# Watchtower extended learning guide

Revision: watchtower-learning-20261020-v1 · reviewed 2026-10-20

14 starter lessons, 48 capability modules, 77 navigation tabs. [Interactive guide](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended).


## Find your way around

**Goal:** Choose a useful starting view and find a tool without getting lost.

- Recognise the three application modes
- Find a workspace through Commands
- Return to this guide whenever you need it

1. **Locate the mode buttons.** Find Brief, Monitor and Investigate in the side or bottom navigation. Read their labels before changing views.
2. **Find a tool by its name.** Open Commands and search for Countries, Weather or Credit. A hidden or restricted tool may need your normal workspace settings or account access.
3. **Choose a short starting page.** Open Pro Brief and identify one item you want to understand. You do not need to understand every panel at once.

**Example:** If your question is about a company’s debt, start with Global Bonds → Ratings & CDS rather than browsing every map.

Watchtower brings many research tools together. Start with one question. Brief gives a short overview, Monitor helps you watch a situation, and Investigate opens the detailed workspaces. Simple and Extended are levels of this guide, not different subscriptions.

### Check your understanding

What do Simple and Extended change?

A. The amount of explanation in this guide
B. Your subscription or account permissions
C. The underlying risk scores

**Answer A:** They change learning depth. Application modes and account access remain separate controls.


## Read a data card with confidence

**Goal:** Identify what a number means, when it was observed, and what is missing.

- Separate observation and retrieval dates
- Distinguish zero from unknown
- Open source evidence before interpreting a score

1. **Try the source-card example.** Use the Evidence states practice card. Switch between observed zero, missing and stale to see why they mean different things. Teaching example: evidence.
2. **Inspect a selected item.** Select a card in the application, then use Evidence or its source/details control. Read the unit and original date.
3. **Write one careful sentence.** Describe what the source reports and its period. Add what you cannot establish from that record.

**Example:** ‘Retrieved today; observation from 2024’ describes old evidence retrieved recently. It is not a new measurement.

Before using a figure, ask four questions: what is measured, in what unit, for which place or entity, and at what time? The time Watchtower retrieved it can be much newer than the original observation.

### Check your understanding

A field is blank because its source is unavailable. What should you conclude?

A. The value is zero
B. The value is unknown
C. The risk is low

**Answer B:** Missing coverage cannot establish a zero value, a safe place or a low-risk outcome.


## Build a five-minute daily routine

**Goal:** Turn a large dashboard into a small, useful review list.

- Find a useful briefing
- Check upcoming events
- Choose two items for deeper research

1. **Read the overview.** Open Pro Brief. Note the covered period and choose two developments relevant to your question.
2. **Check your own workflow.** Open My Watchtower to inspect your watches, changes and inbox. Creating or saving a watch is a separate action you choose.
3. **Look ahead.** Open Calendar and check the date, time zone and event status. A scheduled event is not a known outcome.

**Example:** A morning list might contain one funding question, one transport question and one upcoming official release—with dates and source links.

Start broad, then narrow your attention. A briefing helps you spot questions; the source records and specialist tools help you answer them.

### Check your understanding

Does a new headline in a briefing prove the event just happened?

A. Yes, every new headline is a new event
B. No; check the original event and publication times
C. Only if the headline is dramatic

**Answer B:** Newly collected, newly published and newly occurring are different time concepts.


## Research one country or region

**Goal:** Combine a country profile with dated, source-backed risk context.

- Select the intended country
- Read years, units and coverage
- Inspect the evidence behind a domain

1. **Start with the country profile.** Open Countries and choose a country you know. Look at the observation year of one statistic.
2. **Open the risk overview.** Choose the same country and a domain. The country selector is a useful place to begin.
3. **Check the evidence window.** The 1, 7 and 30 day choices select an evidence lookback. Open a driver or source record and check its meaning.

**Example:** A missing country-domain value means there was not enough eligible evidence for that assessment. It does not prove low risk.

Countries helps you understand a place’s statistics and background. Global Risk Overview helps you inspect cross-domain evidence pressure. Read the sources rather than treating a colour as a verdict.

### Check your understanding

What does a 7-day selector in Global Risk Overview mean?

A. A guaranteed seven-day forecast
B. The selected evidence lookback
C. Seven independent sources

**Answer B:** The evidence window is separate from the defined forecast horizons in Systemic research or Forecast Lab.


## Use maps and layers

**Goal:** Open a layer, inspect a feature and understand what its geometry represents.

- Find map layer controls
- Open a feature’s details
- Distinguish a location reference from an impact area

1. **Find the layer directory.** Open Map Layers to see the main globe’s categories. Individual workspaces also have their own map controls.
2. **Inspect a specialist map.** Open Infrastructure. Choose a layer and open a feature using the map or its list.
3. **Practise the geometry distinction.** Use the map-symbol practice card to compare a reported point, a general country anchor and an authored scenario area. Teaching example: geometry.

**Example:** A marker near a facility may be an approximate locality reference. It does not by itself establish an outage, ownership or measured loss.

A dot, a line and a shaded area can represent very different evidence. Read the feature’s source and geometry description before drawing conclusions about the places around it.

### Check your understanding

A line is labelled schematic. What does that establish?

