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Contributing to ECFiler

ECFiler is focused on one thing: filing documents on Federal CM/ECF. Contributions that improve the core filing experience are welcome.

Scope

In scope: Anything that makes CM/ECF filing more reliable, faster, or easier.

Out of scope: Case management, deadline tracking, docket monitoring, billing, or anything not directly related to the act of filing a document on CM/ECF.

Development Setup

git clone <repo-url> && cd ecfiler
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev,web]"
playwright install chromium
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

# Verify setup
ecfiler check

# Run tests
python -m pytest tests/ -v

Running Tests

# All tests
python -m pytest tests/ -v

# Specific module
python -m pytest tests/test_pdf_validator.py -v

# Quick summary
python -m pytest tests/ -q

Tests don't require PACER credentials or a Claude API key — they use local fixtures and mock data.

Project Structure

ecfiler/
├── agent/           # AI document analysis + smart filing
├── api/             # FastAPI backend + web UI
├── browser/         # Playwright CM/ECF automation + recovery
├── courts/          # Court profiles, selectors, registry, JSON data
├── filing/          # Models, events, workflow, preflight, civil cover sheet
├── pdf/             # Validation, conversion, redaction scanning
├── storage/         # SQLite history, filing templates
├── ui/              # Rich TUI menus and display
├── config.py        # TOML config loading
├── claude_client.py # Anthropic SDK wrapper
├── diagnostics.py   # Setup verification
├── logging.py       # Centralized logging
├── pacer_auth.py    # PACER authentication
└── pacer_search.py  # PACER case search

Adding a New Court Profile

Most courts work with the default BaseCourt selectors. If a court needs overrides:

  1. Add court-specific selectors to the court's JSON entry in ecfiler/courts/data/
  2. If selectors aren't enough, add a Python override in the appropriate court type file (district.py, bankruptcy.py, appellate.py)
  3. Test with ecfiler check and ecfiler --dry-run

Adding Event Codes

Event codes are in ecfiler/filing/events.py (common codes) and ecfiler/courts/data/event_codes/ (court-specific). To add:

  1. Find the real CM/ECF event codes for the court (visible in the CM/ECF event dropdown)
  2. Add to the appropriate JSON file or Python list
  3. Include: code, description, category

Code Style

  • Python 3.11+, type hints everywhere
  • No docstrings on obvious methods
  • Tests for everything that can break
  • ecfiler.logging.get_logger(__name__) for logging
  • ECFFormError for CM/ECF form interaction failures
  • Pydantic models for all data structures

Before Submitting a PR

  1. python -m pytest tests/ -q — all tests pass
  2. ecfiler check — setup diagnostics pass
  3. No scope creep — keep it about filing