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How to pull the current text of a CFR section and search new Federal Register rules without a browser

When you ask an AI assistant what a federal regulation says from memory, it can blend old amendments or invent paragraph letters. Meanwhile, several legal reference sites block automated fetches with Cloudflare challenges. This guide shows how to read the exact current text of any Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) section and search recent Federal Register notices and final rules through US Federal Regulations (CFR), using our 14 CFR 107.51 drone operating limits benchmark.

By OpenKrill. Published 2026-10-20. Every regulation excerpt, citation and response time below comes from live calls to US Federal Regulations (CFR) (rules.openkrill.app) and the official eCFR and Federal Register APIs between 06:20 and 07:17 UTC on 2026-10-20.

The short answer

Open US Federal Regulations and CFR Search or connect https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp to your AI assistant. Call get_cfr_section when you know the title and section number (such as 14 CFR 107.51 or 21 CFR 11.10), search_cfr to search across one CFR title or all 50 titles by keyword, or search_federal_register to find newly published final rules, proposed rules and agency notices with their effective dates and comment deadlines.

What 14 CFR 107.51 says in our live eCFR test

We asked for 14 CFR 107.51 (Operating limitations for small unmanned aircraft in Title 14, Aeronautics and Space). In 1,852 ms, get_cfr_section returned the complete, untruncated 1,135-character section text from the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (current as of 2026-10-16), matching the official eCFR XML word for word:

ParagraphOperating limit in 14 CFR 107.51Exact rule requirement
(a) Groundspeed87 knots (100 miles per hour) maximumThe groundspeed of the small unmanned aircraft may not exceed 87 knots (100 mph).
(b) Altitude400 feet above ground level (AGL) maximumCannot fly higher than 400 feet AGL, unless flown within a 400-foot radius of a structure and no higher than 400 feet above the structure's immediate uppermost limit.
(c) Flight visibility3 statute miles minimumMinimum flight visibility observed from the control station must be no less than 3 statute miles.
(d) Distance from clouds500 feet below, 2,000 feet horizontallyMinimum distance from clouds must be no less than 500 feet below the cloud and 2,000 feet horizontally from the cloud.

How US Federal Regulations (CFR) compared with legal reference sites

We tested the same 14 CFR 107.51 lookup against three widely cited regulation sites on 2026-10-20:

SourceResult on 14 CFR 107.51Wall timeScore
OpenKrill US Federal Regulations (CFR)Full 1,135-char text matching eCFR word for word, with eCFR URL, 2026-10-16 currency date and legal-status notice, ready for an AI agent via MCP1,852 ms10.0 / 10
Cornell LII CFR (law.cornell.edu)Full current text matching eCFR on an HTML web page with ads1,540 ms10.0 / 10
GovRegs (govregs.com)Full current text matching eCFR plus authority and Federal Register source notes on an HTML page1,184 ms10.0 / 10
Justia Regulations (regulations.justia.com)Not run: returned an HTTP 403 Cloudflare challenge on a direct fetchnot runnot run

Searching eCFR sections and recent Federal Register rulemakings

When you do not have an exact section number, or need to see what agencies published this month, the other two tools on the server cover the gap:

  • Keyword search across the eCFR (search_cfr). Searching query: "remote identification unmanned aircraft" in title: 14 with limit: 3 matched 41 sections in 14 CFR Part 89 (Federal Aviation Administration), led by 14 CFR 89.310 (Minimum performance requirements for standard remote identification unmanned aircraft), 14 CFR 89.305 (Minimum message elements broadcast by standard remote identification unmanned aircraft), and 14 CFR 89.320 (Minimum performance requirements for remote identification broadcast modules).
  • Recent rules and notices (search_federal_register). Searching query: "unmanned aircraft" with publishedFrom: "2026-09-01" and order: "newest" matched 15 Federal Register documents published between September and October 2026. The newest 3 were Document 2026-21371 (91 FR 66204, a Fish and Wildlife Service final Rule amending 50 CFR part 18, published and effective 2026-10-19), Document 2026-20859 (91 FR 65028, an FAA Notice on the Indianapolis Downtown Heliport, published 2026-10-13), and Document 2026-20623 (91 FR 64406, a National Science Foundation Notice under the Antarctic Conservation Act published 2026-10-08 with public comments closing 2026-11-09).

Connect it to your AI client

Add https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp to your assistant, or follow the install steps for ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor and Pi. You can also grab the 3 compliance research workflows in rules-jobs/SKILL.md.

Here is the JSON-RPC call that fetched 14 CFR 107.51:

{"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"get_cfr_section",
 "arguments":{"title":14,"section":"107.51"}}}

Important caveats when reading federal regulations

  • eCFR vs official legal text. The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations is an editorial compilation updated daily by the Office of the Federal Register. The authoritative legal text is the published Federal Register and the annual CFR editions on govinfo.gov.
  • Federal Register notices vs codified CFR text. A proposed rule or notice in the Federal Register has not yet changed the CFR, and a newly published final rule only appears in the eCFR on its effective date.
  • Scope. This tool covers US federal regulations only; it does not include state statutes, court opinions or agency guidance letters that were not published in the Federal Register, and it is general information rather than legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

What does 14 CFR 107.51 say about drone altitude and speed limits?

Under 14 CFR 107.51 (current as of 2026-10-16), a small unmanned aircraft may not exceed 87 knots (100 miles per hour) groundspeed, may not fly higher than 400 feet above ground level unless within a 400-foot radius of a structure and within 400 feet of its top limit, and requires at least 3 statute miles of flight visibility and cloud clearance of 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally.

Where can I read the current text of a federal regulation by CFR citation?

You can read it on ecfr.gov, law.cornell.edu/cfr, govregs.com, or directly from an AI assistant by calling get_cfr_section on https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp with the title number and section string.

Which new Federal Register rules were published this month about a given topic?

Call search_federal_register on https://rules.openkrill.app/mcp with your query, publishedFrom set to the first day of the month, and order set to newest. The response lists each rule, proposed rule or notice with its citation, agency, effective date and comment deadline.

Does US Federal Regulations (CFR) require an API key?

No. Both the web search page at tools.openkrill.app/rules and the MCP server at rules.openkrill.app/mcp are free and keyless, within 60 calls a minute per network.

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