ECFiler

Automated document filing for Federal CM/ECF court systems, powered by Claude API.

Try the App | Landing Page | API Docs

ECFiler is the first open-source tool for filing documents on CM/ECF. It uses Playwright browser automation (CM/ECF has no filing API) with Claude AI for intelligent event code selection, redaction scanning, and filing validation. Every filing requires explicit attorney confirmation before submission.

Features

• Smart Filing — drop a PDF, AI extracts case, court, party, event type. Zero form-filling.
• 150 federal courts — 94 district, 43 bankruptcy, 13 appellate
• 7 safety gates — PDF validation, redaction scan, event code verification, completeness check, attorney CONFIRM, final submit watchdog, receipt capture
• Web UI + CLI + API — three interfaces, same engine
• Claude AI — document analysis, event code matching, redaction scanning, filing validation
• Certificate of Service — auto-generated with PDF export
• Pre-flight checks — catches errors before the browser even starts
• Filing history — SQLite audit log of all filings

Quick Start

Option A: Try it now (hosted)

Visit https://ecfiler-production.up.railway.app — drop a PDF and go. No install needed.

Option B: Self-host

git clone https://github.com/jackson-jpeg/ecfiler.git && cd ecfiler
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# With Docker
docker compose up

# Or without Docker
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[web,dev]"
ecfiler serve

Open http://localhost:8000.

Option B: Smart CLI

# One command — AI reads the document, you just confirm
ecfiler smart ./motion_to_dismiss.pdf

Option C: Full CLI

ecfiler                              # Interactive TUI menu
ecfiler smart motion.pdf             # AI-powered filing (zero forms)
ecfiler smart motion.pdf --dry-run   # Test without submitting
ecfiler validate brief.pdf           # Check PDF meets CM/ECF requirements
ecfiler convert scanned.pdf          # Convert to PDF/A with OCR
ecfiler courts --search california   # Find courts
ecfiler courts --type appellate      # List appellate courts
ecfiler setup                        # Store PACER credentials
ecfiler check                        # Verify setup (API key, browser, etc.)
ecfiler history                      # View past filings
ecfiler history --search "01234"     # Search filing history
ecfiler save-template mtd --court nysd --event-code 12 --event-desc "Motion to Dismiss"
ecfiler quick mtd 1:24-cv-01234 brief.pdf   # Quick file from template
ecfiler demo                         # Demo walkthrough (no account needed)
ecfiler serve                        # Start web UI + API server
ecfiler serve --port 8080            # Custom port

Setup

1. Verify installation

ecfiler check

This runs diagnostics on your setup: config file, API key, PACER credentials, Playwright/Chromium, PDF tools, court data.

2. PACER Credentials

ecfiler setup

Stores your PACER password in the system keyring (never in plaintext).

3. Configuration

Edit ~/.ecfiler/config.toml (created on first run):

[general]
default_court = "nysd"
claude_model = "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"
dry_run = false

[pacer]
username = "your@email.com"

[attorney]
name = "Jane Smith"
bar_number = "JS1234"

[pdf]
redaction_check = true

4. Optional: PDF/A Conversion

pip install 'ecfiler[pdf-convert]'
apt install ghostscript tesseract-ocr  # Linux
brew install ghostscript tesseract     # macOS

How It Works

1. Select court — choose from 150 federal courts
2. Enter case number — looked up on PACER
3. Describe your filing — Claude suggests the right event code
4. Select documents — PDF validation + redaction scanning
5. Pre-flight checks — catches errors before browser starts
6. Review — full summary, type CONFIRM to proceed
7. File — Playwright submits to CM/ECF, captures receipt

Safety

ECFiler never auto-submits. The attorney must:

• Type CONFIRM at the review screen
• Type YES at the final CM/ECF confirmation
• Both gates must pass for any filing to be submitted

Additional protections:

• Pre-flight checks block filings with missing/invalid data
• PDF validation blocks invalid documents
• Claude scans for unredacted personal identifiers (Rule 5.2)
• Claude validates event code matches document content
• Sealed/restricted document warnings
• Browser retry with error recovery for transient failures
• All filings logged to SQLite audit trail
• Screenshots captured at every step

API

Start the server with ecfiler serve, then visit http://localhost:8000/docs for interactive API documentation.

Endpoint	Method	Description
/	GET	Web UI
/api/file	POST	Smart filing — upload PDF, get filing preview
/api/file/multi	POST	Multi-document smart filing
/api/filing/submit	POST	Submit to CM/ECF
/api/validate	POST	PDF validation
/api/redaction-scan	POST	Rule 5.2 scanning
/api/certificate-of-service	POST	Generate certificate of service
/api/certificate-of-service/pdf	POST	Download CoS as PDF
/api/courts	GET	List/search courts
/api/courts/{id}/events	GET	Event codes per court
/api/nature-of-suit	GET	JS-44 nature of suit codes
/api/nature-of-suit/categories	GET	NOS categories
/api/history	GET	Filing history
/api/health	GET	Health check

Supported Courts

Type	Count	Examples
District	94	S.D.N.Y. (nysd), C.D. Cal. (cacd), N.D. Ill. (ilnd)
Bankruptcy	43	S.D.N.Y. (nysb), C.D. Cal. (cacb), D. Del. (deb)
Appellate	13	2nd Cir. (ca2), 9th Cir. (ca9), D.C. Cir. (cadc)

Development

python -m pytest tests/ -v     # Run all 206 tests
ecfiler check                  # Verify dev setup

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

License

MIT