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MuckRock offers a few tools that make it easier to file many requests at once time, both in our standard web form and via our API.
Most requests are filed using our standard form. You can use that form to request the same material from one agency or one hundred. Just add more agencies to the “Agencies” field. It really is that simple.
Each agency you add will use one request credit.
Add the description of the records you’re seeking and we’ll merge it into a template addressed to each agency and citing the appropriate law for each jurisdiction.
While there’s no hard limit on the number of agencies you can add to a multi-request, we don’t recommend filing with more than 10-20 agencies at one time.
We call these “Multi Requests” — when you hit submit on a request to more than one agency, our support team will review it and send it out within 24 hours. If a request is held up longer than that, we’ll always let you know why. The most common reasons are violations of the Code of Conduct section of our Terms of Service, though if we notice an error, like a sentence that seems half completed or specific to only one of the jurisdictions in your request, we’ll alert you and give you a chance to correct the request before we send it out.
Once the requests in your batch have gone out to the individual agencies, you’ll see them listed individually on your profile. You’ll be able to track and manage each request there.
If you’re adept with a command line, you can also file (and manage, and track) requests with MuckRock’s API. Essential documentation for our API lives at https://www.muckrock.com/api/ and we have a ton of examples on GitHub ‣.
The Bulk File script is a good place to get started if you want to file requests in bulk.
Every MuckRock user has a unique API token which is available on your MuckRock profile page — look for a link on the lower left of the page and select “show …” to reveal it.
If you change your username or password, your token will also change. If you leak your token you can invalidate it by resetting your password and generating a new token.
To use our API to file records requests, you will need the unique ID for each agency you want to file with. Every agency in MuckRock’s database has a unique URL, which ends with a numeric string. That string is the agency ID:
If we have an established consulting+services contract in place, you may be able to provide our team with a list of agencies by name and jurisdiction, or a search term within a particular jurisdiction, but in most cases you will have to find each agency ID individually.
The remaining steps are well detailed on the Bulk File script, but please don’t hesitate to ask for help if you find you need it.