Free read-only JSON API
Every research surface on CEF Explorer is available as JSON. No key is needed. Responses carry the underlying dates and a terms field. Rate limit: 120 requests per minute per IP. CORS is open for GET.
Endpoints
| Endpoint | Returns |
|---|---|
/api/v1/funds?limit=100&offset=0&category=municipal-bonds | Fund list with calculated metrics; accepts the ranking/screener filters (category, sponsor, international, muni, leverage, min_assets, min_dollar_vol, frequency, term, region, state) and sort/dir |
/api/v1/funds/PDI | One fund: identity (SEC), valuation and distribution metrics, returns, risk, size, fees/leverage, latest holdings report, recent distributions, filings, documents, corporate actions |
/api/v1/funds/PDI/distributions?limit=400 | Distribution history with declaration/ex/record/pay dates, amount, frequency, regular/special classification |
/api/v1/funds/PDI/holdings?limit=200&offset=0 | Latest N-PORT positions (name, identifiers, category, country, balance, value, weight, fair-value level) |
/api/v1/funds/PDI/allocations | Allocation roll-ups by asset class, country, region, issuer type, fair-value level, long/short |
/api/v1/funds/PDI/financials | SEC Inline-XBRL fee table and senior-securities facts by filing period |
/api/v1/funds/PDI/documents | Official documents with EDGAR links, dates, forms and link-check status |
/api/v1/rankings | The twelve rankings and their options |
/api/v1/rankings/largest-discounts?limit=25 | One ranking (options as query params, e.g. ?basis=regular, ?window=6m, ?period=3y&basis=price) |
/api/v1/screener?muni=1&frequency=monthly&pd_max=-10&sort=premium_discount&dir=asc | Screener: numeric ranges (<key>_min / <key>_max) plus categorical filters, paged |
/api/v1/holders?q=AAPL&level=issuer | Which funds hold a security (ticker, CUSIP, ISIN or name) |
/api/v1/overlap?a=PDI&b=PTY | Weighted holdings overlap between two funds with shared positions |
/api/v1/categories | Categories with counts and averages |
/api/v1/sponsors | Sponsors with counts and aggregate net assets |
/api/v1/search?q=pimco | Universal search (funds, sponsors, categories, holdings, countries, articles) |
Ranking slugs
highest-distribution-yield · best-historical-performance · largest-discounts · largest-premiums · lowest-z-scores · largest-funds · most-actively-traded · lowest-expenses · trending · highest-nii-coverage · best-risk-adjusted-returns · lowest-volatility
Screener range keys
price (Price, $) · pd (Premium/discount, %) · pd_avg_1y (1y avg prem/disc, %) · z1y (Z-score 1y) · z3m (Z-score 3m) · rate (Regular rate on price, %) · rc (ReinvestCapture™ rate, %) · rate_nav (Regular rate on NAV, %) · ttm (TTM yield, %) · cov (NII coverage, %) · lev (Leverage (managed), %) · er (Total expenses, %) · assets (Common net assets, $M) · mcap (Market cap, $M) · dvol (Avg $ volume 3m, $K) · tr1y_nav (1y NAV total return, %) · tr3y_nav (3y NAV TR (ann.), %) · tr1y_price (1y price total return, %) · vol1y (1y price volatility, %) · vol3y_nav (3y NAV volatility, %) · sharpe (3y NAV Sharpe) — use <key>_min / <key>_max. Categorical: category, sponsor, international (1/0), muni (1/0), leverage (1/0), frequency, term (1/0), region, state, min_assets ($M), min_dollar_vol ($K/day), inception_before, min_history_years, cov_recent (months), nav_fresh (1). Sort with sort + dir.
Example
curl "https://cefexplorer.com/api/v1/funds/PDI" | jq '.valuation, .fees_leverage'
Terms
- Personal and research use. Attribute “CEF Explorer” with a link to the fund page.
- No bulk redistribution, resale or use to build a competing database. Cache responses; do not poll faster than the data changes (metrics nightly, quotes-derived fields intraday).
- Figures are educational, carry their own dates, may be revised, and are not investment advice. See the methodology and disclosures.
Building an AI workflow on top of this? See AI Agents for ready-made prompts, or ask questions directly at Ask the Data.