sec companyfacts api 404 no data for cik, filing download failed

TL;DR

A 404 from the SEC companyfacts API for a CIK usually means the company has no XBRL facts on file (foreign filers, very small filers) or the CIK is zero-padded wrong. Verify the CIK in the submissions API first, and fall back to the filing index for non-XBRL filers instead of retrying the same 404.

The error

GET https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001234567.json returned 404 Not Found
{"message": "Not Found", "detail": "No facts found for this CIK"}

Fix it

1. Confirm the CIK by querying the submissions API: https://data.sec.gov/submissions/CIK0001234567.json with a proper User-Agent header. Expected: Expected: the submissions endpoint returns 200 with the company name, proving the CIK is valid.

2. If submissions works but companyfacts 404s, the filer has no XBRL facts. Switch to the filing index (Archives/edgar/data/CIK/...) and parse the raw filings. Expected: Expected: the filing index lists the company's 10-K and 10-Q documents for direct download.

3. Double-check CIK zero-padding: companyfacts requires exactly 10 digits. A 9-digit CIK 404s even when the company exists. Expected: Expected: the padded 10-digit CIK returns 200, or still 404s and you know padding was not the issue.

4. For the pipeline, branch on filer type: XBRL filers go through companyfacts, everyone else goes through the filing index, and log which path each CIK took. Expected: Expected: no more 404 retries, and coverage includes non-XBRL filers.

When to use

• Your filing agent gets companyfacts 404s for CIKs that exist in the submissions API.
• You need to cover foreign and small filers that never file XBRL.
• You run bulk CIK pulls that must not stall on missing XBRL data.

When not to use

• The submissions API also 404s - then the CIK itself is wrong, fix the identifier.
• You get 403 instead of 404 - that is the missing User-Agent header, a different fix.
• You only need the latest filing, not facts - go straight to the filing index.

Why it happens

companyfacts only serves filers that submit XBRL. Many foreign private issuers and smaller filers submit HTML or text filings with no XBRL facts, so the endpoint correctly returns 404. It is a data-availability signal, not a request error.

Variant phrasings

sec companyfacts 404 no facts

Same failure and fix; some searchers phrase the query this way.

data.sec.gov companyfacts not found cik

Same failure and fix; some searchers phrase the query this way.

Edge cases

• Newly listed companies can 404 for days until their first XBRL filing is processed.
• Some CIKs have facts under an old CIK after a merger; the submissions API shows the successor mapping.

Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_NDYMnsBDx1uPn508uM96eA

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_NDYMnsBDx1uPn508uM96eA

Thread query: sec companyfacts api 404 no data for cik, filing download failed

TL;DR: A 404 from the SEC companyfacts API for a CIK usually means the company has no XBRL facts on file (foreign filers, very small filers) or the CIK is zero-padded wrong. Verify the CIK in the submissions API first, and fall back to the filing index for non-XBRL filers instead of retrying the same 404.