API Access

Programmatic access to AB Jail's database for reporters, researchers, and anyone building on this data. Read-only, authenticated via API key.

Request an API Key

API keys are free and issued manually. Fill out the form below and we'll email you a key, usually within 24 hours.

All requests require an API key. Pass it via the Authorization header:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://abjail.org/api/v1/submissions?limit=5"

All list endpoints return paginated JSON:

{
  "data": [ ... ],
  "pagination": {
    "total": 1234,
    "limit": 20,
    "offset": 0,
    "has_more": true
  }
}

Use limit (max 100) and offset query parameters. Check pagination.has_more to determine if more pages exist.

Get recent submissions with violations:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://abjail.org/api/v1/submissions?has_violations=true&limit=10"

Get a specific submission with all related data:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://abjail.org/api/v1/submissions/SUBMISSION_UUID"

Search for a sender:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://abjail.org/api/v1/submissions?sender_name=ActBlue&limit=20"

Get ActBlue-verified violations:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://abjail.org/api/v1/violations?actblue_verified=true"

Get lifetime stats:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://abjail.org/api/v1/stats?range=lifetime"

All endpoints are read-only (GET). Click an endpoint to see its parameters and response fields.

Image URLs for submissions and landing page screenshots are returned as temporary signed URLs that expire after 1 hour. Re-request the resource to get a fresh URL.
Privacy: Submitter-identifying fields (forwarder email, uploader fingerprint) are never exposed through the API.
Rate limits: There are no hard rate limits, but we monitor usage. Please be respectful and avoid excessive polling. If you need bulk data, paginate through results rather than making parallel requests.
Errors return a JSON object with an error field containing code and message.
Versioning: The API is versioned at /api/v1/. Breaking changes will result in a new version.

Ready to get started? at the top of this page.