Parliament.bg API Reference

Comprehensive documentation for all parliament.bg APIs used in the scraper with detailed request/response examples.

📚 API Overview

The parliament.bg APIs provide access to parliamentary data including members, committees, bills, transcripts, and meeting videos. All APIs return JSON data and use HTTP GET requests.

Base URLs

API Base: https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/
Static Resources: https://www.parliament.bg/

Authentication

No authentication is required for these public APIs.

👥 Parliament Members API

Get All Parliament Members

Endpoint: GET /coll-list-ns/bg

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list-ns/bg"

Response Structure:

{
  "colListMP": [
    {
      "A_ns_MP_id": 12345,
      "A_ns_MPL_Name1": "FirstName", 
      "A_ns_MPL_Name2": "MiddleName",
      "A_ns_MPL_Name3": "LastName",
      "A_ns_Va_name": "Electoral District Name",
      "A_ns_CL_value_short": "Political Party Abbreviation"
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions:

A_ns_MP_id: Unique parliament member identifier
A_ns_MPL_Name1/2/3: First, middle, and last names
A_ns_Va_name: Electoral district representation
A_ns_CL_value_short: Political party abbreviation

Get Member Profile Details

Endpoint: GET /mp-profile/bg/{member_id}

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/mp-profile/bg/12345"

Response Structure:

{
  "A_ns_MP_Email": "member@parliament.bg",
  "A_ns_MP_Phone": "+359 2 xxx xxxx",
  "A_ns_MP_Fax": "+359 2 xxx xxxx",
  "prsList": [
    {
      "A_ns_MP_Pr_TL_value": "Profession Name"
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions:

A_ns_MP_Email: Official parliament email
A_ns_MP_Phone/Fax: Contact information
prsList: Array of professional backgrounds

🏢 Committees API

Get All Committees

Endpoint: GET /coll-list/bg/3

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list/bg/3"

Response Structure:

[
  {
    "A_ns_C_id": 3613,
    "A_ns_CT_id": 3,
    "A_ns_CL_value": "Committee Name in Bulgarian",
    "A_ns_C_active_count": 15,
    "A_ns_C_date_F": "2021-04-15",
    "A_ns_CDend": "9999-12-31"
  }
]

Field Descriptions:

A_ns_C_id: Unique committee identifier
A_ns_CT_id: Committee type ID (3 = standing committee)
A_ns_CL_value: Committee name in Bulgarian
A_ns_C_active_count: Number of active members
A_ns_C_date_F: Committee formation date
A_ns_CDend: Committee end date (9999-12-31 = active)

Get Committee Details with Members

Endpoint: GET /coll-list-mp/bg/{committee_id}/3?date=

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list-mp/bg/3613/3?date="

Response Structure:

{
  "A_ns_C_id": 3613,
  "A_ns_CT_id": 3,
  "A_ns_CL_value": "Committee Name",
  "A_ns_C_active_count": 15,
  "A_ns_C_date_F": "2021-04-15",
  "A_ns_CDend": "9999-12-31",
  "A_ns_CDemail": "committee@parliament.bg",
  "A_ns_CDroom": "Room 356",
  "A_ns_CDphone": "+359 2 xxx xxxx",
  "A_ns_CDrules": "Committee rules and regulations text",
  "colListMP": [
    {
      "A_ns_MP_id": 12345,
      "A_ns_MP_PosL_value": "председател",
      "A_ns_MSP_date_F": "2021-04-15",
      "A_ns_MSP_date_T": "9999-12-31"
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions:

A_ns_CDemail: Committee email address
A_ns_CDroom: Committee room number
A_ns_CDphone: Committee phone number
A_ns_CDrules: Committee rules text
colListMP: Array of committee members
- A_ns_MP_PosL_value: Position (председател, зам.-председател, член)
- A_ns_MSP_date_F/T: Member term start/end dates

📄 Bills API

Get Bills by Committee

Endpoint: GET /com-acts/bg/{committee_id}/1

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/com-acts/bg/3613/1"

Response Structure:

[
  {
    "L_Act_id": 98765,
    "L_ActL_title": "Bill Title in Bulgarian",
    "L_Act_sign": "51-554-01-114",
    "L_Act_date": "2024-01-15",
    "path": "/category/subcategory",
    "L_SesL_value": "51st Parliamentary Session"
  }
]

Field Descriptions:

