data.sec.gov/submissions API: JSON Structure, recent Filings Arrays & Pagination

The Endpoint

https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK##########.json

The CIK must be zero-padded to exactly 10 digits. Apple's CIK is 320193, so the filename is CIK0000320193.json. Request CIK320193.json and you get a 404. (Note the asymmetry: Archives URLs strip the leading zeros instead.)

No API key. No authentication. Two hard requirements: a User-Agent header in the form YourName [email protected] (missing it returns 403), and roughly 10 requests per second maximum before the SEC temporarily blocks your IP.

Top-Level Metadata Fields

The response starts with entity metadata (fields verified live against CIK0000320193.json):

Other top-level fields include ein, lei, description, website, investorWebsite, category, addresses (with mailing and business objects), phone, flags, formerNames, ownerOrg, insiderTransactionForOwnerExists, insiderTransactionForIssuerExists, and finally filings.

filings.recent: The Parallel-Array Gotcha

filings.recent is not an array of filing objects. It is an object of parallel arrays, and index i across every array describes one filing. The exact keys, verified live:

{
  "filings": {
    "recent": {
      "accessionNumber":    ["0000320193-25-000079", ...],
      "filingDate":         ["2025-10-31", ...],
      "reportDate":         ["2025-09-27", ...],
      "acceptanceDateTime": ["2025-10-31T06:01:36.000Z", ...],
      "act":                ["34", ...],
      "form":               ["10-K", ...],
      "fileNumber":         ["001-36743", ...],
      "filmNumber":         ["...", ...],
      "items":              ["", ...],
      "core_type":          ["10-K", ...],
      "size":               [9392337, ...],
      "isXBRL":             [1, ...],
      "isInlineXBRL":       [1, ...],
      "isXBRLNumeric":      [1, ...],
      "primaryDocument":    ["aapl-20250927.htm", ...],
      "primaryDocDescription": ["10-K", ...]
    },
    "files": [ ... ]
  }
}

So recent['form'][51] == "10-K" means the filing at index 51 has accession number recent['accessionNumber'][51], filing date recent['filingDate'][51], and primary document recent['primaryDocument'][51]. To turn a row into a document URL, follow our Archives URL construction guide: strip dashes from the accession number, drop the CIK's leading zeros, append primaryDocument.

recent holds at least one year of filings, up to roughly the 1,000 most recent (Apple's block has exactly 1,000 entries).

filings.files: Paging Into Older Filings

Filings older than the recent window are split into continuation files, listed under filings.files:

"files": [
  {
    "name": "CIK0000320193-submissions-001.json",
    "filingCount": 1236,
    "filingFrom": "1994-01-26",
    "filingTo": "2015-05-27"
  }
]

Fetch each continuation file from https://data.sec.gov/submissions/{name}. Each one contains the same parallel arrays as filings.recent (at the top level of the file, without the filings.recent wrapper). Large filers may have several continuation files; use filingFrom/filingTo to pick the date range you need.

Worked Example: Filter for 8-K Filings in Python

import requests

HEADERS = {'User-Agent': 'YourName [email protected]'}

def get_filings(cik, form_type='8-K'):
    padded = str(int(cik)).zfill(10)   # CIK must be 10 digits in the URL
    url = f'https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK{padded}.json'
    data = requests.get(url, headers=HEADERS).json()

    recent = data['filings']['recent']
    results = []
    for i, form in enumerate(recent['form']):
        if form == form_type:
            results.append({
                'accessionNumber': recent['accessionNumber'][i],
                'filingDate':      recent['filingDate'][i],
                'reportDate':      recent['reportDate'][i],
                'primaryDocument': recent['primaryDocument'][i],
                'items':           recent['items'][i],   # 8-K item numbers
            })
    return results

for f in get_filings('320193')[:5]:
    acc = f['accessionNumber'].replace('-', '')
    print(f"{f['filingDate']}  8-K  items={f['items']}")
    print(f"  https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/{acc}/{f['primaryDocument']}")

For 8-Ks, the items array is especially useful: it lists the triggering item numbers (e.g. "2.02" for earnings results), so you can filter for earnings 8-Ks without downloading any documents.

Rate Limits and Best Practices

• 10 requests per second maximum across all sec.gov and data.sec.gov endpoints; exceeding it earns a temporary block (about 10 minutes).
• User-Agent required in the form CompanyName [email protected]; anonymous requests get 403.
• Cache aggressively. Submissions JSON only changes when a company files; refetching it every minute wastes your budget.
• See our rate limits guide for backoff strategies.

FAQ

Related Guides

• sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data URL Structure, turn accessionNumber + primaryDocument into a document URL
• SEC EDGAR Full-Text Search API (efts.sec.gov), search filing text by keyword
• data.sec.gov XBRL CompanyFacts API Documentation, structured financial data
• SEC CIK Number Lookup Guide, find any company's CIK
• SEC EDGAR API Rate Limits & Best Practices, avoid getting blocked