A. Its exact surveyed route
B. A stated reference connection, with the supplied scope
C. Its current operating capacity

**Answer B:** A schematic connection can be useful context while its exact geometry and operating state remain unknown.


## Understand market numbers

**Goal:** Read prices, yields and changes in the correct units.

- Read the instrument identity and source clock
- Understand basis points and percentage points
- Separate a fund-price proxy from the underlying market

1. **Read a market overview row.** Open Summary in Market Overview. Find the source date and the instrument or benchmark name.
2. **Look at a yield curve.** Open US curve. Compare tenors and check whether a change is in basis points or percentage points.
3. **Try the yield example.** Change the practice yields and compare the three ways of describing the move. Teaching example: bond-units.

**Example:** A yield moving from 4.00% to 4.10% rises 10 basis points, 0.10 percentage points, or 2.5% relative to the starting yield.

A price move, a yield move and a change in an index are different measurements. Check the instrument, currency, unit and source time before comparing two figures.

### Check your understanding

How many basis points are in a 0.10 percentage-point move?

A. 0.10 bps
B. 10 bps
C. 100 bps

**Answer B:** One percentage point equals 100 basis points, so 0.10 × 100 = 10 bps.


## Compare ratings and CDS carefully

**Goal:** Find the right rated entity and tell a rating from a reported contract price.

- Find Ratings & CDS
- Inspect an issuer or instrument identity
- Separate spreads, coupons and upfront payments

1. **Open the reference workspace.** In Global Bonds, open Ratings & CDS. Search an issuer or fund name; use exact LEI or ISIN filters when appropriate.
2. **Inspect a reference.** Read the actual rated name, agency, instrument/issuer scope, action date and status. A name match is a candidate to review.
3. **Try the CDS field example.** See why a fixed coupon is not a substitute for a missing reported spread. Teaching example: credit-fields.

**Example:** A fund can hold a rated bond without having that bond’s rating itself. A reported CDS coupon and an upfront payment are not automatically a current five-year spread.

An agency rating is a source opinion about a particular issuer or instrument. A CDS spread is a reported credit-derivative field. Neither should silently be transferred to a subsidiary, a fund’s holdings or another contract.

### Check your understanding

A CDS record has a 500 bps coupon but no reported spread. What is its observed market spread?

A. 500 bps
B. Zero
C. Not supplied by that field

**Answer C:** The contractual coupon is a different field. Do not manufacture the missing spread from it.


## Investigate a news claim

**Goal:** Trace a claim to its source and keep related reports distinct.

- Search a focused question
- Inspect original source wording
- Keep claims and confirmations separate

1. **Search a topic and place.** Use Watchtower Search. Start with a company, place or event term and narrow the period where offered.
2. **Follow the related records.** Open Linked Events and inspect the source identities and dates of related items.
3. **Write a source-based finding.** State what is reported, who says it, and what still needs confirmation. Similar wording is not automatically independent evidence.

**Example:** Three articles repeating one announcement are three publications, not necessarily three independent confirmations.

Use Search to find records and Linked Events or Incident Graph to inspect relationships. A cluster of similar headlines can come from the same original report.

### Check your understanding

What should you check before calling two reports independent confirmation?

A. Whether they have different colours
B. Whether they share the same underlying source or claim
C. Whether both headlines contain the country name

**Answer B:** Source lineage and the original claim matter more than the number of publications.


## Read a forecast without overclaiming

**Goal:** Find the target, time window, evidence and track record behind an estimate.

- Identify the exact forecast target
- Separate historical research from issued forecasts
- Recognise unresolved or incomplete outcomes

1. **Open Forecast Lab.** Choose a target and horizon. Read the base time, target time and the measured outcome.
2. **Inspect the evidence and method.** Read the input cut-off, model/version and any missing coverage. A range has a stated meaning, not a guaranteed outcome.
3. **Check the track record.** Separate historical tests from forecasts actually issued before their outcomes. Unresolved outcomes should stay unresolved.

**Example:** An estimate about a US-listed fund over five NYSE sessions is not a five-day crisis probability for a country selected beside it.

A model number only makes sense with its target definition. A fund-price forecast, a regional warning and a country-context score are not interchangeable.

### Check your understanding

Does a good historical backtest establish proven live forecasting skill?

A. Yes, automatically
B. No; inspect prospective results and calibration
C. Only when the chart is smooth

**Answer B:** Historical research and genuinely issued prospective performance answer different questions.


## Ask the Assistant a useful question

**Goal:** Choose an AI tool, preview evidence and review the answer’s support.

- Write a focused evidence question
- Preview sources before generation
- Check citations and missing information

1. **Find the Assistant.** Locate the Assistant button. Opening a tool does not run the model.
2. **Choose a task and question.** For example: explain this evidence, extract a claim, compare revisions, draft a briefing or review a document. Add the place, period and desired output.
3. **Review before and after running.** Use Preview evidence, then Run AI only when you choose. Afterwards inspect citations, source dates and withheld claims.

**Example:** ‘Explain the selected country’s funding evidence. Separate observations, model context and missing sources, and cite the original periods.’

The interactive guide works without an AI connection. When you want AI help, the Assistant uses the signed-in account’s configured OpenAI connection and existing access limits.

### Check your understanding

What does a citation check establish?