L_Act_id: Unique bill identifier
L_ActL_title: Bill title in Bulgarian
L_Act_sign: Official bill signature/number
L_Act_date: Bill submission date
path: Bill category path
L_SesL_value: Parliamentary session

Get Detailed Bill Information

Endpoint: GET /bill/{bill_id}

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/bill/98765"

Response Structure:

{
  "L_Act_sign": "51-554-01-114",
  "L_SesL_value": "51st Parliamentary Session",
  "A_ns_folder": "51",
  "withdrawn": false,
  "imp_list": [
    {
      "A_ns_MPL_Name1": "FirstName",
      "A_ns_MPL_Name2": "MiddleName", 
      "A_ns_MPL_Name3": "LastName",
      "A_ns_CL_value_short": "Party"
    }
  ],
  "dist_list": [
    {
      "A_ns_CL_value": "Committee Name",
      "L_Act_DTL_value": "Main Committee"
    }
  ],
  "file_list": [
    {
      "FILENAME": "bill-document.pdf",
      "FILEPATH": "/bills/51/",
      "FILESIZE": "1.2 MB"
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions:

withdrawn: Whether bill was withdrawn
imp_list: Array of bill submitters
dist_list: Array of committees handling the bill
file_list: Array of associated documents

📜 Transcripts API

Get Transcript List for Period

Endpoint: GET /archive-period/bg/A_Cm_Steno/{year}/{month}/{committee_id}/0

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/archive-period/bg/A_Cm_Steno/2024/8/3613/0"

Response Structure:

[
  {
    "t_id": 67890,
    "t_label": "Meeting Type Label",
    "t_date": "2024-08-15",
    "t_time": "10:00",
    "t_status": "published"
  }
]

Field Descriptions:

t_id: Unique transcript identifier
t_label: Type of meeting/transcript
t_date: Meeting date
t_time: Meeting start time
t_status: Publication status

Get Transcript Content

Endpoint: GET /com-steno/bg/{transcript_id}

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/com-steno/bg/67890"

Response Structure:

{
  "A_Cm_St_text": "<html>Full transcript HTML content with speakers and discussions</html>",
  "A_Cm_St_date": "2024-08-15",
  "A_Cm_St_sub": "Meeting Type",
  "A_Cm_Stid": 67890,
  "A_ns_C_id": 3613,
  "acts": [
    {
      "act_id": 123,
      "act_title": "Related Act Title"
    }
  ]
}

Field Descriptions:

A_Cm_St_text: Full HTML content of transcript
A_Cm_St_date: Meeting date
A_Cm_St_sub: Meeting subject/type
A_Cm_Stid: Transcript ID
A_ns_C_id: Committee ID
acts: Array of related acts/bills discussed

🎥 Meeting Videos API

Get Meeting List for Period

Endpoint: GET /archive-period/bg/A_Cm_Sit/{year}/{month}/{committee_id}/0

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/archive-period/bg/A_Cm_Sit/2025/7/3613/0"

Response Structure:

[
  {
    "t_id": 13565,
    "t_label": "Committee Meeting",
    "t_date": "2025-07-03", 
    "t_time": "14:45"
  }
]

Field Descriptions:

t_id: Meeting identifier (use for detailed meeting data)
t_label: Meeting type
t_date: Meeting date
t_time: Meeting time

Get Meeting Details with Video URLs

Endpoint: GET /com-meeting/bg/{meeting_id}

curl "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/com-meeting/bg/13565"

Response Structure:

{
  "A_Cm_Sitid": 13565,
  "A_ns_C_id": 3613,
  "A_Cm_Sit_date": "2025-07-03 14:45:00",
  "A_Cm_Sit_room": "356",
  "A_Cm_Sit_body": "Meeting agenda and details",
  "video": {
    "Vidate": "2025-07-03",
    "Vicount": 1,
    "Vifile": "autorecord/2025-07-03/20250703-17-21258-3613_",
    "videoArchive": 1,
    "default": "/Gallery/videoCW/autorecord/2025-07-03/20250703-17-21258-3613_Part1.mp4",
    "playlist": [
      {
        "item": 1,
        "file": "/Gallery/videoCW/autorecord/2025-07-03/20250703-17-21258-3613_Part1.mp4"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Field Descriptions:

A_Cm_Sitid: Meeting ID
A_ns_C_id: Committee ID
A_Cm_Sit_date: Meeting date and time
A_Cm_Sit_room: Meeting room
video.Vidate: Video recording date
video.Vicount: Number of video parts
video.Vifile: Video file prefix
video.default: Default video URL
video.playlist: Array of video files

