SEC API Python Client

1.0.35 · active · verified Sun Apr 12

The `sec-api` Python library provides a robust client for accessing SEC EDGAR filings data. It offers various APIs for querying, full-text searching, real-time streaming, and converting/extracting structured data from over 20 million filings and 800,000+ entities, dating back to 1993 with real-time updates. The library is actively maintained, with frequent updates adding new API wrappers and features. The current version is 1.0.35.

Warnings

gotcha An API key is required for all interactions with the SEC API. Obtain a free API key from sec-api.io.
Fix: Ensure `api_key` is provided when instantiating any API client class, e.g., `QueryApi(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")`. It is recommended to use environment variables for keys.
gotcha Search APIs (e.g., QueryApi, Form D API) have a maximum limit of 10,000 records per query, even when using the 'from' parameter for pagination.
Fix: For datasets larger than 10,000 records, you will need to break down your queries by narrower time ranges or other filters to retrieve all data.
gotcha The SEC API imposes rate limits. Exceeding approximately 40 requests per second can lead to temporary blocks of your API key.
Fix: Implement proper rate-limiting in your application to stay within the allowed request rate. Check your specific plan for exact limits.
deprecated The `RenderApi` class for downloading filings has been superseded by `DownloadApi`. While `RenderApi` might still function due to aliases, using `DownloadApi` is recommended.
Fix: Update imports and instantiation from `RenderApi` to `DownloadApi`. For example, `from sec_api import DownloadApi` and `downloadApi = DownloadApi(...)`.

Install

pip install sec-api Install sec-api

Imports

QueryApi
```
from sec_api import QueryApi
```
Used for searching and filtering SEC EDGAR filings metadata.
FullTextSearchApi
```
from sec_api import FullTextSearchApi
```
For searching the full text of SEC filings and their exhibits.
DownloadApi
```
from sec_api import DownloadApi
```
DownloadApi is the current class for downloading filings and exhibits. RenderApi was an alias or an older name for this functionality and is now a dedicated class in recent versions (>=1.0.34).
XbrlApi
```
from sec_api import XbrlApi
```
For converting XBRL data to JSON and extracting financial statements.
Datasets
```
from sec_api import Datasets
```
Introduced in v1.0.34 for managing and downloading bulk datasets.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to use the QueryApi to retrieve metadata for the latest 50 EDGAR filings for Tesla. Remember to replace 'YOUR_API_KEY' with a valid API key or set the 'SEC_API_KEY' environment variable.

import os
from sec_api import QueryApi

# Get your free API key at sec-api.io
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SEC_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY") 

queryApi = QueryApi(api_key=API_KEY)

search_params = {
    "query": "ticker:TSLA",
    "from": "0",
    "size": "50",
    "sort": [{"filedAt": {"order": "desc"}}]
}

response = queryApi.get_filings(search_params)

print(f"Total filings for TSLA: {response['total']['value']}")
for filing in response['filings']:
    print(f"  - {filing['formType']} filed on {filing['filedAt']}: {filing['linkToFilingDetails']}")

view raw JSON →