> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vaquill.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Browse the statute hierarchy
> Walk a code top to bottom with /statutes/divisions: titles, chapters, parts, and sections in statutory order
Search finds the section that answers a question, but it cannot enumerate a code. When you need the *structure*, titles then chapters then sections, in the order a human reads them, use `GET /statutes/divisions`. Each call returns the immediate children of wherever you are, so you can render a tree, build a table of contents, or crawl a whole title without paging through search.
**Endpoint used:** `GET /statutes/divisions` (1 credit per call).
Browse supports `USC`, `CFR`, `STATE`, and `REGULATION`, the corpora with a clean drill-down tree. Constitutions, court rules, executive actions, the Federal Register, and agency guidance are flatter or heterogeneous; reach those with [`/statutes/search`](/docs/api-guide/quickstart).
## How drilling works
Pass the deepest level you already know, and the response returns the level directly below it.
| You pass | You get back (`level`) |
| ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------- |
| `corpusType=USC` | the USC `titles` |
| `corpusType=USC&titleNumber=42` | the `chapters` in Title 42 |
| `corpusType=USC&titleNumber=42&chapter=21` | the `sections` in Chapter 21 (leaf) |
| `corpusType=CFR&titleNumber=17` | the `parts` in Title 17 |
| `corpusType=CFR&titleNumber=17&part=240` | the `sections` in Part 240 (leaf) |
| `corpusType=STATE&state=tx` | the state's `codes` |
| `corpusType=STATE&state=tx&code=tx_pe` | the `chapters` in the Texas Penal Code |
Interior nodes carry a `sectionCount` and `isLeaf: false`; drill into one by passing its `identifier` back as the matching filter (`chapter`, `part`, or `code`). Leaf nodes are sections with `isLeaf: true` and an `actId` you pass straight to [`/statutes/section/{actId}`](/docs/api-guide/concepts/section-ids). Every list comes back in statutory (natural) order: `9` before `10`, `240.9` before `240.10`.
## One level
```bash cURL theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
curl -G https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/divisions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer vq_key_..." \
--data-urlencode "corpusType=USC" \
--data-urlencode "titleNumber=42"
```
```python Python theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
import requests
resp = requests.get(
"https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/divisions",
headers={"Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_..."},
params={"corpusType": "USC", "titleNumber": 42},
)
data = resp.json()
print(data["level"], "under", data["parentLabel"])
for node in data["divisions"]:
print(f' {node["identifier"]} {node["name"] or ""} ({node.get("sectionCount")} sections)')
```
```javascript JavaScript theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
const url = new URL("https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/divisions");
url.searchParams.set("corpusType", "USC");
url.searchParams.set("titleNumber", "42");
const data = await (
await fetch(url, { headers: { Authorization: "Bearer vq_key_..." } })
).json();
for (const node of data.divisions) {
console.log(node.identifier, node.name ?? "", `(${node.sectionCount} sections)`);
}
```
A trimmed response:
```json theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
{
"corpusType": "USC",
"level": "chapters",
"parentLabel": "Title 42",
"divisions": [
{ "identifier": "21", "name": "Civil Rights", "kind": "chapter", "isLeaf": false, "sectionCount": 62 },
{ "identifier": "21A", "name": "Privacy Protection", "kind": "chapter", "isLeaf": false, "sectionCount": 9 }
],
"count": 2
}
```
## Walk a whole title
Drill from a title to its chapters, then each chapter to its sections. Leaf nodes carry the `actId` you use to fetch metadata or full text.
```python Python theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
import requests
BASE = "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_..."}
def divisions(**params) -> dict:
resp = requests.get(f"{BASE}/statutes/divisions", headers=HEADERS, params=params)
resp.raise_for_status()
return resp.json()
def walk_title(corpus_type: str, title_number: int) -> None:
chapters = divisions(corpusType=corpus_type, titleNumber=title_number)
for ch in chapters["divisions"]:
print(f'Chapter {ch["identifier"]}: {ch["name"] or ""}')
sections = divisions(
corpusType=corpus_type, titleNumber=title_number, chapter=ch["identifier"]
)
for sec in sections["divisions"]:
# sec["actId"] -> GET /statutes/section/{actId} or .../body
print(f' ยง {sec["identifier"]} {sec["name"] or ""} [{sec["actId"]}]')
walk_title("USC", 42)
```
A leaf listing is bounded to keep one call fast, so an unusually large chapter can be truncated. Chapters are small in practice; if you are enumerating a very large flat state code, scope with [`/statutes/search`](/docs/api-guide/concepts/corpus-types) using the `code` filter instead of listing every section at once.
## Search within a container
Browse and search meet at the `parent` object. Every search result carries a `parent`: the ready-made query that lists its siblings. Its keys (`titleNumber`, `chapter`, `part`, `code`) are also accepted by `POST /statutes/search`, so you can take any hit and run a keyword search confined to its chapter or part, without building the scope yourself.
```python Python theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
import requests
BASE = "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1"
HEADERS = {"Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_..."}
def search(body: dict) -> dict:
resp = requests.post(f"{BASE}/statutes/search", headers=HEADERS, json=body)
resp.raise_for_status()
return resp.json()
# 1. Find one on-point section.
hit = search({"query": "insider trading", "corpusType": "CFR", "limit": 1})["results"][0]
# 2. Reuse its parent to search only within that part (17 C.F.R. Part 240).
neighbors = search({"query": "manipulative devices", "limit": 10, **hit["parent"]})
for r in neighbors["results"]:
print(r["actId"], r["citation"])
```
`chapter` and `part` accept a single value or a list, and must be paired with `titleNumber` (USC/CFR) or `code` (state), which `parent` always includes. A chapter number alone repeats across every title, so an unpaired `chapter`/`part` is rejected with `422`.
## Related
The `actId` you get from a leaf node, and how to fetch its metadata and text.
The corpora you can browse and how to scope with `corpusType` and `state`.
Discover the `code` values that seed a state browse via `/statutes/codes`.
Go straight to a section from a Bluebook citation instead of walking to it.