Blog
Notes on SEC EDGAR data, financial APIs, and building with Edgrapi.
Best MCP Servers for Financial Data (2026)
The best MCP servers for financial data in 2026, compared honestly. Which wins for prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, and government data, and how to pick.
Free Government Data APIs: The Developer's Map (2026)
A developer's map of the best free US government data APIs: spending, contracts, filings, economy, and law. Which need a key, which are keyless, and how to use them.
Government Data MCP Server: SEC + Federal Data for AI Agents
A government data MCP server gives an AI agent SEC filings and US federal data as tools. What MCP is, how to connect it to Claude or Cursor, and the 19-tool catalog.
Congress Trading API: Track STOCK Act Disclosures as JSON
There's no official Congress trading API. Here's how congressional stock trades work under the STOCK Act, where the data really comes from, and how to get it as clean JSON.
SAM.gov vs USAspending: Which API Do You Need?
SAM.gov vs USAspending, settled for developers. Which has open opportunities vs past awards, which needs an API key, how each request works, and a one-key way to use both.
USAspending API: How to Get Federal Spending as JSON
Use the USAspending API to pull federal contracts, grants and loans as JSON. The keyless spending_by_award endpoint, the 400-error fix, the 10,000-record cap, and a clean-JSON alternative.
Grants.gov API: How to Search Federal Grants as JSON
Search federal grants with the Grants.gov API. The keyless Search2 endpoint, the new Simpler.Grants.gov API, filters, paging, and a normalized JSON alternative.
SAM.gov API Rate Limits: Why 10/Day, and How to Fix It
SAM.gov API rate limits explained: the ~10-per-day cap, the 429 error, the hidden description second-call, how to raise the limit, and how to get past it.
How to Get a SAM.gov API Key (Step by Step) and a Faster Alternative
Get a free SAM.gov API key in minutes, make your first Get Opportunities call, and get past the ~10-requests-a-day cap that stops most apps.
Best Free Congress Stock Trade Trackers Compared (2026)
The best free congress stock trade trackers compared for 2026: Capitol Trades, Quiver, Unusual Whales, and Edgrapi, on coverage, price, and the 45-day lag.
How to Track Smart Money: Follow Insider, Fund, and Congress Buying for Free (2026)
Track what the smart money is buying from four public SEC filings: insider Form 4 trades, 13F fund holdings, 13D/13G activist stakes, and Congress trades. Free tools, the lag to watch, and how to build your own.
How to Build an AI Stock Research Agent on SEC Data (2026)
Build an AI stock research agent that reads SEC filings over MCP: connect insider trades, 13F holdings and activist stakes in minutes, without self-hosting or parsing XBRL.
SEC Form 144 API: Insider Sell Intentions as JSON (2026)
Pull SEC Form 144 notices as parsed JSON, an insider's intent to sell filed before the Form 4. What it is, how it beats Form 4 as an early signal, and the catch.
SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search API: Every Filing Since 2001
Search the full text of every SEC filing since 2001 by keyword, form and date. Free and keyless, with a stable JSON schema and the fix for the 10,000-result cap.
Build a Stock Screener With the SEC EDGAR API (2026)
Build a fundamental stock screener on the SEC EDGAR API: loop your tickers, pull 14 parsed ratios each, and filter on ROE, margins and debt. Free tier, no card.
SEC EDGAR API: Clean JSON Isn't Correct JSON (2026)
SEC EDGAR data can be clean JSON and still be wrong. The four parsing traps that make your numbers wrong, and how to return correct JSON. Free tier, no card.
SEC Filing Webhooks: Push New Filings to Your App (2026)
Get SEC filings pushed to your app the moment they land: a signed webhook that delivers the parsed insider trade, 8-K, or 13D. Free to register, retried on failure.
Edgrapi vs Financial Datasets: SEC Data API Compared
Edgrapi vs Financial Datasets for SEC data: pricing, coverage, free tier, and MCP compared. Financial Datasets starts at $200/mo; Edgrapi is free to start, $10/mo paid.
Is Congressional Stock Trading Getting Banned?
The House passed a congressional stock trading ban in July 2026; the Senate hasn't. What the bill does, the STOCK Act rules today, and how to track the trades.
Why Insider Trading Is Illegal (And When It's Legal)
Insider trading is illegal when you trade on material nonpublic information you had a duty to keep secret. The legal versus illegal line, real cases, and penalties.