A. That the publisher’s claim is certainly true
B. That the answer has a checked connection to its selected evidence; source truth still needs review
C. That all possible sources were read

**Answer B:** Source support, truth, completeness and model accuracy are different checks.


## Choose the right monitoring workflow

**Goal:** Understand where a watch or rule runs and where its result appears.

- Distinguish watches from armed rules
- Check source units and unknown inputs
- Find the intended delivery channel

1. **Inspect personal monitoring.** Open My Watchtower and read the watch/inbox controls and the current account context.
2. **Inspect Alerts.** Read the rule source, condition, freshness, cooldown and where it evaluates. Save or enable only through the native controls when you choose.
3. **Try an unknown input.** The practice rule shows why missing evidence should not silently become false or zero. Teaching example: alert-logic.

**Example:** A browser evaluator needs its eligible visible page. A server inbox has its own watch, scheduling and budget rules.

Watchtower has several monitoring tools. A browser rule, a personal server inbox and a passive tracked item do not have the same delivery behaviour.

### Check your understanding

For a browser rule, what does NOT unknown mean?

A. True
B. False
C. Still unknown

**Answer C:** Negation cannot turn missing evidence into a known observation.


## Keep a useful research record

**Goal:** Know what is saved and export enough evidence for another reader.

- Check the feature’s storage label
- Preserve original source dates and units
- Share a reproducible selection

1. **Inspect a report or edition.** Open Reports and look for its edition identity, period and evidence/manifest controls.
2. **Check where a save lives.** Before leaving a workspace, read its saved-state confirmation and whether it is in this browser, the current session or your account.
3. **Keep context with the export.** Include the question, filters, period, source links, units and limitations. A view link is not a backup of private notes.

**Example:** A report’s publication date does not make every observation in its evidence manifest equally recent.

Different workspaces save in different places. A browser-local layer, a server-backed case and a purchased report have different storage and access rules.

### Check your understanding

Will every browser-local layer appear automatically on another device after sign-in?

A. Yes
B. Only if its own feature explicitly provides that synchronisation
C. Only when its colour is blue

**Answer B:** Read each feature’s storage contract; local files and cloud records are different.


## Explore a place in War Room

**Goal:** Use the guided place tools and understand what a result can establish.

- Choose the correct place or map point
- Read the search radius and historical period
- Distinguish a scenario from a physical forecast

1. **Open War Room.** Choose Check a place in Simple view. Search for the intended location or select a point yourself.
2. **Choose the search scope.** Read the radius, years and source coverage before showing records. A search radius is not a hazard footprint.
3. **Read and keep the summary.** Inspect source details and use the provided text download when useful. Optional water/radio tools use your explicit assumptions and their stated models.

**Example:** No matching historical records in a chosen radius does not establish that the place is safe.

War Room now starts with clear Simple-view choices: Check a place, Find a dam, Explore map and Help. All tools opens the wider investigation and terrain workspace.

### Check your understanding

Does a reported reservoir capacity equal the water stored there today?

A. Always
B. No; check the source definition and current evidence
C. Only for large dams

**Answer B:** Capacity, present storage and an assumed release volume are separate quantities.


## Choose your next skill and solve common problems

**Goal:** Use the capability library, current methods and useful problem reports.

- Find a related capability
- Distinguish access, source and interface problems
- Resume your learning later

1. **Browse the full capability library.** Search a goal such as credit, cameras, weather, reports or countries. Every current navigation entry has a learning destination.
2. **Use the appropriate recovery control.** For a source gap, inspect its status. For account checking, wait for verified access. For a map issue, use the native graphics/reload controls offered for that view.
3. **Report a clear problem.** Include the workspace, action, time, expected result and visible error. Remove private notes or credentials from any screenshot.

**Example:** ‘The country table did not move horizontally on my phone at this time’ is more actionable than ‘everything is broken.’

You do not have to learn every workspace in one sitting. Use Capabilities to find a tool by task, then open its Extended lesson when you need more detail.

### Check your understanding

What should you do before clearing browser data to fix missing saved work?

A. Delete it immediately
B. Check the account, device and storage location, and export important local work
C. Assume the server deleted everything

**Answer B:** Clearing local storage can remove work that was never stored on the server.


## Navigation and workspace controls

**Goal:** Use modes, Commands, layout controls, fullscreen and map tools without losing your place.

- Choose the right application mode
- Find a workspace
- Inspect a wider view

1. **Choose the right application mode.** Compare Brief, Monitor and Investigate. The guide’s Simple/Extended selector changes learning depth, not application access.
2. **Find a workspace.** Use Commands or the capability directory. If a tab was hidden by your layout, review Customize Workspace rather than assuming it was removed.
3. **Inspect a wider view.** Open a workspace and use its native fullscreen control. Keep the same selection and return with its close control.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Choose a mode by the job

The visible command modes are **Brief**, **Monitor** and **Investigate**. Brief gives a concise overview; Monitor emphasises the operational picture; Investigate exposes the deeper workspace. Some older preferences use the internal names brief/simple/advanced. The **Simple / Extended** selector in this guide changes the amount of teaching, not your account permissions.

Use **Commands** to find a tool by name, or browse this guide’s Capabilities directory. The app also uses a horizontally scrollable tab strip and an expandable research/finance area. A workspace hidden by your personal layout is different from an unavailable data source.

### Learn beside the application

Choose **Practice in Watchtower** in a lesson to open its coaching dock. Use **Show me where** for a reviewed navigation or locating action, make the described choice yourself, and use Next/Back to continue. The dock can be collapsed so it does not cover your work. Return to the learning centre whenever you want the full explanation. The guide does not save cases, enable rules, submit purchases or run an AI model for you.

