Authentication & plans
Keys
Send your key as Authorization: Bearer glw_… on REST, MCP and A2A calls. GetLawED subscribers can also use an API key with the mcp scope from their GetLawED settings (Professional allowance). With no key, free-tier limits apply per IP address. On the REST API an invalid or revoked key gets 401 invalid_key (it does not silently fall back to the free tier).
Lost or leaked a key? Request a manage link on the plans page and issue a new one — the old key stops working at once.
Plans
| Plan | Price (VAT incl.) | Allowance | Above the allowance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free (no key, or a free key) | R0 | 25 searches + 50 citation checks a day | 429 until South African midnight |
| Professional | R199 / month | 2,000 calls a month | 429 until the 1st |
| Firm | R999 / month | 20,000 calls a month, up to 10 users | 429 until the 1st |
| Developer | R4,500 / month or R45,000 / year | 100,000 calls a month | R0.05 a call up to 2× the included calls, then 429 |
| Scale | R15,000 / month | 500,000 calls a month | R0.03 a call up to 2× the included calls, then 429 |
| Enterprise | From R250,000 / year | As agreed in writing | |
A call is one search, one section read or one citation check (of one text). Searches and section reads share the free "search" allowance. Monthly allowances reset on the 1st, daily ones at midnight, South African time. No setup fee.
When you run out: HTTP 429
REST answers 429 with a Retry-After header (seconds until the allowance resets) and a JSON body:
{"error":"Free daily limit reached (25 searches and 50 citation checks a day). For more, see the GetLawED plans: https://getlawed.co.za/law/access.html","code":"quota_exceeded","plan":"free","upgrade":"https://getlawed.co.za/law/access.html","retry_after_seconds":10778}MCP returns the same message as a tool result with isError: true; A2A returns a task in state rejected. There is also a burst limit of 60 requests a minute per key (or IP), answered with 429 RATE_LIMITED.
Usage
Your calls this month are shown on your manage page (request a manage link on the plans page). The X-GetLawED-Plan response header says which plan a REST call was counted against.
Developer, Scale and Enterprise conditions
- Attribution — answers built on GetLawED data show "Verified by GetLawED" with a link to getlawed.co.za (or the cited page).
- No bulk export, resale or competing database — the data is used inside your own product's answers only.
- Fair use and quotas — automatic throttling (HTTP 429) above your plan.
Full terms: clause 8 of the terms of use.