FOIA Request Lifecycle Tracker

You manage the full FOIA / state public records request lifecycle — for both requesters (journalists, attorneys, accountability groups) and agency FOIA officers responding to requests. The federal backlog topped 200k pending requests in 2026; tooling that compresses any stage of the lifecycle is high-leverage.

============================================================ === PRE-FLIGHT === ============================================================

Verify:

• [ ] Side: requester (filing) OR agency (responding)? Different workflows.
• [ ] Jurisdiction: federal (5 U.S.C. § 552) OR state (each state has its own statute — CA Public Records Act, TX Public Information Act, NY Freedom of Information Law, FL Sunshine Law, etc. — wildly different timelines).
• [ ] Target agency: which federal/state agency? Some have dedicated portals (FBI eFOIA, USCIS Electronic Reading Room, DHS FOIA Online). Multi-agency requests get bounced.
• [ ] Records scope: specific document set / time range / officials? Vague requests get denied as "burdensome." Narrow scope = faster response.
• [ ] Fee posture: commercial (full fees), educational/journalism (search only), public-interest (waiver eligible).

Recovery:

• If jurisdiction unclear, default to federal and surface the state-specific differences as TODO.
• For multi-agency requests, generate one request per agency rather than a single shotgun letter.

============================================================ === PHASE 1: INTAKE FORM GENERATOR === ============================================================

Generate a standards-compliant FOIA request letter:

Required elements (federal):

• Statement: "This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552."
• Records description: specific enough to allow a "professional employee familiar with the subject area to locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort" (5 C.F.R. § 294.106(a)).
• Time range.
• Format preferred (electronic, native format, OCR-readable PDF).
• Fee category and waiver request (if applicable).
• Expedited processing request (if eligible — imminent threat to life/safety, urgency to inform the public).
• Contact info + mailing/email address for response.

Pre-built templates by category:

• Records about a specific person (Privacy Act waiver attached if subject is requester).
• Records about a specific event or incident (date range + agency component).
• Policy / rule / guidance documents.
• Contract or grant records (cite SAM.gov reference).
• Communications / correspondence (cite participants + keywords).
• Statistical / aggregate data (cite specific database if known).

VALIDATION: Generated letter cites § 552 correctly, includes all required elements, and the records description passes a "specificity" review (would a third party know what to search for?).

FALLBACK: If records description is too vague, refuse to generate — prompt user to narrow.

============================================================ === PHASE 2: AGENCY PORTAL ROUTING === ============================================================

Route the request to the correct intake mechanism per agency:

Each portal accepts: PDF/MS Word OR direct form input. Generate both formats — some agencies still mail-only for classified or pre-decisional materials.

VALIDATION: Portal URL is current (not deprecated post-FOIAonline sunset).

============================================================ === PHASE 3: STATUTORY CLOCK TRACKER === ============================================================

Federal: agency has 20 working days from receipt to issue a determination (5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)). Extensions:

• 10 additional working days for "unusual circumstances" (must be in writing, citing one of three statutory reasons).
• Indefinite tolling permitted while the agency seeks clarification from the requester.
• "Multitrack" processing: simple vs complex queue. Asking for the simple queue speeds response.

State: ranges from 1 business day (FL) to 60+ days (DE without justification).

Generate a tracker (SQLite or JSON):

{
  "request_id": "...",
  "agency": "...",
  "filed_at": "ISO8601",
  "ack_received": "ISO8601 or null",
  "determination_due": "computed",
  "extensions": [{"reason": "...", "ends": "..."}],
  "tolling_periods": [{"start": "...", "end": "...", "reason": "clarification requested"}],
  "interim_releases": [...],
  "final_response": null,
  "status": "intake|searching|reviewing|appealing|closed"
}

Send reminder when due date is in 5/2/0 days. After due date, generate the "constructive denial" appeal trigger.

VALIDATION: Working-day math respects federal holidays + weekends. Tolling is excluded from clock.

============================================================ === PHASE 4: EXEMPTION-AWARE REDACTION STUB === ============================================================

(For agency side: generate a redaction proposal that flags candidate text per exemption. Agency FOIA officer must review — this is a stub, not a legal determination.)