SEC EDGAR API in Google Sheets: Pull Company Financials Into Any Sheet (2026)
Pull SEC EDGAR company financials into Google Sheets. A one-cell IMPORTDATA formula with no key, or an Apps Script function for ratios and many tickers. Free tier.
SEC EDGAR API With pandas: Load Company Financials Into a DataFrame (2026)
Load clean SEC EDGAR company financials into a pandas DataFrame. Loop tickers, skip the XBRL parsing, and build a screener in a few lines. Free tier, no card.
SEC EDGAR API in JavaScript: Pull Company Financials With Node and fetch (2026)
Pull clean SEC EDGAR company financials in JavaScript with Node and fetch. Auth, the 403 gotcha, all five endpoints, and a copy-paste snippet. No XBRL parsing.
How to Track Congressional Stock Trades (Free, 2026)
Track what members of Congress are buying and selling, free. The STOCK Act 45-day rule, how to read a PTR, the best free trackers, and whether copying their trades works.
How to Track Hedge Fund Holdings With 13F Filings (2026)
Track hedge fund holdings free with 13F filings: what a 13F shows and hides, the 45-day lag, the best trackers, and how to get alerted on new filings.
Types of SEC Filings: The Complete Guide (2026)
A plain-English map of every major SEC filing: 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, Form 3/4/5, 13F, 13D/G, S-1, 424B, Form D, DEF 14A, Form 144, grouped by what each one is for.
What Is an S-1 Filing? IPO Registration Explained (2026)
What an S-1 filing is, what's inside the prospectus, the IPO process from S-1 to first trade, how it differs from a 10-K and a 424B, and what it reveals about a company.
SEC Filing Deadlines: When Every Filing Is Due (2026)
A plain-English map of every SEC filing deadline: 10-K in 60/75/90 days, 10-Q in 40/45, 8-K in 4 business days, Form 4 in 2, 13F in 45, 13D in 5, plus late-filing rules.
What Is a 13F Filing? Fund Holdings Explained (2026)
What a 13F filing is, who files it, the 45-day lag, what it hides (shorts, cash, foreign stocks), and the put/call trap that makes people read it backwards.
What Is a Form 8-K? Material Events Explained (2026)
What a Form 8-K is, the events that trigger one, the item codes that actually matter (5.02, 2.01, 4.02...), the four-business-day deadline, and how it differs from a 10-K.
What Is a Form 10-K? The Annual Report Explained (2026)
What a Form 10-K is, the four sections that matter (Item 1, 1A, 7, 8), the 60-to-90-day filing deadlines, and how it differs from a 10-Q and the glossy annual report.
SEC EDGAR API for Insider Cluster Buys: The Multi-Insider Signal
One insider buying is noise; three buying the same stock in a week is signal. Here is what a cluster buy is, how to pull it from the SEC EDGAR API as JSON, and where it misleads you.
SEC EDGAR API for 13D and 13G: Activist Stakes Data
Cross 5% of a company and you must file a 13D or 13G. Here is what each one signals, how to pull them from the SEC EDGAR API as clean JSON, and the field most people read wrong.
What Is SEC Form 4? Insider Trades Explained (2026)
What SEC Form 4 is, who has to file it, the two-business-day deadline, and what the transaction codes (P, S, A, M, F, G) mean, so you can read one and tell a real buy from noise.
SEC EDGAR API as an MCP Server: SEC Filings for Any AI Agent (2026)
What a SEC EDGAR MCP server is, the tools it exposes, which AI clients can connect, and an honest comparison of the hosted and open-source options. Free tier, no card.
SEC EDGAR API in Claude: Add an MCP Connector for SEC Filings (2026)
Add SEC EDGAR data to Claude as a custom connector: insider trades, 8-K events, filings and financials as MCP tools. The OAuth setup, the config-file route, and what breaks.
SEC EDGAR API in Cursor: Connect an MCP Server for SEC Filings (2026)
Add SEC EDGAR data to Cursor with one block in mcp.json: insider trades, 8-K events, filings and financials as MCP tools. Both auth paths, the tool budget, and what breaks.
OpenInsider Alternatives: 7 Insider Trading Trackers Compared (2026)
An honest comparison of OpenInsider alternatives for 2026: which insider trading trackers add alerts, an official API, or webhooks, and when OpenInsider is still the best pick.
How to Get Real-Time Insider Trading Alerts (Form 4 Webhooks, 2026)
How to get alerted the moment a company insider buys stock: register a webhook on a ticker watchlist and get a signed, parsed SEC Form 4 alert minutes after it files. Free tier.
