API Quickstart

Get from zero to a working API call in under 90 seconds. All you need is a free account and a terminal.

The API is served from https://api.edgar.tools/v1.

1. Get your API key#

Sign up at edgar.tools/signup, then go to Settings → API Keys. Name your key (something like production or local-dev) and click Generate key. Copy the value — it starts with etk_ and is shown only once.

API keys section of the Settings page showing the empty state with the etk_ placeholder, a name input pre-filled with "production", and a Generate key button

export EDGAR_API_KEY="etk_your_key_here"

2. Search for a company#

Search for Apple. Paste this into your terminal:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $EDGAR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.edgar.tools/v1/search?q=Apple" | python3 -m json.tool

3. Check the response#

You should get back a JSON object with matching companies:

{
  "entities": [
    {
      "cik": "0000320193",
      "name": "Apple Inc.",
      "ticker": "AAPL",
      "entity_type": "company",
      "sic_description": "Electronic Computers",
      "state_of_incorporation": "CA",
      "fiscal_year_end": "0928"
    }
  ],
  "total": 1,
  "query": "Apple"
}

The cik field is the company's unique SEC identifier. You'll use it for all subsequent API calls.

4. Get company filings#

Use the CIK from the search result to fetch recent filings:

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $EDGAR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.edgar.tools/v1/companies/0000320193/filings?form_type=10-K&limit=3" \
  | python3 -m json.tool

That's it — you're up and running.

To summarize#

  • Create a free account and generate an API key from Settings → API Keys.
  • Send your key in the Authorization: Bearer header with every request.
  • Use /v1/search to find companies, then /v1/companies/{cik}/filings for their SEC filings.
  • Free tier includes search, companies, and filings. Paid tiers (Professional, Analyst) add live filings, financials, intelligence, webhooks, and more — see Authentication for the full tier model.

What's next#