Cleo Legal Data Atlas

Quick start

1. Get your API key

Book 20 minutes with the team to activate your account. You receive a key of the form ld_live_… ready to use.

2. Make your first call

All endpoints use an Authorization: Bearer header. No SDK required to get started.

3. Build something

Product compliance, regulatory monitoring, semantic search: everything is exposed under the same base URL.

Authentication

Every request must include an Authorization header with your API key. Keys are rotatable from your dashboard at any time, and revocable instantly.

curl

curl https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/coverage \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

Don't have a key yet? Request access in 20 minutes. Get API key →

API

Product Compliance API

Check whether a product (cosmetics, electronics, toys, food, etc.) is compliant in any country. HS classification, customs duties, regulatory obligations, dual-use screening and landed-cost computation — in a single platform.

POST/v2/compliance/check

Composite compliance check

Description

The most comprehensive endpoint: from a product description and destination country, returns HS classification, duties/VAT/excise, regulatory obligations, dual-use screening, suggested alternatives and estimated landed cost. Costs 5 quota units.

Parameters

`product.description` stringin: bodyrequired	Free-text description, 2 to 2,000 characters.
`product.lang` stringin: bodyoptional	ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "en", "fr".
`product.intended_use` stringin: bodyoptional	Use context (consumer, industrial, medical…).
`destination_country` stringin: bodyrequired	ISO-2 code of destination country.
`origin_country` stringin: bodyoptional	ISO-2 code of origin country.
`client_type` stringin: bodyoptional	One of: government, private, defense, oil_gas, mining, aviation, retail, healthcare, unknown.
`options.include_alternatives` booleanin: bodyoptional	Include alternative HS codes.
`options.include_dual_use_check` booleanin: bodyoptional	Include dual-use screening.
`options.include_parallel_import` booleanin: bodyoptional	Include EAEU parallel-import rules.

Request

curl -X POST https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/compliance/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "product": {"description": "sunscreen SPF50"},
    "destination_country": "FR",
    "client_type": "retail"
  }'

Response — Example

JSON

{
  "data": {
    "hs_code": "330420",
    "duties": { "duty_pct": 0, "vat_pct": 20, "excise": null },
    "obligations": [
      { "code": "EU-COSMETICS-1223-2009", "title": "Cosmetic Products Regulation" }
    ],
    "dual_use": { "controlled": false },
    "alternatives": [{ "code": "330499", "match": 0.78 }]
  },
  "coverage_status": "covered",
  "next_check_at": "2026-06-26T00:00:00Z",
  "advisory_disclaimer": "Cleo provides advisory data; final compliance is the importer's responsibility."
}

GET/v2/customs/duties

Tariff, VAT and excise lookup

Description

Returns customs duty, VAT and excise rates applicable to a given HS code for a country.

Parameters

`code` stringin: queryrequired	HS code (4, 6 or 8 digits).
`country` stringin: queryrequired	Country ISO-2 code.
`system` stringin: queryoptional	One of: hs6, hs8, cn8, tn_ved, hts.

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/duties?code=330420&country=FR" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/customs/obligations

Customs obligations

Description

Lists regulatory obligations attached to an HS code in a country: licenses, certifications, mandatory markings.

Parameters

`hs` stringin: queryrequired
`country` stringin: queryrequired

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/obligations?hs=850440&country=DE" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/customs/lookup

HS classification from description

Description

Suggests one or more HS codes from a natural-language product description.

Parameters

`description` stringin: queryrequired
`country` stringin: queryoptional
`limit` integerin: queryoptional

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/lookup?description=lithium+ion+battery&country=US&limit=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/customs/alternatives

Alternative HS codes

Description

Suggests plausible alternative classifications for a given HS code.

Parameters

code

stringin: queryrequired

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/alternatives?code=330420" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/customs/dual-use

Dual-use export-control screening

Description

Indicates whether a product (by description or code) falls under an export-control regime for a given destination (EU Reg. 2021/821, US EAR, etc.).

Parameters

`description` stringin: queryoptional
`code` stringin: queryoptional
`destination` stringin: queryrequired

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/dual-use?description=encryption+module&destination=CN" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

POST/v2/customs/landed-cost

Landed-cost calculator

Description

Computes the landed cost (CIF + duties + VAT + fees) from an HS code, origin country, destination country and FOB price in USD.