### Layout, fullscreen and keyboard

Use native workspace fullscreen to gain space while keeping the same view. Its close control returns to the normal layout. Individual map tools, a workspace expansion and the main globe have different display controls. Closing the main globe stops its own rendering; independent workspace maps have their own visibility lifecycle.

The guide supports search, keyboard buttons, Escape to close the current learning dialog/dock, and reduced-motion preferences. In the app, use the keyboard hints shown by Commands and native controls. Do not assume a shortcut is available while a text field or another dialog has focus.

Use **User & Settings → Customize Workspace** for the supported layout/theme/panel choices. Inspect a preset before resetting or saving a layout. A layout preference does not change data definitions, access or source quality.

### Check your understanding

What does a copied view link preserve?

A. Every private note and source file
B. The supported view context, not necessarily private content
C. A new subscription

**Answer B:** A view link and an export or private saved record have different scope.


## Reading data correctly

**Goal:** Read clocks, units, evidence classes, missingness and model meaning consistently.

- Classify the item
- Check the clocks
- Preserve the comparison basis

1. **Classify the item.** Decide whether it is an observation, reference, forecast, authored scenario or interpretation before using its value. Teaching example: evidence.
2. **Check the clocks.** Distinguish event/observation, publication, collection and displayed/model times. Retained data keeps its original date.
3. **Preserve the comparison basis.** Compare like units, periods, entity scope and currencies. State gaps rather than filling them with a guessed zero. Teaching example: bond-units.

**Example:** Decide whether it is an observation, reference, forecast, authored scenario or interpretation before using its value.

Watchtower is most useful when you distinguish what a number actually represents. Open source details before combining figures from different panels.

| Label or object | How to read it |
| --- | --- |
| Observation | A source-reported measurement or event record, with its own units, period and geographic meaning. |
| Reference inventory | A catalogue of places, assets, organisations or projects. Presence does not establish current operation, impact or availability. |
| Derived value | A calculation from specified inputs: a spread, ratio, cross-rate, normalised score or change. Inspect the formula and input dates. |
| Model estimate | An output of stated assumptions and inputs. Its validation status matters separately from whether the code ran successfully. |
| Scenario | A conditional experiment or user assumption. Changing a scenario does not change the source observation or issue a forecast. |
| Coverage/status | Information about available records, connectors or source health. A count of working feeds is not a risk score. |
| Source-linked reporting | A publisher or agency report. A headline's existence does not independently verify every claim inside it. |

### The five clocks to check

**Occurrence/observation time** is when the event or measurement belongs. **Publication/issue time** is when the source released it. **Reference period** identifies a month, quarter, year or survey interval. **Collection/check time** is when Watchtower obtained or checked it. **Model valid time/horizon** says when a forecast applies.

These clocks can legitimately differ. A newly downloaded annual statistic can be several years old. A daily market bar's timestamp is not necessarily its last trade. A warning can be issued now but effective later. A date-only source should not be interpreted as a precise midnight observation.

### Missing, zero, stale and partial

A dash, null or unavailable field means there is no qualified displayed value. A genuine zero is a measurement and should remain zero. **Stale**, **retained**, **aged**, **partial**, **reference-only**, **not integrated** and **credential required** describe different conditions. Read the panel's explanation rather than treating them all as “nothing happened.”

Counts are frequently heterogeneous: articles, CAP messages, language versions, database rows, providers and locations are different units. Do not add them into a total of independent incidents. Duplicate coverage from related publishers or overlapping datasets is not independent corroboration.

### Geography and units

A point may be an observed event location, an approximate locality, a reference headquarters, a municipality centre or an aggregate cell. Unlocated evidence can remain in a table without a map marker. A warning polygon is an issuing product's area, not necessarily an observed damage footprint. A model layer carries its own assumptions.

Check nominal versus real values; market USD versus purchasing-power-parity units; stock versus flow; percent versus percentage points; level versus return; quarterly versus year-to-date; and issuer/listing country versus asset exposure. Colour and animation help navigation but do not change these definitions.

### Raw evidence and reproducible reading

**Raw data & source evidence** is normally collapsed at the bottom of the relevant tab. Expand it for official points, domain support, original records and source coverage. Use row information buttons for specific observations. Save source links, original dates, selected filters and model/definition versions with an export. When a snapshot changes during a multi-page export, use the workspace's fresh-read/retry path rather than joining different generations yourself.

### Check your understanding

Can a fresh retrieval make an old observation a current measurement?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Only for numeric observations

**Answer B:** Retrieval is a separate clock; observation age and source coverage remain visible.


## Brief, Pro Brief and Signal Board

**Goal:** Use briefing, signal and alert-screen views as a starting point for source review.

- Choose an overview
- Inspect a signal
- Review the alert screen

1. **Choose an overview.** Open Pro Brief and identify its period and scope.
2. **Inspect a signal.** Open Signal Board, choose one item and trace the source behind it.
3. **Review the alert screen.** Compare the board’s chosen metrics with the specific thresholds or conditions they represent.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

These are different entry points for different jobs.

| Surface | Best use | Key distinction |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Brief / public overview | A public first look at current source-backed context. | Selected overview, not the full specialist workspace. |
| Pro Brief | A compact signed-in research starting point. | News and prices first, with deeper context and navigation. |
| My Watchtower briefing | Your watch-based personal edition and changes. | Private configuration and server-generated personal workflow. |
| Reports | Periodic or requested documents and retained evidence. | A report edition has its own period, access and source manifest. |

Read the lead items, then open their canonical workspace. A concise card is a pointer to evidence, not a substitute for all source qualifications. When a source is unavailable, follow the coverage detail rather than interpreting an empty card as a normal condition.

