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I Built a Free API to Search SEC EDGAR by Ticker Symbol (No CIK Lookup Needed)

#api #python #finance #webdev

Every developer who has tried to pull financial data from the SEC knows the pain. You want Apple's annual reports. Simple enough, right?

Wrong.

First, you discover SEC EDGAR doesn't know what "AAPL" means. You need a CIK — a Central Index Key — which for Apple is 0000320193. So you go hunt that down. Then you hit the EDGAR full-text search API, wrestle with paginated XML responses, try to parse XBRL inline documents, decode filing index pages, and somehow extract the actual data buried inside. By the time you've got one number out, you've written 200 lines of boilerplate.

I got tired of doing this for every project. So I built a wrapper API that lets you query SEC EDGAR by ticker symbol and get clean JSON back.

The Problem with Raw SEC EDGAR

Here's what it actually looks like to pull Apple's 10-K filings from the raw SEC API:

import requests

ticker = "AAPL"
# Step 1: Hit the company search to find CIK...
r = requests.get("https://efts.sec.gov/LATEST/search-index?q=AAPL&forms=10-K")
# Step 2: Parse XML response...
# Step 3: Extract CIK from nested structure...
# Step 4: Hit another endpoint with the CIK...
# Step 5: Parse filing index pages...
# Step 6: Decode inline XBRL inside HTML...
# 200 lines later... 😩
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Every project starts with the same CIK lookup ritual. Then you deal with:

  • XBRL hell — financial facts buried in inline XBRL tags inside HTML, or separate XML files with namespaced taxonomies
  • Accession number formatting — 0000320193-24-000123 needs reformatting to build valid URLs
  • Rate limits with no clear docs — EDGAR wants custom User-Agent headers and throttles aggressively
  • Inconsistent schemas — different filers use different XBRL concepts for the same metric

There had to be a better way.

The Solution: A Ticker-First SEC EDGAR API

I built a REST API that handles all the CIK resolution, EDGAR crawling, and data normalization for you. You pass a ticker symbol. You get clean JSON.

  • Base URL: https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com
  • Docs: https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com/docs
  • Auth: Free — include an X-API-Key header (auto-registers, 100 req/day, no credit card)

Endpoints at a glance

  • GET /ticker-lookup?ticker=NVDA — resolve ticker → CIK + company name
  • GET /filings?ticker=AAPL&form_type=10-K — list recent SEC filings
  • GET /insider-trades?ticker=TSLA — Form 4 insider transaction filings
  • GET /company-facts?ticker=MSFT&concept=Revenues — XBRL financial facts by concept

Real API Responses

Let's walk through each endpoint with live data.

1. Ticker Lookup 

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com/ticker-lookup?ticker=NVDA"
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Response:

{
    "ticker": "NVDA",
    "cik": "0001045810",
    "company_name": "NVIDIA CORP",
    "source": "SEC EDGAR"
}
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No manual CIK lookup. No EDGAR search pages. One call, instant CIK resolution.

2. SEC Filings by Ticker 

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com/filings?ticker=AAPL&form_type=10-K"
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Response:

{
    "ticker": "AAPL",
    "company": "Apple Inc.",
    "cik": "0000320193",
    "count": 10,
    "filings": [
        {
            "form_type": "10-K",
            "filing_date": "2025-10-31",
            "accession_number": "0000320193-25-000079",
            "document_url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019325000079/aapl-20250927.htm"
        },
        {
            "form_type": "10-K",
            "filing_date": "2024-11-01",
            "accession_number": "0000320193-24-000123",
            "document_url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019324000123/aapl-20240928.htm"
        }
    ]
}
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You get direct document URLs — no accession number reformatting, no index page parsing.

