California Small Claims Form

California Small Claims Court Form (SC-100)

Overview

This skill covers filling out the California SC-100 (Plaintiff's Claim and ORDER to Go to Small Claims Court) form. The form is typically a fillable PDF with standard fields.

Key Sections in SC-100

Court Information (top)

• Court name, address, city/state/zip — leave blank unless specified (court fills these)
• Case number — leave blank (court assigns)

Plaintiff Information (Section 1)

• Full name, address, phone, email
• "First time suing" checkbox

Defendant Information (Section 2)

• Full name, address, phone
• Multiple defendants possible

Claim Description (Section 4-6)

• Amount claimed in dollars
• Date(s) the situation occurred (from/to dates)
• Description of why defendant owes money
• What plaintiff has done to collect

Venue (where to file)

• Checkbox for reason court has jurisdiction (e.g., defendant lives/does business in this county)

Declaration/Signature

• Date filed
• Plaintiff signature

Date Format

Use xxxx-xx-xx format (ISO 8601: YYYY-MM-DD) when specified. For example: 2026-01-19.

Tips for Filling

1. Run check_fillable_fields.py first to determine if PDF has fillable fields
2. If fillable, use extract_form_field_info.py to get field IDs, then convert to images to understand field purposes
3. Only fill fields relevant to the case — leave court-assigned and optional fields empty
4. For checkboxes: use the checked_value from field info
5. For "first time suing": check the appropriate box
6. Defendant address should be complete with street, city, state, zip

Common Field Patterns

• Plaintiff name: typically "plaintiff_name" or similar
• Phone numbers: no special format required unless form specifies
• Amount: dollar amount without $ sign or with, depending on field
• Dates: use YYYY-MM-DD format when specified

Script Usage (from /root/.claude/skills/pdf/ directory)

# Check if PDF has fillable fields
python scripts/check_fillable_fields.py <file.pdf>

# Extract field info to JSON
python scripts/extract_form_field_info.py <input.pdf> <field_info.json>

# Convert to images for visual analysis
python scripts/convert_pdf_to_images.py <file.pdf> <output_directory>

# Fill the form
python scripts/fill_fillable_fields.py <input.pdf> <field_values.json> <output.pdf>