**Signal Board** lets you assemble a focused monitoring display. Search for a signal, pin it, reorder or remove tiles, and expand the board when useful. Source-anchored debt clocks can also be pinned here. Their playback state is shared with the corresponding debt-clock controls during the session; a running animation does not turn a reported stock into a live measurement.

**Alert Screen** is the compact place to review monitoring conditions. It is not identical to the Alerts rule editor or My Watchtower's server inbox. Use the alert's own origin, threshold, timestamp and evidence to decide where to investigate next.

### Choose the news in a Brief

Pro Brief and Daily Brief offer **News preferences** for topic, source type, editorial perspective and an integer story count from 0 to 50. Zero hides news; the initial defaults are six Pro Brief stories and ten Daily Brief stories. Choices are browser-local, per owner and per brief, with a separate guest namespace. Pro uses a 48-hour window; Daily uses the current UTC day and retains its region selection. Publisher labels describe source context, not article accuracy or inferred event geography. Saved invalid choices require explicit correction rather than silent replacement. A copied live Brief link does not transfer your saved preferences.

### Check your understanding

Does a tile count measure independently verified events?

A. Always
B. Only if its explicit definition and evidence establish that
C. Never read tile counts

**Answer B:** Counts can refer to records, sources, models or matches. Read the definition.


## My Watchtower

**Goal:** Set up a deliberate personal watch, review changes and understand the server inbox.

- Inspect your personal workspace
- Review a watch before saving
- Review a matched item

1. **Inspect your personal workspace.** Confirm the current account and open My Watchtower.
2. **Review a watch before saving.** Choose the supported subject, source and budget. Use the native save controls yourself and read the saved state.
3. **Review a matched item.** Open What changed or the inbox. Inspect the exact matched record and original date before acknowledging it.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

My Watchtower is the personal daily-workflow workspace. It combines cloud watchlists, acknowledged changes, scheduled briefings, an in-app inbox and usefulness feedback. Its settings and results belong to the verified account.

### Create your first watch

1. Open **My Watchtower** and create a clearly named watch, such as “Canada: banking and household debt.”
2. Choose the supported country, domain, company, sector, topic or asset selectors. A focused watch is easier to evaluate than a broad list of everything.
3. Save it and inspect the initial baseline. Existing evidence establishes the starting state; it is not all automatically a new event.
4. Open **What changed**. Review source-content changes, dates and coverage before acknowledging the items you have read.
5. If useful, enable selective alerts with an appropriate priority, cooldown and daily budget. Check the matched rule and evidence in each inbox item.

The initial implementation supports up to 20 watches. Typed thresholds bind to the intended field, units and version. Missing or stale evidence does not silently rearm a condition. Cross-watch deduplication and budgets reduce repeated notifications; they do not prove that every relevant development has been detected.

### Personal briefings

Choose your timezone and local briefing hour. A personal edition can include a bounded set of qualified highlights, upcoming schedules, forecast outcomes and source gaps. Open the edition before exporting JSON, HTML or PDF. The saved edition is an immutable research record; later source revisions do not silently rewrite its original evidence.

The server scheduler can continue preparing the in-app workflow independently of an open tab. Delivery here is an **in-app inbox**, not a promise of email or SMS. Browser notification behaviour in other workspaces is separate. Use feedback controls to record whether an alert or briefing was useful, rather than broadening thresholds merely to produce more messages.

An optional research pilot requires an invitation and consent. Participation is separate from plan entitlement; it does not automatically grant additional access or mean that any recruitment target has been filled.

### Check your understanding

Does a passive map pin automatically become a My Watchtower server watch?

A. Yes
B. No; use the watch workflow’s own controls
C. Only in dark theme

**Answer B:** Personal watches and passive references have separate evaluation and storage contracts.


## Watchtower Search

**Goal:** Find source-qualified records and move from search results to the relevant workspace.

- Ask a focused search question
- Narrow the search
- Open the evidence home

1. **Ask a focused search question.** Use a place, issuer, event or source term rather than a broad conclusion.
2. **Narrow the search.** Use the source/type/category/period controls offered in the result view. Inspect duplicates and original-source links.
3. **Open the evidence home.** Follow a result to its specialist workspace and keep its source date and scope with your notes.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

Watchtower Search searches the retained canonical corpus and is available in both Simple and Advanced layouts. It can surface source records, public reporting, social items, data and supported destinations with provenance and freshness context.

### Search deliberately

1. Start with an entity, instrument, country or phrase. Add a second discriminating term if the results are broad.
2. Use the available result-type/category filters. A news result, source status row and measured event are different things.
3. Expand the result to read its indexed excerpt and source metadata. The excerpt is what was retained, not guaranteed to be the complete current publisher page.
4. Follow the original source, qualified data detail, country view or market destination.
5. If a **Show on map (OpenStreetMap)** action is present, read the coordinate qualification. It opens an external marked map for a supported source-owned point; it does not establish a new main-globe observation.

Search is a retained index with a scheduled refresh. A record newly available in a live dataset may appear in Search later. Source-specific filters, retention limits and entitlements still apply. Private My Watchtower items, account records and private investigation contents are not part of the shared public corpus. Live search is withheld during replay rather than being mixed into a historical view.

