Sag (Cases) Entity¶

The Sag entity is the core of the Danish Parliament API, representing legislative cases, bills, proposals, and other parliamentary matters. With 96,538+ records, it contains the complete history of Danish parliamentary cases.

Overview¶

Entity Name: Sag
Endpoint: https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag
Total Records: 96,538+ (as of September 2025)
Primary Key: id (Int32)
Historical Coverage: 1952-2026 (74+ years)

Field Reference¶

Core Identification Fields¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`id`	Int32	Primary key, unique case identifier	`102903`
`titel`	String	Case title	`"Kommissionsmeddelelse om den europøiske grønne pagt"`
`titelkort`	String	Short title	`"Grønne pagt"`
`nummer`	String	Case number	`"L 123"`

Classification Fields¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`typeid`	Int32	Case type ID (foreign key)	`5`
`statusid`	Int32	Current status ID (foreign key)	`11`
`kategoriid`	Int32	Category ID (foreign key)	`19`
`offentlighedskode`	String	Publicity code (`"O"` = Open)	`"O"`

Temporal Fields¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`opdateringsdato`	DateTime	Last update timestamp	`"2025-09-09T17:49:11.87"`
`periodeid`	Int32	Parliamentary period ID	`32`
`afgørelsesdato`	DateTime	Decision date	`"2025-09-09T10:30:00"`
`lovnummerdato`	DateTime	Law number date	`"2025-09-09T10:30:00"`
`rådsmødedato`	DateTime	Council meeting date	`"2025-09-09T14:00:00"`

Content Fields¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`resume`	String	Case summary	`"Forslag til..."`
`afgørelse`	String	Decision text	`"Vedtaget"`
`afgørelsesresultatkode`	String	Decision result code	`"V"`
`afstemningskonklusion`	String	Voting conclusion	`"Forslaget vedtages"`
`baggrundsmateriale`	String	Background material	`"Se bilag"`
`begrundelse`	String	Justification	`"Jøvnfør..."`

Legal References¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`lovnummer`	String	Law number if enacted	`"LOV nr 123"`
`paragraf`	String	Paragraph reference	`"ø 15, stk. 2"`
`paragrafnummer`	Int32	Paragraph number	`15`
`retsinformationsurl`	String	Legal information URL	`"https://retsinformation.dk/..."`

Relationship Fields¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`fremsatundersagid`	Int32	Parent case ID if sub-case	`102900`
`deltundersagid`	Int32	Sub-case ID reference	`102905`

Special Classifications¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`statsbudgetsag`	Boolean	State budget case flag	`true`

Number Parsing Fields¶

Field	Type	Description	Example
`nummernumerisk`	String	Numeric part of number	`"123"`
`nummerprefix`	String	Number prefix	`"L"`
`nummerpostfix`	String	Number postfix	`"A"`

Common Query Examples¶

Basic Queries¶

# Get latest 5 cases
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24top=5&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc"

# Get specific case by ID
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag(102903)"

# Count total cases
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24inlinecount=allpages&%24top=1"

Filter Queries¶

# Open/public cases only
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=offentlighedskode%20eq%20'O'&%24top=10"

# Cases updated in 2025
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=year(opdateringsdato)%20eq%202025&%24top=10"

# Budget-related cases
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=statsbudgetsag%20eq%20true&%24top=10"

# Climate-related legislation
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=substringof('klima',titel)&%24top=10"

Advanced Filtering¶

# Complex boolean logic
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=%28substringof('klima',titel)%20or%20substringof('miljø',titel)%29%20and%20year(opdateringsdato)%20gt%202020&%24top=10"

# Cases from specific period
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=periodeid%20eq%2032&%24top=10"

# Recent decisions
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=afgørelsesdato%20gt%20datetime'2025-09-01T00:00:00'&%24top=10"

Field Selection¶

# Only essential fields
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24select=id,titel,opdateringsdato,statusid&%24top=10"

# Title and classification
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24select=titel,offentlighedskode,typeid,statusid&%24top=10"

