> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.secapi.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# GET /v1/sections/search

> Find extracted filing sections and snippets with issuer, form, filing, fiscal-period, and cursor controls for a bounded review workflow.

Find extracted filing sections and snippets with issuer, form, filing, fiscal-period, and cursor controls for a bounded review workflow.

<Info>
  Audience: application and coding agent.
</Info>

## Citation fields

Every result row carries seven additive top-level fields:

| Field                     | Description                                                                                                                      |
| ------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `accession`               | SEC accession number for the source filing                                                                                       |
| `section_key`             | Canonical section identifier (e.g. `item_1a`)                                                                                    |
| `char_start` / `char_end` | Half-open offsets into the section markdown text (`section_snippets.content_md`) — section-text-relative, stable across reparses |
| `highlighted_snippet`     | ±150 char window with query terms wrapped in `**…**`, sentence-boundary truncated, ≤320 chars                                    |
| `source_url`              | Public SEC.gov filing URL                                                                                                        |
| `ticker`                  | Issuer ticker, when known                                                                                                        |

When the validator can't produce a span (no section text, no query-term match, or offsets out of bounds), `char_start`/`char_end`/`highlighted_snippet` drop to `null` and `_citation_degraded` records the reason. Identity fields (`accession`, `section_key`, `source_url`, `ticker`) are always populated when known. See [api conventions → citation + char-range spans](/api-conventions#citation-char-range-spans) for the full contract.

## Filters and pagination

Use `q` with one issuer identifier to begin. Add `form`, `filing_id`, `filing_year`, `fy`, or `quarter` only when the review needs a smaller filing cohort. `cursor` is an opaque continuation token: send the returned `nextCursor` unchanged while `hasMore` is true, and do not derive offsets from result counts.

## Agent mode

Pass `?view=agent` to receive the compact agent shape: key + snippet + lifted `accessionNumber` / `startOffset` / `endOffset` from provenance/trace, plus the citation envelope (`accession`, `section_key`, `char_start`, `char_end`, `highlighted_snippet`, `source_url`, `ticker`). Content-md and metadata envelopes are dropped. See [api conventions → response formats](/api-conventions) for the full `?view=` contract.

## Related workflows

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Risk factors glossary" icon="triangle-alert" href="https://secapi.ai/glossary/risk-factors">Read investor-facing Item 1A interpretation, caveats, and agent prompts.</Card>
  <Card title="Risk-factor drift agent" icon="bot" href="https://secapi.ai/workflows/risk-factor-drift-agent">Compare changed risk language across filings with source links intact.</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Canonical metadata

* `requestId`
* `traceparent`
* `provenance`
* `freshness`
* `materialization`

## Example request

<RequestExample>
  ```bash theme={null}
  curl -X GET -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" -H "secapi-version: 2026-03-19" "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/sections/search?q=liquidity&ticker=EXAMPLE&form=10-K&limit=20"
  ```
</RequestExample>

## Example response

<ResponseExample>
  ```json theme={null}
  {
    "object": "list",
    "data": [
      {
        "object": "section",
        "id": "sec_example_2025_10k_item_7",
        "createdAt": "2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z",
        "livemode": false,
        "filingId": "fil_example_2025_10k",
        "ticker": "EXAMPLE",
        "form": "10-K",
        "key": "item_7",
        "title": "Management's Discussion and Analysis",
        "contentMd": "Example discussion of liquidity and capital resources.",
        "snippet": "Example discussion of liquidity and capital resources.",
        "accession": "example-accession",
        "section_key": "item_7",
        "char_start": 22,
        "char_end": 31,
        "highlighted_snippet": "Example discussion of **liquidity** and capital resources.",
        "source_url": "https://example.com/sec-filings/example-2025-10-k",
        "provenance": {
          "source": "example",
          "sourceLabel": "Illustrative response - not a live SEC filing",
          "accessionNumber": null,
          "filingUrl": "https://example.com/sec-filings/example-2025-10-k",
          "retrievedAt": "2026-02-20T00:00:00.000Z",
          "parserVersion": "example"
        }
      }
    ],
    "hasMore": false,
    "nextCursor": null,
    "degradedState": null,
    "requestId": "req_2ZK8Q1W9F4M6P7R3",
    "traceparent": "00-4bf92f3577b34da6a3ce929d0e0e4736-00f067aa0ba902b7-01"
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

## About this example

This response is illustrative: `EXAMPLE`, all IDs, amounts, and `example.com` URLs are synthetic. It shows the response shape only and does not identify or claim a live SEC filing.

## Give this prompt to your agent

<Prompt>
  Use SEC API GET /v1/sections/search to find filing sections and snippets with exact filing context. Start with `q`, then narrow by one issuer identifier and optional form, filing year, fiscal period, or filing ID. Preserve the cursor, `hasMore`, citation fields, accession number, source URL, `requestId`, and `traceparent`; follow `nextCursor` until the requested scope is exhausted.
</Prompt>

## Failure posture

* send `ticker` or its `symbol` alias, not conflicting values for both
* preserve and replay `nextCursor` exactly when `hasMore` is true; do not construct a cursor from an offset
* treat null citation spans as unavailable evidence and verify the linked filing before quoting a passage
* preserve `requestId` and `traceparent` when retrying a transient failure