Bring Legal Research
to Cursor
Create your Vinkius account to connect CourtListener to Cursor and start using all 10 AI tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code. No hosting, no server setup — just connect and start using.
GDPR Free for SubscribersCompatible with every major AI agent and IDE
Gemini
What is the CourtListener MCP Server?
Empower your AI agent to orchestrate your entire legal research workflow with CourtListener, the world's leading free and open platform for legal data. By connecting CourtListener to your agent, you transform complex legal searches into a natural conversation. Your agent can instantly search for opinions, audit court dockets, and retrieve detailed judge information without you ever touching a technical portal. Whether you are conducting case law research or monitoring judicial activity, your agent acts as a real-time legal assistant, ensuring your research is always grounded in open and accessible data.
What you can do
- Opinion Auditing — Search for legal opinions by keyword and retrieve detailed metadata, including court name and date filed.
- Docket Oversight — Query court dockets to stay on top of ongoing litigation and case filings in real-time.
- Judicial Intelligence — Retrieve detailed information about judges and their financial disclosures to maintain strict control over your research context.
- Citation Discovery — List citations for specific opinions to understand the legal network and precedents.
- Court Governance — List all available courts and their metadata to ensure your jurisdictional research is accurate.
How it works
- Subscribe to this server
- Enter your CourtListener API Key
- Start managing your legal research through Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client
Who is this for?
- Legal Professionals — monitor case law and docket updates straight from your workflow.
- Researchers & Journalists — verify judicial metadata and financial disclosures without manual searches.
- Law Students — perform rapid audits of legal citations and opinions through natural language.
- Operations Leads — automate legal data querying to orchestrate cross-functional research teams smoothly.
Built-in capabilities (10)
Get details for a specific court
Get details for a specific judge
Get details for a specific opinion
List citations for an opinion
List all courts
List judge financial disclosures
List judges
List opinions
Search for court dockets
Search for legal opinions
Why Cursor?
Cursor's Agent mode turns CourtListener into an in-editor superpower. Ask Cursor to generate code using live data from CourtListener and it fetches, processes, and writes. all in a single agentic loop. 10 tools appear alongside file editing and terminal access, creating a unified development environment grounded in real-time information.
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Agent mode turns Cursor into an autonomous coding assistant that can read files, run commands, and call MCP tools without switching context
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Cursor's Composer feature can generate entire files using real-time data fetched through MCP. no copy-pasting from external dashboards
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MCP tools appear alongside built-in tools like file reading and terminal access, creating a unified agentic environment
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VS Code extension compatibility means your existing workflow, keybindings, and extensions all work alongside MCP tools
CourtListener in Cursor
Why run CourtListener with Vinkius?
The CourtListener connection runs on our fully managed, secure cloud infrastructure. We handle the hosting, maintenance, and security so you don't have to deal with servers or code. All 10 tools are ready to work instantly without any complex setup.
You stay in complete control of your data. Your AI only accesses the information you approve, keeping your sensitive passwords and private details completely safe. Plus, with automatic optimizations, your AI works faster and more efficiently.
* Every connection is hosted and maintained by Vinkius. We handle the security, updates, and infrastructure so you don't have to write code or manage servers. See our infrastructure
Over 4,000 integrations ready for AI agents
Explore a vast library of pre-built integrations, optimized and ready to deploy.
Connect securely in under 30 seconds
Generate tokens to authenticate and link external services in a single step.
Complete visibility into every agent action
Audit live requests, latency, success rates, and active security compliance policies.
Optimize spending and track token ROI
Analyze real-time token consumption and cost metrics detailed by connection.
Explore our live AI Agents Analytics dashboard to see it all working
This dashboard is included when you connect CourtListener using Vinkius. You will never be left in the dark about what your AI agents are doing with your tools.
CourtListener and 4,000+ other AI tools. No hosting, no code, ready to use.
Professionals who connect CourtListener to Cursor through Vinkius don't need to write code, manage servers, or worry about security. Everything is pre-configured, secure, and runs automatically in the background.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-use MCPs | Find and configure each manually | 4,000+ MCPs ready to use |
| Connection Setup | Manual coding & server setup | 1-click instant connection |
| Server Hosting | You host it yourself (needs 24/7 uptime) | 100% hosted & managed by Vinkius |
| Security & Privacy | Stored in plaintext config files | Bank-grade encrypted vault |
| Activity Visibility | Blind execution (no logs or tracking) | Live dashboard with real-time logs |
| Cost Control | Runaway AI token spend risk | Automatic budget limits |
| Revoking Access | Must delete files or code to stop | 1-click disconnect button |
How Vinkius secures
CourtListener for Cursor
Every request between Cursor and CourtListener is protected by our secure gateway. We automatically keep your sensitive data private, prevent unauthorized access, and let you disconnect instantly at any time.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my CourtListener API Key?
Log in to your CourtListener account, and you will find your API Key under the API Tokens section. Copy and paste it below.
Can the agent search for both opinions and dockets?
Yes. Use the search_opinions tool for legal judgments and search_dockets for case records. Your agent will return matching results from the Free Law Project database.
Is it possible to list judicial citations via the agent?
Yes. The list_citations tool allows your agent to retrieve all precedents and subsequent citations for any opinion by providing its Opinion ID, helping you map the legal landscape.
What is Agent mode and why does it matter for MCP?
Agent mode is Cursor's autonomous execution mode where the AI can perform multi-step tasks: reading files, editing code, running terminal commands, and calling MCP tools. Without Agent mode, Cursor operates in a simpler ask-and-answer mode that doesn't support tool calling. Always ensure you're in Agent mode when working with MCP servers.
Where does Cursor store MCP configuration?
Cursor looks for MCP server configurations in a mcp.json file. You can configure servers at the project level (.cursor/mcp.json in your project root) or globally (~/.cursor/mcp.json). Project-level configs take precedence.
Can Cursor use MCP tools in inline edits?
No. MCP tools are only available in Agent mode through the chat panel. Inline completions and Tab suggestions do not trigger MCP tool calls. This is by design. tool calls require user visibility and approval.
How do I verify MCP tools are loaded?
Open Settings → Features → MCP and look for your server name. A green indicator means the server is connected. You can also check Agent mode's available tools by clicking the tools dropdown in the chat panel.
Tools not appearing in Cursor
Ensure you are in Agent mode (not Ask mode). MCP tools only work in Agent mode.
Server shows as disconnected
Check Settings → Features → MCP and verify the server status. Try clicking the refresh button.
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