Parameters

`code` stringin: bodyrequired
`origin` stringin: bodyrequired	ISO-2.
`destination` stringin: bodyrequired	ISO-2.
`fob_usd` numberin: bodyrequired

Request

curl -X POST https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/landed-cost \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "code": "850440",
    "origin": "CN",
    "destination": "FR",
    "fob_usd": 12500
  }'

POST/v2/customs/reverse-classify

HS code to product description

Description

Generates a defensible product description from an HS code — useful to draft a consistent customs declaration.

Parameters

code

stringin: bodyrequired

HS code (4, 6 or 8 digits).

Request

curl -X POST https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/customs/reverse-classify \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"code": "330420"}'

GET/v2/standards/gost

GOST / EAEU standards

Description

Looks up GOST / TR EAEU standards applicable to an HS code in a Eurasian Economic Union country.

Parameters

`hs` stringin: queryoptional
`country` stringin: queryoptional
`limit` integerin: queryoptional

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/standards/gost?hs=850440&country=RU" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/eaeu/parallel-import

EAEU parallel-import rules

Description

Indicates whether a certificate (e.g. conformity declaration) issued by an EAEU country is recognised for a given product in other member states.

Parameters

`cert_country` stringin: queryrequired
`cert_type` stringin: queryrequired
`product_code` stringin: queryoptional

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/eaeu/parallel-import?cert_country=KZ&cert_type=tr_cu&product_code=850440" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

API

Legal Data API

Access global legal data: legislation, case law, guidelines, sanctions, product recalls. Hybrid search (semantic + lexical), bulk fetch, change tracking, translation.

GET/v2/search

Hybrid search

Description

Search across the legal corpus, combining semantic (embeddings) and lexical (BM25). Filter by country, document type and language.

Parameters

`q` stringin: queryrequired
`country` stringin: queryoptional
`type` stringin: queryoptional	One of: legislation, case_law, guideline, sanction, recall, enforcement, treaty, advisory.
`lang` stringin: queryoptional
`limit` integerin: queryoptional

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/search?q=cosmetic+labeling+requirements&country=FR&type=legislation&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

Response — Example

JSON

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "fr_legifrance_R5131-1",
      "title": "Article R5131-1 du Code de la santé publique",
      "type": "legislation",
      "country": "FR",
      "lang": "fr",
      "url": "https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/...",
      "score": 0.91
    }
  ],
  "coverage_status": "covered",
  "next_check_at": "2026-06-26T00:00:00Z"
}

POST/v2/search/bulk

Bulk search

Description

Runs up to 25 semantic searches in a single call. Useful to evaluate a set of rules at once or feed an AI agent.

Parameters

queries

arrayin: bodyrequired

Array of 1-25 objects with the same filters as /v2/search (q, country, type, lang, limit).

Request

curl -X POST https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/search/bulk \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "queries": [
      {"q": "GDPR data subject rights", "country": "FR"},
      {"q": "cookie consent banner ruling", "type": "case_law"}
    ]
  }'

GET/v2/documents

List documents

Description

Paginated list of legal documents. Filter by source and country.

Parameters

`source` stringin: queryoptional
`country` stringin: queryoptional
`limit` integerin: queryoptional
`offset` integerin: queryoptional

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/documents?country=FR&source=legifrance&limit=50" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/documents/{id}

Document by ID

Description

Fetches a full document from its unique ID. Includes full text, metadata and source URL.

Parameters

id

stringin: pathrequired

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/documents/fr_legifrance_R5131-1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

POST/v2/documents/bulk

Bulk fetch

Description

Fetches up to 50 documents in a single call via an array of IDs.

Parameters

ids

arrayin: bodyrequired

Array of 1 to 50 document IDs.

Request

curl -X POST https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/documents/bulk \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"ids": ["fr_legifrance_R5131-1", "fr_legifrance_R5131-2"]}'

GET/v2/changes

Changes since timestamp

Description

Returns documents created, modified or deleted since a given timestamp. Maximum 90-day window. Ideal for syncing a local cache or triggering monitoring.

