# SEC EDGAR questions, answered Canonical: https://sec-api.dev/questions > Answer-first, sourced answers. **Free plan:** 1,000 API requests a month, 10 a minute, no credit card. Get a key: https://sec-api.dev/sign-up?ref=ai-claudebot. Pricing: https://sec-api.dev/pricing . MCP and quickstart: https://sec-api.dev/index.md ## What is a CIK number? A CIK (Central Index Key) is the unique number the SEC assigns to every company, fund and person that files on EDGAR. It is up to ten digits and is often written with leading zeros, for example 0000320193 for Apple. The SEC’s current ticker file maps 10,414 tickers to CIKs. https://sec-api.dev/questions/what-is-a-cik-number ## How do I find a company’s CIK? Search the ticker or company name: GET /api/v1/companies?query=TSLA returns the matching ticker, name and ten-digit CIK. On SEC.gov the same lookup is EDGAR company search. Each company page on sec-api.dev, for example /companies/tsla, also states the CIK in its first sentence. https://sec-api.dev/questions/how-to-find-a-company-cik ## What is the difference between a 10-K and a 10-Q? A 10-K is the annual report with audited financial statements; a 10-Q is the quarterly report for the first three fiscal quarters, with financial statements that are reviewed but not audited. There is no 10-Q for the fourth quarter because the 10-K covers it. Large accelerated filers file the 10-K within 60 days of year end and each 10-Q within 40 days of quarter end. https://sec-api.dev/questions/difference-between-10-k-and-10-q ## How quickly must a Form 4 be filed, and how often is it late? Form 4 is due before the end of the second business day after the transaction. We measure the share filed late each quarter from SEC data. https://sec-api.dev/questions/how-fast-must-form-4-be-filed ## What does code P mean on a Form 4? Code P means an open-market or private purchase: the insider bought the securities. It is a small share of all insider transactions. https://sec-api.dev/questions/what-does-code-p-mean-on-form-4 ## How many insider purchases were reported last quarter? Insider totals are temporarily unavailable. See the insider trading pages for the latest quarter. https://sec-api.dev/questions/how-many-insider-purchases-last-quarter ## Is there a free SEC EDGAR API? Yes. The SEC publishes free JSON APIs on data.sec.gov for submissions, companyfacts and frames, with no key, a limit of 10 requests per second and a required User-Agent with contact details. sec-api.dev also has a free plan: 1,000 requests a month with filing search, documents, insider transactions and MCP tools, no card required. https://sec-api.dev/questions/is-there-a-free-sec-edgar-api ## What is the SEC EDGAR rate limit? The SEC asks automated clients to stay at or below 10 requests per second across all machines and to declare a User-Agent with a company name and contact email. Clients that exceed it are temporarily blocked, which shows up as HTTP 403 responses. https://sec-api.dev/questions/sec-edgar-rate-limit ## What is a Form D filing? Form D is a notice a company or fund files within 15 days after the first sale in a private offering exempt from registration under Regulation D or Section 4(a)(5). Most notices come from pooled investment funds. https://sec-api.dev/questions/what-is-a-form-d-filing ## What is the difference between Rule 506(b) and Rule 506(c)? Rule 506(b) bans general solicitation and allows up to 35 non-accredited but sophisticated purchasers; Rule 506(c) allows general solicitation but every purchaser must be an accredited investor whose status the issuer verifies. 506(b) remains far more common. https://sec-api.dev/questions/rule-506b-vs-506c ## How do I get financial statement data from SEC filings? Use the XBRL data the SEC extracts from 10-K and 10-Q filings: GET /api/v1/facts/{cik}?concept=Revenues returns each reported value with its period, unit, form and accession number. Values are as reported, so the same concept can appear in several filings when periods repeat or are restated. https://sec-api.dev/questions/how-to-get-xbrl-financial-data ## What is an SEC accession number? An accession number is the unique ID EDGAR assigns to each filing, in the form 0000320193-26-000010: the filer agent’s CIK, the year and a sequence number. It identifies the filing in every SEC URL and data set, so keep it with any value you extract. https://sec-api.dev/questions/what-is-an-accession-number ## Can ChatGPT read SEC filings? Yes, with an app: the sec-api.dev app in ChatGPT lets ChatGPT search EDGAR, read filing sections, query insider trades and pull XBRL facts, citing the SEC source for each result. You connect it once with a free sec-api.dev account; no API key is pasted into the chat. https://sec-api.dev/questions/can-chatgpt-read-sec-filings ## What is a 13F filing? Form 13F-HR is the quarterly report in which institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in Section 13(f) securities list their long positions at quarter end. It is due 45 days after the quarter ends and does not show shorts, most non-U.S. holdings or trades during the quarter. https://sec-api.dev/questions/what-is-a-13f-filing --- Independent. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Data is reproduced from public SEC filings and datasets. Not investment advice. API: https://sec-api.dev/docs · ChatGPT app: https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6ae0ef2436ac8191941dae8a4d732669 · Free key: https://sec-api.dev/sign-up?ref=ai-claudebot