How to Track Insider Buying: Code P, Cluster Buys, and Form 4 (2026)
How to track which stocks insiders are buying with their own money: read Form 4 code P, ignore the noise, and watch for cluster buys. Plus a free live radar of the day's biggest buys.
SEC EDGAR API in Python: Pull Company Financials in a Few Lines (2026)
Pull clean SEC EDGAR company financials in Python. Step-by-step with auth, the free-SEC gotchas, all five endpoints, and a copy-paste snippet. No XBRL parsing.
SEC EDGAR API for Form 4: Insider Trading Filings as JSON (2026)
Pull SEC Form 4 insider trades as clean JSON. What the transaction codes mean, how to spot a real open-market buy, and the 10b5-1 trap. Free tier, no card.
SEC EDGAR API for 8-K Filings: Track Material Events by Ticker (2026)
Pull 8-K filing data from the SEC EDGAR API as clean JSON: what an 8-K reports, the item codes, and how to get every 8-K for a ticker with a link to the document. Free tier.
SEC EDGAR API for 10-K Sections: Risk Factors & MD&A as Text (2026)
Pull the narrative sections of a 10-K or 10-Q from the SEC EDGAR API as clean text: Risk Factors, MD&A, Business. Built for RAG and LLM equity research, not the numbers.
SEC EDGAR API for Financial Ratios: Margins, ROE, Leverage as JSON (2026)
Get a company's financial ratios from the SEC EDGAR API as JSON: margins, ROE, liquidity, leverage, growth. Which ratios come from filings, which need a stock price, and how to pull 14 in one call.
SEC EDGAR API: Convert XBRL to JSON in One Call (2026)
The SEC EDGAR API returns XBRL as JSON, but not in a usable shape. What converting SEC XBRL to clean JSON really means, and how to get named statement fields in one call.
SEC EDGAR API Alternatives to sec-api.io: 5 Options (2026)
Five real alternatives to sec-api.io for SEC EDGAR data, with July 2026 pricing, free-tier terms, and an honest read on which fits which job.
SEC EDGAR API for Free: What You Get, What It Costs (2026)
The SEC EDGAR API is genuinely free: no key, 10 requests a second. Here is what $0 gets you, where the XBRL pain starts, and when paying makes sense.
SEC EDGAR API for Financial Statements: Income, Balance, Cash Flow (2026)
Pull a company's income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow from the SEC EDGAR API as clean JSON in one call, without decoding XBRL tags yourself.
SEC CIK Lookup: Map Any Ticker to Its CIK in One Call
Map any ticker to its SEC CIK as clean JSON. What a CIK is, why EDGAR indexes by CIK, and how to look it up in one free API call.
SEC EDGAR API for 10-Q Filings: Quarterly Financials by Ticker (2026)
Pull 10-Q quarterly financials from SEC EDGAR as clean JSON. What a 10-Q is, how it differs from a 10-K, the filing deadlines, the trailing-twelve-month trap, and how to get the data by ticker in one API call.
SEC EDGAR API for Form 10-K: Sections, Deadlines, and Financials (2026)
What a Form 10-K is, the sections that matter (Item 1, 1A, 7, 8), the filing deadlines, and how to pull its financial statements as clean JSON by ticker in one API call.
SEC EDGAR API for AI Agents: Function Calling for Financial Data
AI agents guess financial numbers and get them wrong. Function calling fixes it: give the agent a tool that pulls real SEC data from the EDGAR API instead of guessing.
SEC EDGAR API With Zapier: No-Code Financial Data Automation
Pull SEC EDGAR financial data into Google Sheets, Slack, or email with Zapier and zero code. How to wire it up, what to automate, and what it actually costs.
13F Filings API: Pull Any Fund's Holdings as JSON (2026)
Pull any fund's 13F holdings from SEC EDGAR as clean JSON. What a 13F shows, the 45-day lag, and how to get it in one API call. Free tier, no card.
SEC EDGAR API Key: There Isn't One, Here's the Fix (2026)
There is no SEC EDGAR API key. The SEC API uses a User-Agent header; a wrapper like Edgrapi gives you a free key (no card) in under two minutes.
SEC EDGAR API: Rate Limits, Endpoints & Clean JSON (2026)
The SEC EDGAR API: every endpoint, the real rate limits, and how to skip the 10 req/sec cap with clean JSON. Free tier, financials by ticker.
SEC EDGAR API: Why Pulling Clean Fundamentals Is Harder Than It Looks
EDGAR gives away every public company's financials for free. Getting clean, comparable numbers out of it is the part nobody warns you about.