Relationship Expansion¶

Core Relationships¶

# Case with category
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=Sagskategori&%24top=3"

# Case with type and status
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=Sagstype,Sagsstatus&%24top=3"

# Case with period information
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=Periode&%24top=3"

Actor Relationships¶

# Cases with involved actors
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=SagAktør/Aktør&%24top=3"

# Cases with actor roles
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=SagAktør/Aktør,SagAktør/SagAktørRolle&%24top=3"

Document Relationships¶

# Cases with documents
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=SagDokument/Dokument&%24top=3"

# Cases with case steps
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=Sagstrin&%24top=3"

Data Analysis Examples¶

Recent Activity Monitoring¶

# Today's updates
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=opdateringsdato%20gt%20datetime'2025-09-09T00:00:00'&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc"

# This week's new cases
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=opdateringsdato%20gt%20datetime'2025-09-02T00:00:00'&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc"

Legislative Tracking¶

# Track specific legislation through process
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24expand=Sagstrin,Sagsstatus&%24filter=substringof('digital',titel)&%24top=5"

# Find related/sub cases
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=fremsatundersagid%20eq%20102900"

Historical Analysis¶

# Cases by year
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=year(afgørelsesdato)%20eq%202024&%24inlinecount=allpages&%24top=1"

# Long-running cases (updated multiple times)
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=year(opdateringsdato)%20eq%202025&%24orderby=opdateringsdato%20desc&%24top=20"

Performance Optimization¶

Use Field Selection¶

# Good: Only request needed fields
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24select=id,titel,opdateringsdato&%24top=100"

# Avoid: Requesting all fields unnecessarily
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24top=100"  # Downloads ~25+ fields per record

Efficient Pagination¶

# Paginate through large result sets
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24skip=0&%24top=100"
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24skip=100&%24top=100"
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24skip=200&%24top=100"

Smart Filtering¶

# Filter before expanding to reduce data
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=offentlighedskode%20eq%20'O'&%24expand=SagAktør&%24top=10"

Common Use Cases¶

1. Legislative Monitoring Dashboard¶

def get_recent_legislation():
    """Get cases updated in last 24 hours"""
    yesterday = (datetime.now() - timedelta(days=1)).isoformat()
    filter_query = f"opdateringsdato gt datetime'{yesterday}'"
    return get_cases(filter_query=filter_query, select="id,titel,opdateringsdato,statusid")

2. Climate Policy Tracker¶

def track_climate_policy():
    """Track all climate-related legislation"""
    filter_query = "(substringof('klima',titel) or substringof('miljø',titel) or substringof('grøn',titel))"
    return get_cases(filter_query=filter_query, expand="Sagsstatus,Sagstype", top=50)

3. Budget Analysis¶

def analyze_budget_cases():
    """Get all state budget cases with their status"""
    filter_query = "statsbudgetsag eq true"
    return get_cases(filter_query=filter_query, expand="Sagsstatus", orderby="opdateringsdato desc")

Important Notes¶

Data Freshness¶

Real-time Updates: Cases are updated within hours of parliamentary activity
Latest Example: 2025-09-09T17:49:11.87 (EU Commission communication)
Daily Volume: 50+ cases updated daily on average

Pagination Limits¶

Maximum Records: 100 per request (hard limit, updated from previous 1000)
Recommended: Use pagination for large datasets
Total Records: Use $inlinecount=allpages to get total count

Silent Filter Failures¶

ø Critical Warning: Invalid filter field names return ALL data instead of errors!

# L Dangerous: Typo returns all 96,538+ records
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=tittel%20eq%20'test'"  # 'tittel' should be 'titel'

# ✅ Safe: Always test filters with $top=1 first
curl "https://oda.ft.dk/api/Sag?%24filter=titel%20eq%20'test'&%24top=1"

The Sag entity connects to many other entities:

Sagskategori - Case categories
Sagstype - Case types (13 different types)
Sagsstatus - Case statuses (68 different statuses)
SagAktør - Case-actor relationships (23 role types)
SagDokument - Case-document relationships
Sagstrin - Case steps/stages
Periode - Parliamentary periods
Afstemning - Related voting sessions

This makes Sag the central hub for exploring Danish parliamentary data.