Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@PropterMalone

PropterMalone/RC-Ape.md

Last active June 16, 2026 22:15
Show Gist options

  • Select an option

    Learn more about clone URLs
  • Save PropterMalone/579b9d77577fe45c3cb540905ba7d6ec to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Learn more about clone URLs
Save PropterMalone/579b9d77577fe45c3cb540905ba7d6ec to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
R.C. Ape, the Librarian: what it is and how to use it
Raw
RC-Ape.md

R.C. Ape, the Librarian

R.C. Ape is an unofficial Bluesky bot that mirrors U.S. federal court dockets onto the AT Protocol (the open network behind Bluesky). Mention it with a CourtListener docket and it shelves that case as its own account: every filing, in order, as a signed and content-addressed record you can browse or follow.

How to use it

Mention @ape.rcape.org on Bluesky with a CourtListener docket, either a link or its numeric id:

@ape.rcape.org https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795960/united-states-v-rabbitt/

or

@ape.rcape.org please add docket 71795960

It acknowledges right away, then replies again in the same thread once the case is shelved, with the new @<name>.rcape.org handle.

A CourtListener docket link or id always works. It can also figure out the case from a PACER or bankruptcy case number, or from a news article in the thread, and it will ask you to confirm if it is unsure.

What it does

For each docket you ask it to archive, R.C. Ape:

  1. Pulls the docket from CourtListener / RECAP (the public mirror of federal PACER records).
  2. Mints a dedicated Bluesky account for the case (for example, @abughazaleh.rcape.org).
  3. Writes the docket, its entries, and its parties as native AT Protocol records (the org.rcape.* collections), each content-addressed so the data is tamper-evident.
  4. Posts one entry per filing, backdated to the filing date, so the account reads as a chronological archive of the case.

The result is a public, followable, durable mirror of the docket on the open network instead of behind a paywall.

What a case account looks like

Each case is a self-contained archive:

  • A profile naming the case, court, and judge, crediting this Librarian.
  • A pinned intro post.
  • One backdated post per docket entry, each linking to the source filing on CourtListener.
  • The full docket, entries, and parties as content-addressed org.rcape.* records.

Good to know

  • It archives a single docket. Multi-defendant federal criminal cases are filed per-defendant on PACER, so you get the docket you point it at.
  • Provisioning is allowlisted during the soft launch (currently a group around @proptermalone.bsky.social). Anyone can mention the bot; provisioning is limited for now.
  • Throughput is bounded by CourtListener's free-tier API quota, so a busy day may queue requests.

Caveats

R.C. Ape is unofficial and not affiliated with any court or with CourtListener. It mirrors public records; the source of record is always CourtListener / PACER. It is no more permissive than its source: filings sealed or removed upstream are honored.

Source

Open source (MIT): https://github.com/PropterMalone/rcape

Tended by @proptermalone.bsky.social.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment