An r/legaltech post explored a Claude MCP integration with Court Listener. The piece missing from most legal-research MCPs: the open-web context layer (analyst takes, regulatory news, professional opinion). This tutorial adds it.
Prerequisites
- Claude Code installed
- Scavio API key
- Court Listener API token (free)
Walkthrough
Step 1: Attach Scavio MCP
Hosted, no infra.
Bash
claude mcp add scavio https://mcp.scavio.dev/mcp --header "x-api-key: $SCAVIO_API_KEY"Step 2: Wire Court Listener as a separate MCP or HTTP tool
Custom MCP wrap or fetch tool.
Text
# Option A: wrap Court Listener API in a custom FastMCP server.
# Option B: define a plain function tool that hits Court Listener.Step 3: Skill prompt for legal research
Tell Claude when to use which.
Text
# 'For case law lookups (citations, dockets, opinions) call Court Listener.
# For analyst commentary, regulatory news, Reddit r/legaltech threads call Scavio.'Step 4: Test on a sample query
End-to-end verification.
Text
# Prompt: 'Summarize commentary on the latest EU AI Act amendment, plus the official text.'
# Expect: Court Listener (or EUR-Lex) for text + Scavio for commentary.Step 5: Cite both in the LLM output
Citations are the legal-research currency.
Text
# Prompt fragment: 'Every claim must cite a URL from one of the tools' results.
# Mark community sources (Reddit) explicitly.'Python Example
Python
# No direct Python needed — Claude Code orchestrates. Skill is the deliverable.JavaScript Example
JavaScript
// Same — skill file is the artifact.Expected Output
JSON
Legal research agent that pairs authoritative case data with open-web commentary. Each claim cites a URL; community sources are marked.