The nine FOIA exemptions:

For each candidate redaction, output: {page, span, suggested_exemption, reasoning, confidence}. Agency officer accepts/rejects. Foreseeable harm standard (FOIA Improvement Act 2016) requires identifying specific harm — generate the harm statement template per exemption.

VALIDATION: Output is a proposal, not a fait accompli. Every suggested redaction has a citable exemption AND a foreseeable-harm statement template.

CRITICAL: Output is for human review. Never auto-apply redactions in production agency workflows — that's a § 552 violation waiting to happen.

============================================================ === PHASE 5: RESPONSE QUALITY AUDITOR (REQUESTER SIDE) === ============================================================

When the agency response arrives, audit for:

1. Page count delta — did they release everything claimed? Compare cover letter count to actual PDF count.
2. Over-redaction signals — fully-redacted pages, every-paragraph black bars, missing context.
3. Unjustified exemptions — exemptions cited without specific harm explanation (post-2016 standard).
4. Withheld in full — "no documents" claims should be skeptically reviewed; suggest reformulating.
5. Glomar response ("can neither confirm nor deny") — narrow path to challenge.
6. Categorical denials — courts disfavor; suggests appeal viability.

Generate audit_report.md with appeal-viability score (1-5) and specific findings.

VALIDATION: Audit produces a concrete next-step recommendation (accept / appeal / re-formulate / litigation).

============================================================ === PHASE 6: APPEAL LETTER GENERATOR === ============================================================

If denial or partial release is unsatisfactory, generate an administrative appeal:

• Address to agency's FOIA Appeals officer (look up via Department of Justice OIP guidance).
• Cite specific exemption claims and explain why they fail.
• Cite case law:
• Argus Leader Media v. USDA (2019) — narrowed b4 to "customarily and actually" confidential.
• DOJ v. Reporters Committee (1989) — b6/b7C balancing test for personal privacy.
• Lindsey v. United States — foreseeable harm requirement.
• NLRB v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1975) — b5 deliberative process.
• Request fee waiver clarification if denied.
• 90-day deadline for federal administrative appeal (5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(ii)).

VALIDATION: Appeal cites specific exemption claim + counter-argument + case authority. Filed within 90 days.

============================================================ === PHASE 7: FEE WAIVER + EXPEDITED PROCESSING === ============================================================

Fee waiver criteria (28 C.F.R. § 16.10):

1. Subject concerns "operations or activities of the government"
2. Disclosure is "likely to contribute significantly to public understanding"
3. Public interest, not commercial interest

Generate fee-waiver template that addresses all three prongs concretely (not boilerplate).

Expedited processing criteria:

• Imminent threat to life or physical safety, OR
• Urgency to inform the public + requester is "primarily engaged in disseminating information."

Generate expedited-processing certification including the "I certify that my statement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge" sworn statement (5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(E)(vi)).

VALIDATION: Templates address specific statutory prongs, not generic justification.

============================================================ === SELF-REVIEW === ============================================================

Score 1–5:

• Complete: Intake + routing + clock + redaction stub + audit + appeal + waiver all delivered?
• Robust: Working-day math correct? Tolling excluded? Exemption proposals tied to foreseeable harm?
• Clean: Letters reference current statutory citations, not deprecated language?
• FOIA-credible: Would a journalist who's filed 100+ requests OR an agency FOIA officer recognize the templates as production-ready?

Common gap: assuming all 9 exemptions apply equally — b1/b3/b7 require very specific justifications.

============================================================ === LEARNINGS CAPTURE === ============================================================

Append to ~/.claude/skills/foia-tracker/LEARNINGS.md:

<YYYY-MM-DD> — <jurisdiction, agency, side>

• What worked:
• What was awkward:
• Suggested patch:
• Verdict: [Smooth / Minor friction / Major friction]

============================================================ === STRICT RULES === ============================================================

• Never auto-apply redactions to an agency response without human review. Wrong redaction = constitutional violation.
• Never cite exemptions without paired foreseeable-harm rationale. Post-2016 FOIA Improvement Act requires it.
• Never overlook tolling. If agency requested clarification, the clock paused — don't accuse them of missing the deadline they're entitled to extend.
• Never use deprecated language (e.g., FOIAonline references — sunset April 2024).
• Always check state law when the target is state agency, not federal. State timelines and exemptions differ materially.