Use **Data Q&A** for supported structured numeric questions; use Search when you need to locate records or reporting. Use a specialist workspace when the task requires complete filtered tables, detailed histories or source-native pagination.

### Check your understanding

What does a missing search result establish?

A. The event did not occur
B. No matching retained result in that query and coverage
C. The source is false

**Answer B:** Search coverage is bounded; absence in a result set is not proof of absence in the world.


## News, Social and Narratives

**Goal:** Compare news and social reports without confusing publication volume with confirmation.

- Compare news lenses
- Inspect public social context
- Follow a narrative

1. **Compare news lenses.** Choose Breaking, Economics, Technology, Health/Bio or Natural Disasters for the question at hand.
2. **Inspect public social context.** Review the original post, attribution and time. Treat it according to its source and evidence class.
3. **Follow a narrative.** Use Narratives to compare reported claims and their evolution; inspect originals for important changes.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

The News area contains **Breaking**, **Economics**, **Technology**, **Health / Bio**, **Natural Disasters**, **Search** and **Narratives**. The separate **Social** workspace is in the main Advanced navigation. Reader topic controls remain available in expanded/fullscreen views.

### Read across sources

Choose a topic, date window and geography, then refine by source type, platform or editorial context where offered. Open the original story or post. Compare publication times and publisher families before interpreting repeated coverage as independent support. Reading-list and saved-filter tools preserve the source metadata needed to revisit the item.

**Source type**, **editorial/political leaning**, **platform** and **reliability** are not interchangeable. A source can be unclassified without being centrist. Wire status does not guarantee neutrality. Labels may be based on publisher self-description or attributed editorial review and do not assign beliefs to every author or reader.

The expanded source directory includes alternative and libertarian publications and selected public Bluesky, YouTube, Mastodon, Lemmy, PeerTube, Rumble-reference, Odysee and podcast sources. These are bounded reviewed feeds, not complete social-platform firehoses. A publisher-linked video reference may retain the referring article's clock rather than a verified video-upload timestamp. A directory-only channel is a discoverable reference, not a connected feed.

Use **Narratives** to explore themes and related reporting. A cluster describes a grouping, not proof of coordination or truth. When exporting or writing a report, retain publisher URLs, publication dates and relevant source labels. Detailed distinctions are in [media methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/media-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Which is stronger evidence of independent corroboration?

A. Many near-identical headlines
B. Independent primary observations addressing the same claim
C. A high publication count alone

**Answer B:** Publication volume can reflect syndication, repetition or attention.


## Linked Events and Incident Graph

**Goal:** Follow related records, inspect revisions and distinguish an event graph from a verified causal chain.

- Start with a source record
- Inspect the relationship
- Resolve the entity

1. **Start with a source record.** Open Linked Events and select a topic or record.
2. **Inspect the relationship.** Use Incident Graph to see the stated link, dates and source evidence.
3. **Resolve the entity.** Open Entity Explorer when an organisation, identifier or relationship needs closer inspection.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Linked Events: follow source records and revisions

Open **Linked Events** for the feed, filters, timeline, map, associations, sources and recorded changes. Search and narrow by source/type/time before opening a record. Its detail distinguishes occurrence, publication, issuance, source-snapshot and collection clocks where available.

Track a record, add a note or save a view when you want to return to it. The tracker can preserve changes observed since collection began; it does not reconstruct every earlier revision at the publisher. Tracking here is browser-local and does not automatically arm an alert or synchronise to another browser. Export/import or use My Watchtower for its separate cloud workflow.

Associations use shared entities, headline/document evidence and time windows. They are leads for investigation, not causal connections or independent verification. A publisher's country and a place mentioned in text do not automatically establish event coordinates. Relevant unlocated records remain useful in the list.

### Incident Graph and Entity Explorer

**Incident Graph** helps inspect relationships among events, places and related evidence. Select a node or map item, read the relationship description and open the supporting records. Expand the map or description controls when the graph is dense. Ask whether an edge represents a shared reference, inferred association, model relation or observed fact.

**Entity Explorer** is useful when the subject is an organisation, person, asset or other named entity rather than a single event. Resolve ambiguous names using identifiers and source context. Similar labels can describe different entities; repeated mentions are not evidence of legal ownership or operational control.

A good investigation preserves three things separately: the original record, your relationship hypothesis and the evidence that would confirm or contradict that hypothesis.

### Check your understanding

What does an edge in a graph prove by itself?

A. Causation
B. Only the relationship represented by that edge’s definition
C. A measured financial loss

**Answer B:** Read the edge type and source evidence; do not infer stronger causality or exposure.


## Economic Calendar

**Goal:** Read event schedules, releases, comparisons and source revisions in the correct time zone.

- Select the calendar window
- Read the release state
- Use the event as a question

1. **Select the calendar window.** Open Calendar and choose the relevant region, day or event type.
2. **Read the release state.** Separate scheduled time, actual release, estimate, previous value and revised value.
3. **Use the event as a question.** Connect the release to its native units and specialist workspace; do not treat a scheduled event as a known surprise.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

The **Calendar** combines official and provider schedules, reference periods, prior values and market expectations where supplied. It is a planning tool for upcoming information, not proof that a release has occurred.

