# 🇺🇸 US Legal MCP Server

> **Comprehensive US legal data in your AI workflow.** Search Congress bills, Federal Register documents, court opinions, and committees. No API keys required (optional for enhanced access).

An [MCP (Model Context Protocol)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) server that brings authoritative US legal information into AI coding environments like Cursor and Claude Desktop.

## Why Use US Legal MCP?

- 🆓 **No API Keys Required** – Works out of the box (optional keys for enhanced access)
- 🎯 **Jev High-Confidence Filter** – Optional TypeSafe Jev scoring drops poor matches
- 📜 **Comprehensive Sources** – Congress, Federal Register, CourtListener
- ⚡ **Easy Setup** – One-click install in Cursor or simple manual setup
- 🔍 **Multi-Source Search** – Search across all legal sources simultaneously
- 📊 **Real-time Data** – Recent bills, regulations, and court opinions

## Quick Start

Ready to explore US legal data? Install in seconds:

**Install in Cursor (Recommended):**

[🔗 Install in Cursor](cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=legal-mcp&config=eyJsZWdhbC1tY3AiOnsiY29tbWFuZCI6Im5weCIsImFyZ3MiOlsiLXkiLCJ1cy1sZWdhbC1tY3AiXX19)

**Or install manually:**

```bash
npm install -g us-legal-mcp
# Or from source:
git clone https://github.com/JamesANZ/legal-mcp.git
cd legal-mcp && npm install && npm run build
```

## Features

### 📜 Congress.gov

- **`search-congress-bills`** – Search bills and resolutions
- **`get-recent-bills`** – Get recently introduced legislation
- **`get-congress-committees`** – List Congressional committees

### 📋 Federal Register

- **`search-federal-register`** – Search regulations and executive orders
- **`get-recent-regulations`** – Get recently published documents

### ⚖️ CourtListener

- **`search-court-opinions`** – Search court opinions (federal and state)
- **`get-recent-court-opinions`** – Get recent court decisions

### 🎯 Jev Relevance Filter (optional)

When `TYPESAFE_API_KEY` (or `JEV_API_KEY`) is set in the MCP server env, query-based search tools send each hit to [Jev](https://docs.typesafe.ai) (TypeSafe System One) and **only return high-confidence matches**. Poor or low-confidence results are dropped. Without a key the server keeps its existing keyword scoring.

Filtered tools: `search_congress_bills`, `search_federal_register`, `search_all_legal`, `search_court_opinions`, `search_regulator_news`, `search_digital_asset_regulation`. Lookup tools (`get_bill_details`, recent lists, curated acts) are unchanged.

### 🔍 Multi-Source

- **`search-all-legal`** – Comprehensive search across all sources
- **`search_digital_asset_regulation`** – Aggregate search (Congress + Federal Register + all regulator feeds) scoped to crypto/stablecoin topics

### 🪙 Digital Asset & Crypto Legislation

- **`get_genius_act_info`** – Curated reference for the GENIUS Act (S.1582, 119th Cong., Pub. L. 119-27) — US payment stablecoin framework
- **`get_clarity_act_info`** – Curated reference for the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act (H.R.3633, 119th Cong.) — SEC/CFTC digital-asset jurisdiction
- **`get_curated_act`** – Fetch any curated act by slug (`genius-act`, `clarity-act`)
- **`get_bill_details`** – Live Congress.gov metadata for any bill (by `billId` like `s1582-119` or `hr3633-119`)
- **`get_bill_actions`** – Full chronological action history for a bill
- **`get_bill_text`** – All text versions (Introduced, Engrossed, Enrolled…) with PDF/HTML/XML links
- **`get_public_law_text`** – GovInfo public law package + truncated full text (e.g., `119-27` for GENIUS Act)

### 🏛️ Regulator News Feeds

- **`get_recent_regulator_news`** – Recent press releases from OCC, SEC, CFTC, Federal Reserve, Treasury, or FinCEN
- **`search_regulator_news`** – Keyword search across any/all regulator press-release feeds

## Installation

### Cursor (One-Click)

Click the install link above or use:

```
cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=legal-mcp&config=eyJsZWdhbC1tY3AiOnsiY29tbWFuZCI6Im5weCIsImFyZ3MiOlsiLXkiLCJ1cy1sZWdhbC1tY3AiXX19
```

### Manual Installation

**Requirements:** Node.js 18+ and npm

```bash
# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/JamesANZ/legal-mcp.git
cd legal-mcp
npm install
npm run build

# Run server
npm start
```

### Claude Desktop

Add to `claude_desktop_config.json`:

**macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`  
**Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "us-legal-mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/legal-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "CONGRESS_API_KEY": "",
        "COURT_LISTENER_API_KEY": "",
        "GOVINFO_API_KEY": "",
        "TYPESAFE_API_KEY": ""
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Restart Claude Desktop after configuration.

