The CaliforniaCourtIntel API provides programmatic access to judge profiles, court directory data, tentative rulings, and county information. API access is a Firm and Enterprise plan feature.
Which plans include API access. API keys can be generated on Firm and Enterprise plans. Free and Pro plan users do not have API access. If you are on a Pro plan and need API access, upgrading to Firm is the path.
Rate limits by plan. Firm plan accounts are allocated 1,000 API requests per minute per API key. Enterprise accounts receive a higher default limit (5,000 requests per minute) and can negotiate custom limits as part of their contract. Rate limits are enforced on a rolling 60-second window.
Generating an API key. Go to Settings, then API Keys, and click Generate New Key. Give the key a descriptive name (e.g., 'Production Integration' or 'Internal Research Tool'). The full key is displayed once — copy it immediately. CaliforniaCourtIntel stores only a hashed version of the key and cannot retrieve the full key if it is lost. You can generate up to 5 API keys per account.
Monitoring usage. Each key has a Usage button in the API Keys settings page that shows a 30-day rolling chart of requests broken down by endpoint and HTTP status code. This chart helps you identify usage spikes, 429 rate limit errors, and which endpoints consume the most quota.
Handling rate limit responses. When you exceed your rate limit, the API returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header indicating how many seconds until you can retry. Implement exponential backoff in your application. Cache GET responses for judge profiles and court directory data (which change infrequently) to reduce your request volume.
Requesting higher limits. Enterprise customers can request a higher rate limit by contacting their account manager. Firm plan customers who consistently hit rate limits should contact enterprise@californiacourtintel.com to discuss an Enterprise upgrade with a custom allocation.