What can you do with legalcite?

LegalCite

Stop your AI from citing fake cases. LegalCite checks every case citation in legal text against real court records (CourtListener) and flags hallucinated/fake or misattributed cites. A REST API + an MCP server.

Live: https://legalcite-one.vercel.app
Verify API: GET /api/verify?text=<paragraph> (or ?citation="410 U.S. 113"; also POST {text})
MCP: verify_citations(text) → npm legalcite-mcp
Data: CourtListener (Free Law Project) — free public U.S. court records.

Verdicts

verdict	meaning
`real`	the case exists and (if named) the name matches
`not-found`	no such case — likely hallucinated
`mismatch`	citation is real, but the case name in the text is wrong

How it resolves

Token-free (default): reporter-aware regex extracts citations → each resolved via CourtListener's public /c/{reporter}/{vol}/{page}/ finder (redirects to the opinion when real, 404 when not).
Token mode (optional): set COURTLISTENER_TOKEN (free) → uses CourtListener's citation-lookup endpoint (Eyecite extraction + full metadata).

It never fabricates — an unresolved citation is reported not-found, never invented.

Layout

api/verify.js          REST endpoint (quota + verify)
api/health.js          liveness + CourtListener check
api/checkout|key|stripe-webhook.js   Stripe Pro billing
lib/verify.js          citation extraction + CourtListener resolution (core)
lib/store.js           Redis quota + key store (fail-open without REDIS_URL)
lib/stripe.js          lazy Stripe client
mcp/server.js          MCP stdio server — verify_citations tool
public/                landing, docs, pricing, llms.txt
scripts/setup-stripe-product.js   one-time Stripe product/price (test key)

Config (Vercel env — all optional for the MVP)

COURTLISTENER_TOKEN — free; enables richer citation-lookup + metadata.
REDIS_URL — Upstash; enables hard daily quota + caching (fail-open without it).
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY / STRIPE_PRICE_ID / STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET — Pro billing.

Pricing

Free: 20 checks/day by IP. Pro: 2,000/day, $19/mo, 7-day trial.

Not legal advice. Verifies citation existence/metadata only — not legal correctness or good-law status.

Install

Add legalcite to your client. Pick the one you use.

claude mcp add legalcite-mcp -- npx -y legalcite-mcp

codex mcp add legalcite-mcp -- npx -y legalcite-mcp

amp mcp add legalcite-mcp -- npx -y legalcite-mcp

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "legalcite-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to `claude_desktop_config.json`, then restart Claude Desktop.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "legalcite-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to `~/.cursor/mcp.json`, or `.cursor/mcp.json` for a single project.

code --add-mcp '{"name":"legalcite-mcp","command":"npx","args":["-y","legalcite-mcp"]}'

Or add the block manually to `.vscode/mcp.json` under `servers`.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "legalcite-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "legalcite-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to `cline_mcp_settings.json` via the MCP Servers panel.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "legalcite-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to `~/.gemini/settings.json`.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "legalcite-mcp"
      ],
      "tools": [
        "*"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Add to `~/.copilot/mcp-config.json`, or run `/mcp add` inside the CLI.

{
  "context_servers": {
    "legalcite-mcp": {
      "command": {
        "path": "npx",
        "args": [
          "-y",
          "legalcite-mcp"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to your Zed `settings.json`.

npx -y legalcite-mcp

Run `goose configure`, choose **Add Extension → Command-line Extension**, and paste this command.

Score

39 / 100

Incomplete

Documentation22/25
Maintenance16/25
Trust6/20
Capability0/15
Install experience12/15

Documents what it does and how to connect
Has a resolvable package or endpoint
Exposes at least one tool, prompt or resource
README has substantive content
Includes a code example
Documents its configuration
Mentions credentials or security posture
Last commit 66 days ago
Has a release history
Repository is not archived
No licence detected
Namespace verified in the official MCP registry
Claimed by its owner
Published under an organisation
0 tool(s) documented
Provides prompt templates
Provides resources
12 documented install method(s)
Published to a package registry
Offers a hosted endpoint — no local install

Read the full rubric →

Version history

Versions	Published
0.1.0Latest	Jun 27, 2026