Regulation Types API: Federal Register document types (final rule, proposed rule, notice
Federal Register document types (final rule, proposed rule, notice, presidential) and every AnswerPool regulation flag, with what each implies for deadlines and CFR changes. Free, no key.
Free — no key, no signup, rate-limited to 60 calls per minute per client.
How do you call it?
GET /v1/regs/doc-types — product id
reg_doc_types. Over MCP, call answerpool_get with
product_id=reg_doc_types.
curl "https://answerpool.io/v1/regs/doc-types?q=rule"Live call: https://answerpool.io/v1/regs/doc-types?q=rule · JSON sample: /v1/samples/reg_doc_types
What does the answer look like?
A representative response, the same static sample served at /v1/samples/reg_doc_types.
as_of | 2026-09-03T15:00:00Z |
|---|---|
count | 2 |
note | Document types are the Federal Register's own; flags are AnswerPool's, applied consistently across every regulation endpoint. |
disclaimer | Regulatory information from the Federal Register (public domain); not legal advice. |
refresh_after | 2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z |
document_types
| code | name | description |
|---|---|---|
| RULE | Final Rule | A binding rule; carries an effective date and amends the CFR. |
The same sample as raw JSON
{
"as_of": "2026-09-03T15:00:00Z",
"count": 2,
"document_types": [
{
"code": "RULE",
"name": "Final Rule",
"description": "A binding rule; carries an effective date and amends the CFR."
}
],
"flags": [
{
"code": "comments_close_soon",
"name": "Comment window closing",
"description": "The comment deadline is within our watch window \u2014 the last point at which input is possible."
}
],
"note": "Document types are the Federal Register's own; flags are AnswerPool's, applied consistently across every regulation endpoint.",
"disclaimer": "Regulatory information from the Federal Register (public domain); not legal advice.",
"refresh_after": "2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z"
}How fresh is it, and where does the data come from?
The fastest source behind this answer can change daily, so every response carries a refresh_after timestamp — right now it would be 2026-09-18T00:00:00.000Z. Schedule the next call on that value rather than on a guess.
- Federal Register (US federal public domain) — upstream:
https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1
Method version 0.1.0 ·
serving cache 30 days ·
every response carries a result_id you can resolve at
/v1/provenance.
When should you use it?
You need to interpret a document type or a flag on a regulation response.
What you skip building
- misreading a comment deadline as an effective date
- guessing flag meanings
When should you not use it?
The documents themselves — /v1/regs/rules and the agency feeds.
Where else can you find this?
- Catalog entry (JSON, free)
- OpenAPI schema — input and output types, prices, the 402 flow
- llms.txt — every product in one plain-text document