Parameters

`since` stringin: queryrequired	ISO-8601 date, max 90 days back.
`country` stringin: queryoptional
`limit` integerin: queryoptional

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/changes?since=2026-05-01T00:00:00Z&country=FR" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

POST/v2/translate

Legal translation

Description

Translates a legal text fragment between languages. Tuned to preserve technical terminology and article references.

Parameters

`text` stringin: bodyrequired	Text to translate.
`target_lang` stringin: bodyrequired	Target ISO 639-1 code (en, fr, de, …).
`source_lang` stringin: bodyoptional	Auto-detected if omitted.

Request

curl -X POST https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/translate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "L\'\''article 5 du RGPD impose...",
    "source_lang": "fr",
    "target_lang": "en"
  }'

GET/v2/coverage

Coverage snapshot

Description

Coverage snapshot by country and source: document volumes, last successful crawl, status.

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/coverage" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/countries

Supported countries

Description

Lists countries covered by Cleo Legal Data, with ISO-2 code, localised name and number of active sources.

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/countries" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/authorities

Regulatory authorities

Description

Lists the regulatory authorities tracked (ANSM, CNIL, FDA, EMA, etc.), with country and area of competence.

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/authorities" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

GET/v2/webhooks

Webhook subscriptions

Description

Lists active webhook subscriptions on your account, with endpoint, events and delivery status.

Request

curl "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/webhooks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

Error codes

The API returns standard HTTP codes. All error responses share the same JSON envelope.

Code	Description
400 Bad request	Invalid or missing parameter. The error envelope includes a did_you_mean field to help debugging.
401 Unauthorized	API key missing, invalid or revoked. Check your Authorization header.
403 Forbidden	Endpoint not included in your plan, or country not covered by your quota.
404 Not found	Document or resource not found. For /v2/documents/{id}, the ID may be stale.
429 Rate limited	Per-minute quota exceeded. The Retry-After header gives the delay (in seconds) before retrying.
5xx Server error	Error on Cleo's side. Retry with exponential backoff — we monitor and our Enterprise SLA guarantees fast remediation.

Example

JSON

{
  "error": {
    "code": "invalid_country",
    "message": "Unknown country code 'XX'.",
    "suggestion": "Use a 2-letter ISO-3166 alpha-2 code.",
    "docs": "https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/docs#errors",
    "did_you_mean": ["FR", "FI", "FJ"]
  }
}

Rate limits

The Pro plan allows 300 requests per minute. The Enterprise plan allows 600 req/min with negotiable volumes. Beyond that, a 429 is returned — retry after the delay shown in the Retry-After header.

Pro

300 req/min

Burst-friendly, sliding minute window.

Enterprise

600 req/min

Custom volumes negotiable, contractual SLA.

SDKs & examples

No proprietary SDK required: the API is standard HTTP/REST. Below are examples in the most common languages.

curl https://api.legaldata.cleolabs.co/v2/search?q=cosmetic+labeling \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ld_live_..."

Webhooks

Receive signed notifications (HMAC-SHA256) on key events: new regulation, document change, customs duty update. Deliveries are retried 5 times with exponential backoff.

Payload signature

Each delivery includes a header X-Cleo-Signature in the form sha256=<hex>. Compute the HMAC-SHA256 of the raw body with your webhook secret and compare in constant time.

Node.js

import crypto from "node:crypto";

function verify(rawBody, header, secret) {
  const expected = "sha256=" + crypto
    .createHmac("sha256", secret)
    .update(rawBody)
    .digest("hex");
  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(expected),
    Buffer.from(header),
  );
}

Have a question? Let's talk.

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Get API key →Book a call →

API Documentation

Quick start

1. Get your API key

2. Make your first call

3. Build something

Authentication

Product Compliance API

Composite compliance check

Tariff, VAT and excise lookup

Customs obligations

HS classification from description

Alternative HS codes

Dual-use export-control screening

Landed-cost calculator

HS code to product description

GOST / EAEU standards

EAEU parallel-import rules

Legal Data API

Hybrid search

Bulk search

List documents

Document by ID

Bulk fetch

Changes since timestamp

Legal translation

Coverage snapshot

Supported countries

Regulatory authorities

Webhook subscriptions

Error codes

Rate limits

SDKs & examples

Webhooks

Payload signature

Have a question? Let's talk.