Citation Safe Verifier

Verifies legal citations vs primary sources: existence, quote match, proposition support.

CommunityOnlineNo sign-inGlobalFreeRead-only

What it can do

    What data it sees

    Do you need an account

    No: the server works without sign-in

    Verifies legal citations vs primary sources: existence, quote match, proposition support.

    How to connect

    How to connect Citation Safe Verifier to Claude

    The server address to paste into Claude settings:

    https://citationsafe.com/api/mcp

    1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
    2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
    3. Click Add custom connector.
    4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
    5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

    Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

    Authorization

    After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

    How to connect Citation Safe Verifier to ChatGPT

    The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

    https://citationsafe.com/api/mcp

    1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
    2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
    3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
    4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
    5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
    6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

    OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

    Authorization

    On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

    How to connect Citation Safe Verifier to Cursor

    The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

    https://citationsafe.com/api/mcp

    Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

    Manually:

    1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
    2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
    3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

    Authorization

    If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

    Server tool list (8)

    Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

    verify_citationChecks every legal citation in the given text against primary sources: does the cited case exist (Layer 1, CourtListener database lookup — deterministic, no LLM), does a quoted passage appear in the source opinion (Layer 2), and — on paid CitationSafe tiers — does the case support the proposition it's cited for (Layer 3). Returns VERIFIED / UNCONFIRMED / UNCONFIRMED — OUTSIDE COVERAGE / SOURCE UNAVAILABLE per citation, never a bare true/false, with source links. Not legal advice.
    verify_documentFetches a document (PDF, DOCX, or plain text) from a URL and runs the same 3-layer citation verification as verify_citation. Use this when you have a link to a brief rather than pasted text.
    get_verificationRetrieves a previously run CitationSafe verification (by the verificationId returned from verify_citation/verify_document, or from a citationsafe.com/v/{id} share link) and returns its full per-citation results.
    batch_verify_citationsRuns the same 3-layer citation verification as verify_citation across multiple texts in a single call. Each item is billed against your CitationSafe usage exactly like an individual verify_citation call — batching never bypasses your plan's monthly limit. Max 10 items per batch, 64,000 characters per item. Requires a signed-in CitationSafe account (Authorization: Bearer <access_token>) — anonymous batch calls are not supported, use verify_citation for anonymous single-text checks.
    search_sanctionsSearches CitationSafe's database of real court sanctions/orders arising from AI-hallucinated legal citations, by court name, party/case name keyword, or free-text keyword. Read-only, public data — same dataset backing citationsafe.com/sanctions-database.
    is_this_case_realDeterministic existence check (Layer 1 only, no LLM) for one legal citation against CourtListener's primary-source database. Answers the single question "is this case real" for one citation — for multi-citation quote-checked verdicts across a whole brief, use verify_brief instead. Free tier: 5 checks/day per IP, no key required. For unlimited access, pass an API key as "Authorization: Bearer <key>" (contact support@citationsafe.com to request one).
    verify_briefRuns existence (Layer 1) and quote-match (Layer 2) checks — both deterministic, no LLM — on every citation found in the given text and returns one verdict per citation. The multi-citation counterpart to is_this_case_real. Proposition support (Layer 3) is not included on this free/API-key surface; sign in at citationsafe.com for full 3-layer verification via verify_citation. Free tier: 5 checks/day per IP (one verify_brief call = one check, regardless of how many citations the text contains); an API key bypasses the daily cap.
    search_phantomsSearches CitationSafe's phantom-citation registry — fabricated case names/citations that have shown up in real, sanctioned AI-hallucination incidents — by case name or the AI system that produced them. Read-only, public data. Returns an empty array (not an error) if nothing matches or the registry has no entries yet.