Obtain a CourtListener API token by registering at courtlistener.com and retrieving your token from the account settings page
Create a docket alert with POST /api/rest/v4/docket-alerts/ passing the docket URL or docket ID and your preferred alert_type (RT for real-time); include the Authorization: Token {token} header
Register a webhook endpoint in your CourtListener account; webhooks are configured in the account settings and receive POST events whenever a docket covered by your alerts is updated
Parse the incoming webhook payload; the event object contains a webhook key (with the event_type such as DOCKET_ALERT) and a payload key with a results array of new docket entries including description, date_filed, and document download URLs
Use the document URLs in the payload to download newly filed PDFs; if the document is not yet in RECAP (free), use the Fetch API to instruct CourtListener to retrieve it from PACER on your behalf using your PACER credentials
Known gotchas
Docket alerts are only triggered when new information is ingested by CourtListener; courts with limited RECAP coverage will have delayed or absent alerts — verify coverage for the specific court before relying on real-time alerts
The RECAP Fetch API uses your stored PACER credentials to purchase and download documents; unexpected PACER charges can accumulate if fetch requests are automated without cost guards
CourtListener's free tier has limits on the number of docket alerts; check current plan limits before building a large-scale monitoring workflow
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