Package Exports

@lexbuild/cli

Readme

@lexbuild/cli

Download and convert U.S. legal XML into structured Markdown optimized for AI, RAG pipelines, and semantic search. Supports the U.S. Code (54 titles, 60,000+ sections), the eCFR (50 titles, 200,000+ sections), and the Federal Register (~30,000 documents/year).

Install

# Global install
npm install -g @lexbuild/cli

# Or run directly
npx @lexbuild/cli --help

Quick Start

# U.S. Code — download and convert all 54 titles
lexbuild download-usc --all
lexbuild convert-usc --all

# eCFR — download and convert all 50 titles
lexbuild download-ecfr --all
lexbuild convert-ecfr --all

# Federal Register — download and convert recent documents
lexbuild download-fr --recent 30
lexbuild convert-fr --all

# Start small — a single title or document
lexbuild download-usc --titles 1 && lexbuild convert-usc --titles 1
lexbuild download-ecfr --titles 17 && lexbuild convert-ecfr --titles 17
lexbuild download-fr --document 2026-06029 && lexbuild convert-fr --all

Commands

`download-usc`

Download U.S. Code XML from the OLRC. Auto-detects the latest release point.

lexbuild download-usc --all                                  # All 54 titles
lexbuild download-usc --titles 1-5,8,11                      # Specific titles
lexbuild download-usc --all --release-point 119-73not60      # Pin a release

Option	Default	Description
`--titles <spec>`	—	Title(s): `1`, `1-5`, `1-5,8,11`
`--all`	—	Download all 54 titles (single bulk zip)
`-o, --output <dir>`	`./downloads/usc/xml`	Output directory
`--release-point <id>`	auto-detected	Pin a specific OLRC release point

`convert-usc`

Convert downloaded USC XML to Markdown.

lexbuild convert-usc --all                                   # All downloaded titles
lexbuild convert-usc --titles 1 -g chapter                   # Chapter-level output
lexbuild convert-usc --titles 26 --dry-run                   # Preview without writing
lexbuild convert-usc ./downloads/usc/xml/usc01.xml           # Direct file path

Option	Default	Description
`--titles <spec>`	—	Title(s) to convert
`--all`	—	Convert all titles in input directory
`-i, --input-dir <dir>`	`./downloads/usc/xml`	Input XML directory
`-o, --output <dir>`	`./output`	Output directory
`-g, --granularity`	`section`	`section`, `chapter`, or `title`
`--link-style`	`plaintext`	`plaintext`, `canonical`, or `relative`
`--no-include-source-credits`	—	Exclude source credits
`--no-include-notes`	—	Exclude all notes
`--include-editorial-notes`	—	Include editorial notes only
`--include-statutory-notes`	—	Include statutory notes only
`--include-amendments`	—	Include amendment notes only
`--dry-run`	—	Parse and report without writing
`-v, --verbose`	—	Verbose file output

`list-release-points`

List available OLRC release points for the U.S. Code. Shows the latest release point and a table of prior releases with dates and affected titles.

lexbuild list-release-points                     # 20 most recent
lexbuild list-release-points -n 5                # 5 most recent
lexbuild list-release-points -n 0                # All available

Option	Default	Description
`-n, --limit <count>`	`20`	Max release points to show (0 = all)

Use the release point ID with download-usc --release-point <id> to download a specific version.

`download-ecfr`

Download eCFR XML. Defaults to the ecfr.gov API (daily-updated); govinfo bulk data available as fallback.

lexbuild download-ecfr --all                                 # All 50 titles (eCFR API)
lexbuild download-ecfr --titles 1-5,17                       # Specific titles
lexbuild download-ecfr --all --date 2026-01-01               # Point-in-time download
lexbuild download-ecfr --all --source govinfo                # Govinfo bulk fallback

Option	Default	Description
`--titles <spec>`	—	Title(s): `1`, `1-5`, `1-5,17`
`--all`	—	Download all 50 titles
`-o, --output <dir>`	`./downloads/ecfr/xml`	Output directory
`--source`	`ecfr-api`	`ecfr-api` (daily) or `govinfo` (bulk)
`--date <YYYY-MM-DD>`	current	Point-in-time date (ecfr-api only)

`convert-ecfr`

Convert downloaded eCFR XML to Markdown.

lexbuild convert-ecfr --all                                  # All downloaded titles
lexbuild convert-ecfr --titles 17 -g part                    # Part-level output
lexbuild convert-ecfr --all --dry-run                        # Preview without writing
lexbuild convert-ecfr ./downloads/ecfr/xml/ECFR-title17.xml  # Direct file path

