SEC filings API

Query SEC filings, filing text, XBRL facts, and amendments

Retrieve filing metadata by symbol and form, search permitted document text, query XBRL facts, compare amendments, and retain the CIK, accession, source URL, filing time, and known-at timestamp behind every result.

Start free Read the API docs
EDGAR
primary public source
10-K / 10-Q / 8-K
core forms
XBRL
company facts
As-of
historical information set
Definition

An SEC filings API converts EDGAR submissions and documents into structured records. A research-grade implementation must preserve the accession, filing time, source document, and later amendment history instead of returning only the newest extracted value.

How DataCedar handles it

What you can query, which fields are returned, and how availability is reported.

01

Keep the accession

Issuer, CIK, accession number, form, filing timestamp, report date, primary document, exhibits, and source URLs stay connected.

02

Search the filing body

Document routes return permitted text with source metadata, while form and accession filters narrow the chronology before full-text search.

03

Track facts by filing

XBRL concepts retain units, fiscal periods, forms, frames, accession references, filing dates, and known-at times.

04

Treat amendments as evidence

A later filing or revised fact becomes a new version. Earlier records remain queryable so restatements cannot leak backward into a simulation.

Data surface

What the schema is built to carry.

Issuer submissions and CIK mapping
Accession and form filters
Primary documents and exhibits
Searchable permitted document text
SEC Company Facts / XBRL
Amendment and revision lineage
Known-at event joins
Immutable raw SEC responses

Product boundary: DataCedar is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Public-source status does not remove the need to identify the source, follow SEC access guidance, and preserve document provenance.

API example

Filing chronology

GET /v3/stocks/{symbol}/filings
Request
curl "https://api.datacedar.com/v3/stocks/AAPL/filings?form=10-Q&limit=10" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $QUARTERTRACE_API_KEY"
Representative response
{
  "data": [{
    "symbol": "AAPL",
    "cik": "0000320193",
    "accession": "0000320193-26-000000",
    "form": "10-Q",
    "filed_at": "2026-05-01T20:05:00Z",
    "primary_document": "aapl-20260328.htm",
    "source": "sec_edgar"
  }]
}

Examples document the public contract and may use illustrative values or redacted identifiers. Availability fields and rights filters are authoritative for the active environment.

Research workflow

Four steps from API key to a validated dataset.

01

Find

Resolve a ticker to the SEC reporting issuer and query its filing chronology by form or date.

02

Inspect

Open the primary document or exhibits while retaining the accession and official source URL.

03

Extract

Query XBRL facts with units, fiscal periods, filing references, and known-at timestamps intact.

04

Compare

Join amendments and later-reported facts without overwriting the earlier disclosure.

Field guide

Using SEC filings without losing their evidentiary value

01

The official SEC API is the source of truth

The SEC already exposes submissions and XBRL company facts through keyless public interfaces. A commercial API should add reliable normalization, search, joins, replay, and operational guarantees rather than obscure the primary record.

DataCedar stores the SEC identity and source URL with every normalized record. Researchers can move from a derived fact back to the exact accession and document that reported it.

  • Retain CIK and accession numbers.
  • Use a descriptive User-Agent for SEC acquisition.
  • Respect SEC rate and fair-access guidance.
  • Archive source responses before transforming them.
02

Filing date, report period, and known-at time are different

A 10-Q may describe a quarter that ended weeks before the filing became public. A model could not use the filing on the report-period end date. Collapsing those timestamps creates classic look-ahead bias.

DataCedar keeps the economic period and the publication or known-at time separately. An as-of query filters on availability, while analytical joins can still group facts by the period they describe.

  • Filter simulations by known-at time.
  • Group accounting values by fiscal period.
  • Record after-hours filing timing when aligning market sessions.
03

XBRL normalization needs an escape hatch

Companies can use standard taxonomy concepts, custom extensions, different units, and different fiscal frames. A single friendly metric name is useful, but it is not enough to explain every issuer's disclosure.

DataCedar preserves the source concept, unit, form, frame, accession, and period beside any normalized field. That makes exceptions inspectable and allows a researcher to reproduce or revise the mapping.

  • Do not sum instant balance-sheet facts.
  • Separate quarterly, annual, and trailing-period calculations.
  • Compare amendments by accession rather than overwriting values.
Comparison

Official EDGAR access and the DataCedar layer

DataCedar complements the public source; it does not replace the primary filing.

Primary recordSEC submissions and document archivesSame SEC source IDs and URLs retained
Ticker workflowCIK-oriented source filesStable symbol-to-issuer resolution
SearchBuild and operate locallyDocument and metadata query routes
Point in timeAvailable from source timestampsKnown-at filters and revision lineage
Cross-stream joinsResearcher builds themEarnings, facts, news references, and market windows
Before you rely on it

A practical validation checklist.

  1. 01CIK and accession are stored
  2. 02The filing timestamp is not replaced by the report period
  3. 03Primary documents and exhibits remain distinguishable
  4. 04XBRL units and concepts are retained
  5. 05Amendments are additive versions
  6. 06Every extracted value links to a filing
  7. 07SEC acquisition follows published fair-access guidance

Questions, answered.

Yes. The open baseline acquires submissions, filings, and company facts from public SEC EDGAR interfaces and preserves SEC identifiers and source URLs.

Continue the research

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A searchable, event-linked earnings-call schema for licensed transcripts and permitted issuer audio, with speakers, sections, source provenance, and rights controls.

Create a free API key for filings, facts, earnings events, news links, and macro data.

Explorer is $0 with no card and a 1 request/second limit. Market history and transcript text appear only when an eligible source is active for the account.

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