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Federal Register API

Free US Federal Register API with no key: executive orders, rules, notices and proposed regulations with full text search back to 1994. Tested curl example.

No API key requiredCORS enabledHTTPSFree tier

Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 2026-08-19

What is the Federal Register API?

The Federal Register API provides free access to every document published in the daily journal of the US federal government — executive orders, proposed and final rules, and public notices — with full-text search and no API key.

The Federal Register is the official daily publication of the US government, and its API is genuinely open: no key, no quota, and full-text search across every document published since 1994.

It is one of the better-designed government APIs. Results are paginated with explicit `next_page_url` links, documents carry structured metadata including agency, document type and effective dates, and you can filter by date range and agency without wrestling with an undocumented query syntax.

Quick facts

Base URL
https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1
Authentication
No API key required.
Rate limit
No published hard limit; reasonable use expected.
Pricing
Free public domain US government data.
CORS
Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript
Official docs
Read the docs

How to use the Federal Register API

Every request below was executed against the live API on 2026-08-19, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

1. Fetch the most recent Federal Register document

GET https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents.json?per_page=1

curl
curl 'https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents.json?per_page=1'
JavaScript (fetch)
const res = await fetch("https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents.json?per_page=1");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);
Python (requests)
import requests

res = requests.get("https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents.json?per_page=1", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())
Response — HTTP 200 (truncated)
{
  "description": "All Documents",
  "count": 10000,
  "total_pages": 50,
  "next_page_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents?format=json&page=2&per_page=1&search_after_cursor=WzE3ODcwOTc2MDAwMDAsIjIwMjYtMTY5MTgiXQ",
  "results": [
    {
      "title": "Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request",
      "type": "Notice",
      "abstract": null,
      "document_number": "C1-2026-15326",
      "html_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/19/C1-2026-15326/agency-information-collection-activities-proposed-collection-comment-request",
      "pdf_url": "https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-19/pdf/C1-2026-15326.pdf",
      "public_inspection_pdf_url": "https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/C1-2026-15326.pdf?1787057117",
      "publication_date": "2026-08-19",
      "agencies": [
        {
          "raw_name": "DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES",
          "name": "Health and Human Services Department",
          "id": 221,
          "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/health-and-human-services-department",
          "json_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/221",
          "parent_id": null,
          "slug": "health-and-human-services-department"
        },
        {
          "raw_name": "Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality",
          "name": "Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality",
          "id": 5,
          "url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/agency-for-healthcare-research-and-quality",
          "json_url": "https://www.f

Parameters

ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
per_pageintegerOptionalResults per page, up to 1000. 20
pageintegerOptionalPage number. 2
conditions[term]stringOptionalFull-text search term. climate
conditions[agencies][]stringOptionalFilter by agency slug. environmental-protection-agency
conditions[publication_date][gte]stringOptionalOnly documents published on or after this date. 2026-01-01
fields[]stringOptionalRestrict returned fields to shrink the payload. title

Response fields

countinteger
Total documents matching the query, capped at 10,000.
total_pagesinteger
Number of pages available for this query.
next_page_urlstring
Ready-made URL for the next page — follow it rather than building your own.
results[].titlestring
Document title.
results[].document_numberstring
Official Federal Register document number.
results[].publication_datestring
Date the document was published.
results[].agenciesarray
Issuing agencies with names and identifiers.

What you can build with the Federal Register API

  • Monitor new regulations affecting a specific industry or agency
  • Track executive orders as they are published
  • Build a compliance alerting tool for regulatory changes
  • Research the full history of a rule through its proposed and final stages

Common errors and how to fix them

400

Malformed condition parameter.

Fix: Condition parameters use bracket syntax such as conditions[term]; URL-encode the brackets if your HTTP client does not.

count caps at 10000

The API will not report totals beyond 10,000 matches.

Fix: Narrow the query with a date range or agency filter rather than paginating blindly.

Federal Register API — frequently asked questions

Is the Federal Register API free?

Yes, completely free with no API key. It publishes US government documents that are in the public domain.

How far back does the data go?

Full-text documents are available from 1994 onwards, with metadata for earlier material. That covers three decades of federal rulemaking.

How do I search for regulations on a specific topic?

Use conditions[term] for full-text search, and combine it with conditions[agencies][] and a publication date range to narrow results meaningfully.

Can I track when a proposed rule becomes final?

Yes. Documents are linked by docket and regulation identifier, so you can follow a rule from proposed through to final publication.

Tools that pair with this API

JSON Formatter

Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.

CSV to JSON Converter

Convert CSV to a JSON array of objects online. Header-row detection, comma/semicolon/tab delimiters and pretty-printed output — 100% in your browser.

Federal Register is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 2026-08-19; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.