET/api/decisions/{decision_id}/export.bibBibTeX entry for LaTeX bibliographies.
• GET/api/decisions/{decision_id}/export.risRIS record for Zotero / EndNote / Mendeley.
• GET/api/decisions/{decision_id}/export.pdfPDF re-render of the decision.
• GET/api/case-brief/{case}Structured brief: facts · reasoning · statutes · authority · related.
• GET/api/structure/{decision_id}Sachverhalt + Erwägungen-paragraphs + Dispositiv + Regeste.
• GET/api/erwaegung/{decision_id}/{e_number}Verbatim Schweizer Citation-Einheit (e.g. 2.3).
• GET/api/regeste/{decision_id}Official BGer / BVGer head-note text.

• GET/api/citations/{decision_id}Both directions: what this cites + what cites it.
• GET/api/appeal-chain/{decision_id}Procedural history through the instances.
• GET/api/leading-casesAuthority-ranked decisions for a statute / topic.
• GET/api/citeBuild a server-formatted citation string.

• GET/api/laws/searchFederated FTS5 over federal + cantonal articles. Returns snippets.
• GET/api/laws/{abbreviation}Single article by abbreviation (OR, ZGB, StGB, …).
• GET/api/legislation/searchLexFind catalog search (33,000+ federal + cantonal acts).
• GET/api/legislation/{lexfind_id}Single legislation record.
• GET/api/legislation/changesRecent & upcoming federal-law amendments.
• GET/api/doctrineStatute text + ranked BGEs + doctrine timeline + commentary excerpt.
• GET/api/materialienFederal Council Botschaften — legislative intent.
• GET/api/materialien/{law_code}Materialien for a specific law.
• GET/api/amendment-refResolve "Art. X (revised version Y)" patterns.

• GET/api/commentaries/searchSearch OnlineKommentar + OpenLegalCommentary excerpts.
• GET/api/commentaries/{abbreviation}Commentary index for a law (OR, ZGB, …).
• GET/api/exam-questionReal BGE fact pattern as Fallbearbeitung with hidden analysis.
• GET/api/mock-decisionResearch-only mock decision from facts + caselaw + statutes.

• POST/api/attestAudit a draft response — verifies every BGE / Art. / quoted string against the corpus before it leaves the server.
• GET/api/courtsList all 121 courts (federal, regulatory, international, cantonal).
• GET/api/statisticsAggregate stats — corpus, citation graph, statutes, languages.
• GET/api/scraper-healthPer-source last-run status (drives /coverage).
• GET/api/atom/{court}.xmlAtom feed — newest 50 decisions per court.

Schema, parameter docs and example responses are auto-generated in openapi.json. Validated against Microsoft Power Platform / Copilot Studio's WADL converter (2026-04-25, with LALIVE) — same connector used in the Microsoft Word add-in.

Rate limits

Soft-limited at the nginx layer to protect the upstream workers. Pace your batch jobs at ≤ 5 requests/second per IP. If you need higher throughput, run the stack locally — full instructions in README (~65 GB disk, ~30 min setup).