1. Select the date range and the relevant country, category or source.
2. Read the event's timezone/time basis. A date-only schedule should remain date-only.
3. Distinguish **scheduled time**, **reference period**, **previous value**, **consensus** and **actual release**. They describe different stages.
4. Open the official source or event detail for publication and revision context.
5. Use the table or fullscreen view for a longer horizon. Its light-theme headers and day groupings are now explicitly styled for readability.

Compare like-for-like units and periods before interpreting a surprise. A percentage-point difference between actual and consensus is not necessarily a relative percentage change. A passed scheduled time with no actual value is an unresolved data state, not an observed zero.

Calendar evidence also appears as catalysts in Forecast Lab, Geopolitical Outlook and reports. Those appearances do not turn a schedule into a forecast or independent corroborating event. See [Calendar methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/economic-calendar-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

What should a revised previous value be treated as?

A. An unchanged historical fact
B. A source revision that can change comparisons
C. A new future forecast

**Answer B:** Preserve the original/revised distinction and the relevant release period.


## Market Overview, Markets and Global Markets

**Goal:** Use benchmark, stock, FX, commodity and crypto reference views with clear identities and units.

- Read a market row
- Compare a specialist panel
- Explore the global atlas

1. **Read a market row.** Start in Market Overview Summary and inspect the instrument, source and clock.
2. **Compare a specialist panel.** Use the Markets panel for the relevant asset class. Indices and individual stocks are different inventories.
3. **Explore the global atlas.** Open Global Markets and check regional selection, company/listing-country basis and available coverage.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

The left **Market Overview**, lower **Markets** panel and full-width **Global Markets** now share consistent identities, source dates, units, flags and evidence controls. Use the compact panels for scanning and Global Markets for a wider table or symbol lookup.

### Left Market Overview tabs

| Tab | Read it this way |
| --- | --- |
| Summary | A cross-regional selection of benchmarks, commodity references, currency pairs, digital assets and qualified context. Open the complete inventory below for breadth. |
| US curve | Nominal Treasury yields arranged by maturity. TIPS are separate real-yield series and are excluded from this nominal curve. |
| Ratios | Source-aligned comparisons such as gold/silver or equity-index/gold. The dimensions and benchmark scope matter. |
| Global yields | Country ten-year sovereign yield observations. These are bond yields, not central-bank policy rates. |
| Fear & Greed | Restored Watchtower cross-asset and geographic heuristic gauges, with component eligibility and source clocks. |
| Market Tone | A separate descriptive view of qualified regional index price changes. |
| FX strength | Currency changes versus USD using the correct pair direction and reciprocal-return calculation. |

### Lower Markets and the full-width atlas

**Commodities** shows native futures quotations; **Indices** shows the registered benchmark universe; **Forex** offers market quotes and ECB references; **Crypto** shows the source-defined asset universe; **Global Stocks** shows the filtered worldwide equity-mover scan. Use the available regional, text, rising/falling, data-gap and period controls. A rising/falling filter requires eligible non-missing change data; an undated source is not automatically a current mover.

Global Markets adds an overview and dedicated **Indices, FX, Commodities, Equities, Crypto, Yields** and **Sources** views. Symbol lookup searches supported public references. Confirm instrument type and exchange: the same ticker can identify different listings. Open the instrument for its existing chart controls, or use the information button for normalized evidence and original fields. CSV reflects the selected view; inspect the export's units, source and observation columns.

### Worldwide coverage, flags and identities

The benchmark registry contains **56 indices across 44 countries/areas**. The market release verified 55 available values, including qualified SET, PSEi, Tadawul All Share and DFM General supplements. Chile S&P IPSA was a visible remaining gap. Availability can change; the registry count is not a guarantee that every record is presently populated.

Index flags identify the benchmark area. **Stock flags now prefer source-reported company country**, matched to the exact exchange-qualified instrument. That reference is not independently verified legal domicile. If company country is unavailable, a known venue flag carries an explicit **Listing** tag; if both are unknown, a neutral marker appears. Country is not guessed from quote currency or a bare ticker. Inspect the flag's source/basis and retrieval date; retrieval is not an invented corporate-validity date.

This identity treatment also appears in quote searches, company views, stock-chart headers and portfolio stock rows. Equity display-region filters use the preferred country; the company screener's existing country column is explicitly **Listing country**. CSV adds company/listing country and flag basis. FX displays the base and quote currency areas; EUR uses a union reference. Commodity mini-icons and crypto glyphs supplement names and tickers. Unknown tokens retain a readable badge. [Company-country flag update](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/company-country-flags-for-stocks-and-quotes/).

Corrections include the actual **S&P/TSX Composite**, **SSE 50**, **US CBOE VIX** identities and the current CME lumber reference **LBR=F**. Duplicate aliases for one benchmark are consolidated. An unverified name-only fallback cannot become a newly verified symbol.

### Currency-reference example

Open **Forex → ECB references**, choose a base such as CAD, then inspect a row. The source provides currencies per EUR. Watchtower calculates a cross as **quote-per-EUR ÷ base-per-EUR on the same fixing date**. The reviewed source supplied 30 currencies including EUR and a 90-day reference file. The prior common fixing supplies the comparison, not an invented intraday quote.

For a USD/foreign pair with a 10% rise, the reciprocal foreign/USD return is approximately −9.09%, not −10%: `(1 / (1 + 0.10) − 1) × 100`. Pair direction therefore matters in FX strength.

