Bankruptcy Search

The Bankruptcy Search API searches PACER for bankruptcy filings. It is a REST API with JSON bodies over HTTPS, documented by an OpenAPI specification with annotated models.

Quandis provides your host name (for example, uatservices.quandis.io for testing) and an API key, plus a Postman environment with ApiKey and HostName variables. Keys for testing and production are separate.

Check current API availability on the Quandis status page ↗.

Endpoints

Verb	Path	Purpose
POST	/api/bankruptcy/instant	National search for one person or company; results in the response
GET	/api/bankruptcy/instant/{id}	Retrieve an instant search by Quandis order ID
POST	/api/bankruptcy/search	Submit a batch order
GET	/api/bankruptcy/search/{id}	Retrieve a batch order’s results by order ID
GET	/api/bankruptcy/search/pop	Pick up recently completed batch orders
POST	/api/bankruptcy/regional	Case summary from the bankruptcy court, for one case
GET	/api/bankruptcy/regional/{id}	Retrieve a case summary by order ID
POST	/api/bankruptcy/dockets	Docket entries for one case
GET	/api/bankruptcy/dockets/{id}	Retrieve a docket search by order ID
POST	/api/bankruptcy/documents	Download a filed document
GET	/api/bankruptcy/documents/{id}	Retrieve a document search by order ID
GET	/api/bankruptcy/instant/healthcheck	Service health (no authentication)

The GET …/{id} operations return 204 when there is nothing for that ID.

Authenticate

Send your API key in the X-ApiKey header on every request. Requests over HTTP are redirected to HTTPS.

POST /api/bankruptcy/instant
X-ApiKey: {apiKey}
Content-Type: application/json

Instant search

POST /api/bankruptcy/instant
X-ApiKey: {apiKey}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "clientID": "LN-1001",
  "options": {
    "filingDateStart": "2020-01-01"
  },
  "contact": {
    "contactID": "C-1",
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Example",
    "usssn": "123456788",
    "userDefined": [ { "name": "SourceReferenceNumber", "value": "LN-1001" } ]
  }
}

Contact fields

Field	Type	Notes
contactType	enum	Party (a person) or Corporation.
firstName, middleName, lastName	string	Up to 40 characters each.
company	string	Company name, up to 40 characters.
usssn	string	Full SSN: 123456789 or 123-45-6789. Requires lastName (or company).
usssN4	string	Last four digits of the SSN, searched with the name.
ein	string	Employer identification number, for company searches.
address, city, state, postalCode		state is a two-letter code; postalCode is 12345 or 12345-6789.
contactID	string	Your identifier for the contact, returned in the response.
userDefined	array	name (up to 50 characters) and value pairs, returned with the results.

The search type follows from what you send: a full SSN searches by SSN; the last four searches by SSN4 and name; a name alone searches by name.

Instant options

Field	Notes
filingDateStart, filingDateEnd	Only cases filed in this range.
closedDateStart, closedDateEnd	Only cases closed in this range.
dismissedDateStart, dismissedDateEnd	Only cases dismissed in this range.
dischargedDateStart, dischargedDateEnd	Only cases discharged in this range.
partyRoleCodes	Comma-separated PACER party role codes. Applies to name-only searches.
exactMatchesOnly	Return exact name matches only.
matchEmptyFirstMiddleNames	With exactMatchesOnly, also match cases where the first or middle name is blank.

Dates can’t be in the future.

Response

{
  "clientID": "LN-1001",
  "id": 900001,
  "contact": {
    "firstName": "Jane",
    "lastName": "Example",
    "usssN4": "6788",
    "billingItem": [
      { "item": "PCL Charges", "description": "All Court Types Party Search; …", "unitFee": 0.1, "unitAmount": 1 }
    ],
    "bankruptcies": [
      {
        "bkCaseNo": "1:26-bk-00001",
        "chapter": "7",
        "court": "Example Bankruptcy Court",
        "courtCode": "…",
        "stateOfFiling": "XX",
        "filingDate": "2026-02-15T00:00:00",
        "disposition": "…",
        "dateClosed": null,
        "caseUrl": "https://…"
      }
    ],
    "messages": []
  },
  "documents": [ { "name": "….pdf", "mimeType": "pdf", "content": "{base64}" } ]
}

Field	Meaning
id	Quandis order ID.
contact.bankruptcies[]	One entry per case. Empty or missing when PACER found no case.
contact.billingItem[]	PACER charges the search incurred: item, description, unitFee, unitAmount, transactionDate.
contact.messages[]	Notes about the search, such as a threshold being reached.
documents[]	Images of the PACER screens, base64-encoded.

