---
title: The /can/ answer grid
slug: can
description: Every capability row in the typed catalog, rendered as a question — answer first, then method, path, tier, gate, and the PENDING_SIGNER shape where reserved.
cluster: can
status: ready
date: 2026-07-25
---

One page per row of the typed catalog. Each page answers its question first, in sixty words or fewer, then gives the typed detail: method, path, tier, gate, and what returns — including the `PENDING_SIGNER` shape wherever the act is reserved. Rows whose backing Jurisdiction Rule is not yet ratified for service say so, and describe the shape they will return.

The pattern the grid proves, three times over: reading a fact is never reserved, drafting is agent-native, and the reserved acts — a filing signature, a demand letter on attorney letterhead, legal advice itself — route to an independent credential-holder who signs under their own license.

## data — read (gate: none, keyless)

| Question | Route | Gate | Answer |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Can an agent search prior art?](./search-prior-art.md) | `GET /patent/search?q=` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent check a patent's status?](./check-patent-status.md) | `GET /patent/{number}/status` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent check a trademark's status?](./check-trademark-status.md) | `GET /trademark/{serial}/status` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent check a company's good standing?](./check-entity-standing.md) | `GET /entity/{state}/{id}/standing` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent check a UCC lien?](./check-ucc-lien.md) | `GET /lien/ucc/{state}/{filing}` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent pull a federal court docket?](./pull-court-docket.md) | `GET /court/{district}/{case}/docket` | `requiresAccess: pacer` | Yes — access credential |

## services — record (agent-native)

| Question | Route | Gate | Answer |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Can an AI draft patent claims?](./draft-patent-claims.md) | `POST /patent/draft-claims` | none | Yes |
| [Can an AI draft a trademark office-action response?](./draft-trademark-oa-response.md) | `POST /trademark/oa-response-draft` | none | Yes |
| [Can an AI review a contract?](./review-a-contract.md) | `POST /contract/review` | none | Yes |
| [Can an AI draft a demand letter?](./draft-demand-letter.md) | `POST /demand-letter/draft` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent assemble Delaware formation documents?](./assemble-formation-docs.md) | `POST /entity/de/formation-docs` | none | Yes |
| [Can an agent watch a docket for deadlines?](./watch-a-docket.md) | `POST /docket-watch` | `requiresAccess: patent-center-practitioner` | Yes — access credential |

## commerce — act (money moves, instrument executes)

| Question | Route | Gate | Answer |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Can an agent form a Delaware company?](./form-delaware-entity.md) | `POST /entity/de/form` | none — open act | Yes |
| [Can an agent file a provisional patent application?](./file-provisional-patent.md) | `POST /patent/file-provisional` | none on a pro se posture | Yes — pro se |
| [Can an AI file a utility patent application?](./file-utility-patent.md) | `POST /patent/file-utility` | `requiresSigner: uspto-registration` | No — a practitioner signs |
| [Can an AI file a trademark office-action response?](./file-trademark-oa-response.md) | `POST /trademark/file-oa-response` | `requiresSigner: state-bar` | No — not yet ratified |
| [Can an AI send a demand letter?](./send-demand-letter.md) | `POST /demand-letter/send` | `requiresSigner: state-bar` | No — an attorney signs and sends |
| [Can an AI give legal advice?](./give-legal-advice.md) | `POST /contract/advise` | `requiresSigner: state-bar` | No — not yet ratified |

Eighteen rows, one constitution: the gate column tells your code the law before you call, every outcome is typed — `OK`, `EMPTY`, `BLOCKED`, `PENDING_SIGNER` — and nothing can commit past an independent professional's refusal.

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*api.lawyer is a preview build — nothing on this page is a live-service claim, and nothing on it is legal advice.*

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