@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) and the eCFR (50 titles, 200,000+ sections).

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

# Start small — a single title
lexbuild download-usc --titles 1 && lexbuild convert-usc --titles 1
lexbuild download-ecfr --titles 17 && lexbuild convert-ecfr --titles 17

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 |

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 | | --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 |

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, and @lexbuild/ecfr for all conversion and download logic.

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

Related Packages

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

License

MIT