sec.gov APIwww.sec.gov ↗
Search SEC-registered companies by name or ticker and retrieve recent filings with type, date, accession number, and description via two simple endpoints.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/6b52a6ac-40c7-4863-a0a4-17dd6f4be10c/search_company?limit=5&query=Apple' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Search for SEC-registered companies by name or ticker symbol. Returns matching companies with their name, ticker, and CIK number.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| limit | integer | Maximum number of results to return. |
| query | string | Company name or ticker to search for. |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"query": "string - the search query used",
"companies": "array of objects with company_name, ticker, and cik",
"total_matches": "integer - number of matching companies returned"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"query": "Apple",
"companies": [
{
"cik": "320193",
"ticker": "AAPL",
"company_name": "Apple Inc."
},
{
"cik": "1418121",
"ticker": "APLE",
"company_name": "Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc."
}
],
"total_matches": 5
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the sec.gov API
The SEC EDGAR API exposes two endpoints for accessing U.S. regulatory filing data: search for companies by name or ticker symbol, then pull their recent filings including form type, filing date, accession number, and primary document reference. A single call to get_company_filings returns over ten fields of company metadata alongside a paginated list of SEC submissions — covering everything from 10-K annual reports to 8-K current reports.
Company Search
The search_company endpoint accepts a query string — either a company name or ticker symbol — and returns an array of matching registrants. Each result includes company_name, ticker, and cik (the SEC's Central Index Key). The total_matches field tells you how many results were found. Use the limit parameter to control result set size. The CIK returned here is the required input for the filings endpoint.
Company Details and Filings
Passing a CIK to get_company_filings returns two top-level objects. The company object includes entity_type, sic and sic_description (industry classification), tickers, exchanges, state, fiscal_year_end, and website — enough context to identify the registrant and its industry without a separate lookup. The filings array contains individual submissions with accession_number, filing_type (e.g. 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, DEF 14A), filing_date, report_date, primary_document, and description. Leading zeros in the CIK are not required.
Pagination and Coverage
The response includes filings_returned and total_recent_filings so you can assess how many submissions exist for a given company beyond what was returned. Use the limit parameter to request a specific number of filings per call. Coverage reflects companies registered with the SEC — primarily U.S.-listed public companies, but also includes foreign private issuers and investment funds that file on EDGAR.
- Monitor a portfolio of public companies for new 8-K filings by polling get_company_filings on a schedule
- Build a company intelligence tool that maps SIC codes to industry segments using the sic_description field
- Resolve ticker symbols to CIK numbers via search_company before querying filings in bulk
- Track annual report (10-K) filing dates and fiscal_year_end across a set of competitors
- Aggregate proxy statement (DEF 14A) accession numbers to feed a governance research workflow
- Verify exchange listings and tickers for SEC-registered entities using the exchanges and tickers fields
- Identify newly public companies or foreign private issuers by entity_type and state metadata
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 250 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does SEC EDGAR have an official public API?+
What does get_company_filings return beyond just the filings list?+
company object with entity_type, SIC code and description, registered state, fiscal year end, website, and all associated tickers and exchanges — alongside the filings array. This means you get full registrant context in a single call rather than needing a separate company lookup.Can I retrieve the full text or document content of a specific filing?+
primary_document filename and accession_number for each filing, which together identify the document on EDGAR, but does not fetch or return the filing's actual content. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add an endpoint that retrieves document content using the accession number.Does the filings endpoint return all historical filings for a company?+
limit, and the total_recent_filings field indicates how many are available in that window. Full historical archives going back decades are not paginated through in a single call. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add deeper historical pagination.What happens if a company has multiple tickers or is listed on multiple exchanges?+
company object returns tickers and exchanges as arrays, so multi-listed entities or companies with multiple share classes will show all associated values rather than just one.