Bankruptcy fields

Field	Meaning
bkCaseNo, regionalBKCaseNo	Case number at the national locator and at the court.
chapter, caseType	Chapter and case type.
court, courtCode, stateOfFiling	Where the case was filed.
filingDate, dateOfLastFiling	Petition date, and the latest filing on the case.
disposition, status, closedReason, dateClosed, terminatedDate	How and when the case ended.
dischargedDate, dismissedDate, convertedDate, reopenedDate, transferredDate	Case events.
jointDischargedDate, jointDismissedDate	The same events for a joint debtor.
confirmationHearingDate, planConfirmedDate	Plan dates.
caseUrl	The case at its court. Send it to the case summary, docket, and document operations.
contacts[]	Attorney, trustee, and other parties, each with a type and contact methods (phone, email, fax).
dockets[]	When requested: sequence, filingDate, text, documentUrl.

Case summary fields (events, attorney, trustee) are filled only when the case summary was retrieved.

Case summary, dockets, and documents

These operations act on one case found by an earlier search.

POST /api/bankruptcy/dockets
X-ApiKey: {apiKey}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "clientID": "LN-1001",
  "caseUrl": "https://…",
  "fileDateStart": "2026-01-01"
}

Operation	Request	Returns
regional	clientID, caseUrl (required)	bankruptcy with the case summary fields, documents, billing
dockets	clientID, caseUrl; optional fileDateStart, fileDateEnd, documentRangeStart, documentRangeEnd	dockets[], documents (the docket page image), billing
documents	clientID, documentUrl (required); allowMultipleDocumentDownload, mergeDocuments (both default true)	documents[] (base64 PDFs), billing

Batch orders

Submit many contacts, with options for search depth, thresholds, and image packages. Option meanings are in the Power user view.

POST /api/bankruptcy/search
X-ApiKey: {apiKey}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "clientID": "FILE-2026-10-01",
  "options": {
    "regionalSearch": "OpenCasesOnly",
    "docketSearch": "OpenCasesOnly",
    "bankruptcyThreshold": 5,
    "contactSearch": false,
    "includeAP": false,
    "productDelivery": "Pickup",
    "imagePackages": [
      { "name": "System of record", "settings": { "includeScreenShot": true, "imageGroup": "Contact", "screenshotMask": "Partial" } }
    ]
  },
  "contacts": [
    { "contactID": "C-1", "firstName": "Jane", "lastName": "Example", "usssn": "123456788" },
    { "contactID": "C-2", "contactType": "Corporation", "company": "Example Holdings LLC", "ein": "000000000" }
  ]
}

Option	Values
nationalSearch	Default true.
regionalSearch, docketSearch, regionalRefresh	Never, Always, OpenCasesOnly, NewestFile, OldestFiled
docketSearchOpenedDateAge, docketSearchClosedDateAge	1–10
bankruptcyThreshold, contactThreshold	1–10, default 5
contactSearch	Skip-trace contacts without an SSN (needs full name and address).
includeAP	Include adversary proceedings in follow-on searches.
productDelivery	Pickup (default), or Deliver to post results to your productEndpoint. Other delivery methods are set up with Quandis.
partyRoleCodes, date range filters	As for instant search.
imagePackages[]	name and settings; see PACER image packages.
userDefined[]	Name and value pairs for the order.

The order is acknowledged with 201 Created:

{ "id": 900002, "clientID": "FILE-2026-10-01", "exceptions": [] }

A 400 acknowledgement lists exceptions, each with a type, severity, and message.

Pick up results

GET /api/bankruptcy/search/pop?count=10&payloadType=Content
X-ApiKey: {apiKey}

Parameter	Notes
count	How many completed orders to return. Default 1.
payloadType	Content (default) returns each order’s results; ResourceUrn returns a reference to retrieve them.

Each item has a messageID, a resourceUrn, and content: the order’s results, with its id, clientID, status, contacts (each with bankruptcies, billingItem, and messages), documents, and skiptraceAliases (how many aliases a skip-trace generated). 204 means nothing is waiting. You can also fetch any order by ID with GET /api/bankruptcy/search/{id}.

Monitoring

Monitoring is part of the same service, with its own operations:

• Add an account to the default list or a named list, keyed by your account reference, with the debtor’s name, company, address, and SSN. The response status is Created, or AlreadyExists (HTTP 208) if the account is already on that list.
• Remove an account from the default list or a named list.
• Get an account’s data: every bankruptcy found for it, with dockets. Monitored cases add the 341 meeting date, time, and location, the proof of claim bar date, the discharge complaint bar date, and the reinstated date.
• Collect changes: separate feeds for new or changed bankruptcies and dockets, filtered by list, with the same count and payloadType parameters as batch pickup.

Paths for the monitoring operations are in the API reference Quandis provides with your key.

Status codes

Code	When
200	Search complete. Check bankruptcies for results.
201	Batch order accepted.
204	Nothing found for that ID, or nothing waiting to pick up.
400	The request failed validation, for example a full SSN without a last name, or a future date.
401	Missing, malformed, or invalid API key.
408	The instant search timed out.
429	Rate or usage limit reached for your key. Retry later.
500	The search failed.

The health check returns 200 when the service and the PACER sites it monitors are healthy, and 503 when not. Errors are returned in the JSON body under error.

Parameters

The fields shown are the commonly used ones. Enum values appear by name in the OpenAPI reference. Check the specification for the full request and response schemas before relying on less common fields.