In Cursor, the same optional `TYPESAFE_API_KEY` (or `JEV_API_KEY`) can be added under **Settings → MCP → us-legal-mcp → env**. Leave it blank to keep keyword-only ranking.

## Usage Examples

### Search Congress Bills

Find bills related to a specific topic:

```json
{
  "tool": "search-congress-bills",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "immigration",
    "congress": 118,
    "limit": 10
  }
}
```

### Search Federal Regulations

Find regulations on a topic:

```json
{
  "tool": "search-federal-register",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "environmental protection",
    "limit": 5
  }
}
```

### Comprehensive Legal Search

Search across all sources simultaneously:

```json
{
  "tool": "search-all-legal",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "healthcare",
    "limit": 20
  }
}
```

### Search Court Opinions

Find court decisions:

```json
{
  "tool": "search-court-opinions",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "immigration asylum",
    "court": "scotus",
    "limit": 10
  }
}
```

## Data Sources

| Source               | Description                                                           | API                                                | Auth Required               |
| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- |
| **Congress.gov**     | Bills, resolutions, committees, bill actions, bill text versions      | https://api.congress.gov/v3                        | Optional                    |
| **Federal Register** | Regulations, executive orders                                         | https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1             | No                          |
| **CourtListener**    | Court opinions, decisions                                             | https://www.courtlistener.com/api/                 | Optional                    |
| **GovInfo**          | Public laws, enrolled bill PDFs, XML                                  | https://api.govinfo.gov                            | Optional (api.data.gov key) |
| **OCC**              | Office of the Comptroller of the Currency news releases               | https://www.occ.gov/rss/occ_news.xml               | No                          |
| **SEC**              | Securities and Exchange Commission press releases                     | https://www.sec.gov/news/pressreleases.rss         | No                          |
| **CFTC**             | Commodity Futures Trading Commission (general, enforcement, speeches) | https://www.cftc.gov/RSS/                          | No                          |
| **Federal Reserve**  | Federal Reserve Board press releases                                  | https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/press_all.xml | No                          |
| **Treasury**         | US Treasury press releases (HTML listing)                             | https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases      | No                          |
| **FinCEN**           | Financial Crimes Enforcement Network press releases (HTML listing)    | https://www.fincen.gov/news/press-releases         | No                          |

## API Keys (Optional)

### Congress.gov API Key

1. Visit [https://api.congress.gov/](https://api.congress.gov/)
2. Sign up for a free account
3. Get your API key
4. Set `CONGRESS_API_KEY` environment variable

### CourtListener API Key

1. Visit [https://www.courtlistener.com/api/](https://www.courtlistener.com/api/)
2. Create a free account
3. Get your API key from your profile
4. Set `COURT_LISTENER_API_KEY` environment variable

### GovInfo API Key

1. Visit [https://api.data.gov/signup/](https://api.data.gov/signup/) to request a free key
2. Set `GOVINFO_API_KEY` environment variable. Without it the server falls back to `DEMO_KEY` (rate-limited).

### Jev / TypeSafe API Key (optional)

Used to check whether each search hit actually matches the user's request. **The server runs without this key.** Add it in your MCP config `env` if you want high-confidence filtering.

1. Create a key in the [TypeSafe console](https://typesafe.ai) (or use a compatible gateway)
2. Set `TYPESAFE_API_KEY` in the MCP server env (alias: `JEV_API_KEY`)
3. Optional overrides:
   - `JEV_MIN_RELEVANCE` – keep threshold, `0`–`1` (default `0.85`)
   - `JEV_MODEL` – default `jev-latest`
   - `TYPESAFE_BASE_URL` – default `https://api.typesafe.ai`

When the filter is on, search results include a Jev score (e.g. `Jev 0.94`) and a short note of how many poor matches were dropped. If Jev is unreachable, the server falls back to keyword scoring so tools still return data.

## Use Cases

- **Legal Researchers** – Quick access to bills, regulations, and court opinions
- **Policy Analysts** – Track legislation and regulatory changes
- **Lawyers** – Reference tool for case law and regulations
- **Developers** – Build apps with authoritative legal data

## Technical Details

**Built with:** Node.js, TypeScript, MCP SDK  
**Dependencies:** `@modelcontextprotocol/sdk`, `axios`, `fast-xml-parser`, `zod`  
**Optional:** [Jev](https://docs.typesafe.ai) via `TYPESAFE_API_KEY` for high-confidence search filtering  
**Platforms:** macOS, Windows, Linux

## Contributing

⭐ **If this project helps you, please star it on GitHub!** ⭐

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

## License

MIT License – see LICENSE file for details.

## Support

If you find this project useful, consider supporting it:

**⚡ Lightning Network**

```
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```

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