Option	Default	Description
`--titles <spec>`	—	Title(s) to convert
`--all`	—	Convert all titles in input directory
`-i, --input-dir <dir>`	`./downloads/ecfr/xml`	Input XML directory
`-o, --output <dir>`	`./output`	Output directory
`-g, --granularity`	`section`	`section`, `part`, `chapter`, or `title`
`--link-style`	`plaintext`	`plaintext`, `canonical`, or `relative`
`--no-include-source-credits`	—	Exclude source credits
`--no-include-notes`	—	Exclude all notes
`--include-editorial-notes`	—	Include editorial/regulatory notes only
`--include-statutory-notes`	—	Include statutory notes only
`--include-amendments`	—	Include amendment notes only
`--currency-date <YYYY-MM-DD>`	`today`	Currency date for frontmatter (from eCFR API metadata)
`--dry-run`	—	Parse and report without writing
`-v, --verbose`	—	Verbose file output

`download-fr`

Download Federal Register XML and metadata from the FederalRegister.gov API.

lexbuild download-fr --recent 30                                    # Last 30 days
lexbuild download-fr --from 2026-01-01 --to 2026-03-31              # Date range
lexbuild download-fr --from 2026-01-01 --types rule,proposed_rule   # Filter by type
lexbuild download-fr --document 2026-06029                          # Single document

Option	Default	Description
`--from <YYYY-MM-DD>`	—	Start date (inclusive)
`--to <YYYY-MM-DD>`	today	End date (inclusive)
`--recent <days>`	—	Download last N days
`--document <number>`	—	Download single document by number
`-o, --output <dir>`	`./downloads/fr`	Output directory
`--types`	all	`rule`, `proposed_rule`, `notice`, `presidential_document`
`--limit <n>`	—	Max documents (for testing)

`convert-fr`

Convert downloaded FR XML to Markdown.

lexbuild convert-fr --all                                           # All downloaded documents
lexbuild convert-fr --from 2026-01-01 --to 2026-03-31               # Filter by date range
lexbuild convert-fr --all --types rule                               # Filter by type
lexbuild convert-fr ./downloads/fr/2026/03/2026-06029.xml           # Single file

Option	Default	Description
`--all`	—	Convert all documents in input directory
`--from <YYYY-MM-DD>`	—	Filter start date
`--to <YYYY-MM-DD>`	—	Filter end date
`-i, --input-dir <dir>`	`./downloads/fr`	Input directory
`-o, --output <dir>`	`./output`	Output directory
`--types`	all	Filter by document type
`--link-style`	`plaintext`	`plaintext`, `canonical`, or `relative`
`--dry-run`	—	Parse and report without writing
`-v, --verbose`	—	Verbose file output

Output Structure

U.S. Code

Granularity	Example Path
`section` (default)	`output/usc/title-01/chapter-01/section-1.md`
`chapter`	`output/usc/title-01/chapter-01/chapter-01.md`
`title`	`output/usc/title-01.md`

eCFR

Granularity	Example Path
`section` (default)	`output/ecfr/title-17/chapter-IV/part-240/section-240.10b-5.md`
`part`	`output/ecfr/title-17/chapter-IV/part-240.md`
`chapter`	`output/ecfr/title-17/chapter-IV/chapter-IV.md`
`title`	`output/ecfr/title-17.md`

Federal Register

Example Path
`output/fr/2026/03/2026-06029.md`

FR documents are atomic — one file per document, organized by year and month. No granularity options.

Every file includes YAML frontmatter with source metadata (source, legal_status, identifier, hierarchy context) followed by the legal text in Markdown. Section and chapter/part granularities generate _meta.json sidecar files and README.md summaries per title.

Performance

The full U.S. Code — all 54 titles, 60,000+ sections, ~85 million estimated tokens — converts in about 20–30 seconds on modern hardware. SAX streaming keeps memory bounded for even the largest titles (100MB+ XML).

Compatibility

Node.js >= 22
ESM only — no CommonJS build

Monorepo Context

This is the published CLI for the LexBuild monorepo. It depends on @lexbuild/core, @lexbuild/usc, @lexbuild/ecfr, and @lexbuild/fr for all conversion and download logic.

pnpm turbo build --filter=@lexbuild/cli
pnpm turbo typecheck --filter=@lexbuild/cli

Package	Description
`@lexbuild/core`	Shared parsing, AST, and rendering infrastructure
`@lexbuild/usc`	U.S. Code converter — programmatic API
`@lexbuild/ecfr`	eCFR converter — programmatic API
`@lexbuild/fr`	Federal Register converter — programmatic API

License

MIT

@lexbuild/cli

Package Exports

Readme

@lexbuild/cli

Install

Quick Start

Commands

download-usc

convert-usc

list-release-points

download-ecfr

convert-ecfr

download-fr

convert-fr

Output Structure

U.S. Code

eCFR

Federal Register

Performance

Compatibility

Monorepo Context

Related Packages

License

`download-usc`

`convert-usc`

`list-release-points`

`download-ecfr`

`convert-ecfr`

`download-fr`

`convert-fr`