🎬 Video File URL Patterns

Multi-part Video Files

Pattern: /Gallery/videoCW/{vifile}Part{i}.mp4

# Example URLs
https://www.parliament.bg/Gallery/videoCW/autorecord/2025-07-03/20250703-17-21258-3613_Part1.mp4
https://www.parliament.bg/Gallery/videoCW/autorecord/2025-07-03/20250703-17-21258-3613_Part2.mp4

Auto-recorded Video Files

Pattern: /Gallery/videoCW/autorecord/{date}/{formatted_date}-{meeting_id}-{committee_id}_Part{i}.mp4

# Example URL structure
https://www.parliament.bg/Gallery/videoCW/autorecord/2025-07-03/20250703-17-21258-3613_Part1.mp4

URL Components:

date: Meeting date (YYYY-MM-DD)
formatted_date: Date without separators (YYYYMMDD)
meeting_id: Unique meeting identifier
committee_id: Committee identifier
Part{i}: Video part number

📋 PDF Documents API

Bill PDF Documents

Pattern: /bills/{session}/{signature}.pdf

# Example URL
https://www.parliament.bg/bills/51/51-554-01-114.pdf

URL Components:

session: Parliamentary session folder
signature: Bill signature/number

⚠️ Rate Limiting & Best Practices

Recommended Practices

Timeout Settings: Use 30-60 second timeouts for API calls
Error Handling: Always check HTTP status codes
Data Validation: Verify required fields exist in responses
Retry Logic: Implement exponential backoff for failed requests
Caching: Store frequently accessed data locally

Example Implementation

// Laravel HTTP Client example
$response = Http::timeout(60)
    ->retry(3, 1000) // 3 retries with 1 second delay
    ->get("https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list-ns/bg");

if ($response->successful()) {
    $data = $response->json();
    // Process data
} else {
    // Handle error
    logger()->error("API request failed", [
        'url' => $response->effectiveUri(),
        'status' => $response->status(),
        'body' => $response->body()
    ]);
}

🔍 Common Response Codes

Success Codes

200 OK: Request successful, data returned
304 Not Modified: Data hasn’t changed (if using caching headers)

Error Codes

404 Not Found: Resource doesn’t exist (invalid ID)
500 Internal Server Error: Server-side error
503 Service Unavailable: Server temporarily unavailable

📊 Data Formats & Types

Date Formats

API Dates: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
Video Dates: YYYY-MM-DD in URLs, YYYYMMDD in filenames

Text Encoding

Character Set: UTF-8
Language: Bulgarian (Cyrillic script)
HTML Content: Transcripts contain HTML markup

Null Values

Missing fields may be null or omitted entirely
Always check field existence before accessing

🛠️ Testing APIs

Using cURL

# Test basic connectivity
curl -I "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list-ns/bg"

# Get formatted JSON response
curl -s "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list/bg/3" | jq '.'

# Test specific committee
curl -s "https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list-mp/bg/3613/3?date=" | jq '.A_ns_CL_value'

Using Browser Developer Tools

Open browser developer tools (F12)
Go to Network tab
Visit parliament.bg committee pages
Filter by XHR requests to see API calls
Copy request URLs for testing

📈 Usage Examples in Parliament Scraper

Committee Processing Example

// Get all committees
$committees = Http::get('https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list/bg/3')->json();

foreach ($committees as $committee) {
    $committeeId = $committee['A_ns_C_id'];
    
    // Get detailed committee info with members
    $details = Http::get("https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/coll-list-mp/bg/{$committeeId}/3?date=")->json();
    
    // Process members
    foreach ($details['colListMP'] as $member) {
        $memberId = $member['A_ns_MP_id'];
        $position = $member['A_ns_MP_PosL_value'];
        // Store relationship
    }
}

Video Discovery Example

// Find meetings with videos for a committee
$year = 2025;
$month = 7;
$committeeId = 3613;

$meetings = Http::get("https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/archive-period/bg/A_Cm_Sit/{$year}/{$month}/{$committeeId}/0")->json();

foreach ($meetings as $meeting) {
    $meetingId = $meeting['t_id'];
    
    // Get meeting details with video URLs
    $meetingData = Http::get("https://www.parliament.bg/api/v1/com-meeting/bg/{$meetingId}")->json();
    
    if (isset($meetingData['video'])) {
        $videoUrl = 'https://www.parliament.bg' . $meetingData['video']['default'];
        // Process video for transcription
    }
}