3. Insider Trades (Form 4) 

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com/insider-trades?ticker=TSLA"
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Response:

{
    "ticker": "TSLA",
    "company": "Tesla, Inc.",
    "cik": "0001318605",
    "count": 10,
    "insider_trades": [
        {
            "form_type": "4",
            "filing_date": "2026-05-15",
            "accession_number": "0001104659-26-062860",
            "reporter": "See filing",
            "filing_url": "https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001318605&type=4"
        },
        {
            "form_type": "4",
            "filing_date": "2026-05-04",
            "accession_number": "0001104659-26-055079",
            "reporter": "See filing"
        }
    ],
    "note": "For full transaction details (shares, price, buy/sell), fetch the individual filing document.",
    "source": "SEC EDGAR Form 4"
}
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Tesla insiders filed Form 4s as recently as May 2026. This is the raw data behind every "insider selling" alert on financial news sites.

4. Company Financial Facts (XBRL) 

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com/company-facts?ticker=MSFT&concept=Revenues"
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Response:

{
    "ticker": "MSFT",
    "company": "MICROSOFT CORP",
    "concept": "Revenues",
    "label": "Revenues",
    "description": "Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities...",
    "recent_values": [
        {
            "value": 62484000000,
            "unit": "USD",
            "period_start": "2009-07-01",
            "period_end": "2010-06-30",
            "form": "10-K",
            "filed": "2010-07-30"
        },
        {
            "value": 36148000000,
            "unit": "USD",
            "period_start": "2010-07-01",
            "period_end": "2010-12-31",
            "form": "10-Q",
            "filed": "2011-01-27"
        }
    ]
}
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Microsoft's revenue pulled straight from their XBRL filings — no taxonomy parsing required.

What Can You Build With This?

Stock Screeners
Pull 10-K and 10-Q filings across multiple tickers to build revenue trend screens, debt-to-equity comparisons, or custom fundamental filters.

Insider Trade Monitors
Form 4 filings are legally required within 2 business days of a transaction. Poll this endpoint on a schedule to build real-time insider activity alerts.

Compliance and Due Diligence Tools
Legal teams and investors need quick access to a company's SEC filing history. Build internal tools that surface relevant filings without manual EDGAR navigation.

Fintech Apps and Dashboards
Embed SEC filing links, revenue history, or insider activity into investor dashboards, portfolio trackers, or research platforms.

LLM / AI Research Agents
Feed filing URLs or XBRL data directly into AI pipelines for earnings analysis, risk assessment, or automated research summaries.

Python Quick Start 

import requests

BASE_URL = "https://sec-edgar-api-0nxw.onrender.com"
API_KEY = "your-key-here"  # auto-registered on first use

headers = {"X-API-Key": API_KEY}

def get_filings(ticker, form_type="10-K"):
    r = requests.get(
        f"{BASE_URL}/filings",
        params={"ticker": ticker, "form_type": form_type},
        headers=headers
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

def get_insider_trades(ticker):
    r = requests.get(
        f"{BASE_URL}/insider-trades",
        params={"ticker": ticker},
        headers=headers
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

def get_revenue_history(ticker):
    r = requests.get(
        f"{BASE_URL}/company-facts",
        params={"ticker": ticker, "concept": "Revenues"},
        headers=headers
    )
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

# Pull Apple's 10-K filings
filings = get_filings("AAPL", "10-K")
print(f"Found {filings['count']} 10-K filings for {filings['company']}")
for f in filings["filings"][:3]:
    print(f"  {f['filing_date']} — {f['document_url']}")

# Monitor Tesla insider trades
trades = get_insider_trades("TSLA")
print(f"\n{trades['count']} recent insider filings for {trades['company']}")
for t in trades["insider_trades"][:3]:
    print(f"  {t['filing_date']} — {t['accession_number']}")

# Fetch Microsoft revenue data
revenue = get_revenue_history("MSFT")
print(f"\n{revenue['company']} Revenue ({revenue['concept']}):")
for v in revenue["recent_values"][:3]:
    print(f"  {v['period_end']}: ${v['value']:,.0f}")
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Resources

📊 Visualize the trends you find in SEC data with TradingView indicators: TradingView Tools

🛠️ Browse my recommended developer tools: Amazon Developer Picks

Get Started

Your X-API-Key auto-registers on first use — just pick a key name and start querying.

Have a use case in mind? Drop it in the comments — I'd love to hear what you're building with public financial data.

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