ECB information is [available free of charge from the ECB](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/euro-exchange-rates/html/index.en.html). Cross-rates and changes are Watchtower calculations. Fixings are dated reference information, not executable transaction quotes. See [market sources and calculations](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/market-coverage-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Does a stock’s listing country fully describe its economic exposure?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect company and exposure evidence separately
C. Only for large companies

**Answer B:** Listing venue, company domicile and underlying economic exposure are different concepts.


## Fear & Greed, Market Tone and bond-move units

**Goal:** Interpret the distinct sentiment views and calculate bond moves in compatible units.

- Inspect the sentiment method
- Compare Market Tone
- Calculate a yield change

1. **Inspect the sentiment method.** Open Fear & Greed and read which inputs the current view uses.
2. **Compare Market Tone.** Inspect its own composition and source state rather than assuming it duplicates the other gauge.
3. **Calculate a yield change.** Use the practice calculator to distinguish basis points, percentage points and relative change. Teaching example: bond-units.

**Example:** Use the practice calculator to distinguish basis points, percentage points and relative change.

### Two sentiment views with different meanings

**Fear & Greed** restores seven cross-asset scopes—US, Europe, Asia-Pacific, crypto, commodities, forex and bonds—plus a composite, seven regional views and the 44 covered country contexts. The release introduced 59 cards. Search for a scope, open its component detail and check the eligible input denominator and source dates.

These are **Watchtower heuristics**, not republished CNN, Alternative.me, CoinMarketCap or Tickertape readings. The publisher directory links those services; a directory link does not mean a live numerical integration. The composite uses available core cross-asset scopes rather than adding their regional/country subdivisions again.

**Market Tone** remains a separate equal-weight regional price-change screen. Its declared transformation is `clamp(50 + 12 × mean qualified one-day index percentage change, 0, 100)`. Missing and stale inputs are excluded with the denominator shown. Neither view is a calibrated event probability or a promise of predictive performance.

### Read bond moves in three units

The updated yield rows and details expose basis points, percentage-point change and relative yield change when the source supports those quantities.

**Worked example:** a yield moves from 4.00% to 4.10%.

- Percentage-point move: **+0.100 pp**.
- Basis-point move: **+10 bps**, because one percentage point is 100 bps.
- Relative yield change: **+2.50%**, because 0.10 ÷ 4.00 × 100 = 2.50.

That last figure is a change in the yield, **not the bond's price return**. Relative change is withheld when its denominator is unsuitable or the source unit is unknown. Check CSV and evidence details for the same distinction. [Release explanation](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/fear-greed-gauges-return-and-clearer-bond-yield-moves/).

### Check your understanding

A yield rises from 4% to 5%. What is the move in basis points?

A. 1 bp
B. 25 bps
C. 100 bps

**Answer C:** The move is one percentage point, equal to 100 bps; its relative change is 25%.


## Global Bonds, Financial Stress, Deposits and Bank Run Monitor

**Goal:** Connect fixed-income observations, funding context and banking evidence without mixing their meanings.

- Inspect Global Bonds
- Check wider funding context
- Inspect a banking reference

1. **Inspect Global Bonds.** Choose a curve, sovereign, credit, derivatives or funding view and read the source classification.
2. **Check wider funding context.** Open Financial Stress or Deposits and retain each measure’s own period and method.
3. **Inspect a banking reference.** Use Bank Run Monitor’s institution/source views and the separate Bank CDS table.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Global Bonds: choose a measurement, then its source

Open **Global Bonds** and use Desk, Sovereigns, Markets, Credit, Ratings & CDS, Derivatives, Offshore Currencies, Leverage/Collateral, Structured, Swap Lines/Repo, Flows, Warnings or Sources according to the question. The primary panels distinguish direct observations, contextual prices/proxies, source-required gaps and authored model components.

Read sovereign yield tenors and native units. In fiscal comparisons, general-government debt, central-only debt, consolidation and expenditure/expense definitions stay explicit. Total expenditure and expense are not summed as if they were non-overlapping measures. Source year and estimated/provisional status can differ across countries.

**Ratings & CDS** contains a separate broad reference workflow for issuers, funds/vehicles and rated instruments, plus public credit-derivative disclosures. See its dedicated lesson for source status, identities, contracts and price distinctions. The aggregate corporate credit/debt model does not become an issuer-level default estimate merely because a company reference is available nearby.

### Derivatives, offshore currencies and funding

BIS notional, gross market value and legally netted credit exposure have different meanings. Currency legs and alternative instrument/maturity/rating breakdowns can overlap. Period-matched shares require compatible numerators/denominators. Market size is not measured loss.

Offshore USD/EUR/JPY credit and Hong Kong offshore-RMB deposit measures have source-specific currencies, components and coverage. They are not one complete global Eurocurrency money-supply total. Keep reported stocks separate from illustrative running debt clocks.

### Financial Stress, Deposits and Bank Run Monitor

Use Financial Stress and Deposits for their exact funding/liquidity/positioning/price indicators and stated models. In Bank Run Monitor, distinguish official institution/system observations, authored bank-sample diagnostics and reported news/context. A payment outage, stock decline and deposit outflow are different observations.

Bank CDS retains a selected published five-year premium reference with holding-company/operating-bank boundaries and original dates. Its contract details can be incomplete. Wider rating/CDS links lead to the reference workspace rather than silently replacing model values or inferring deposit safety.

[Government finance methods](/watchtower/government-finance-methods.html) · [Credit/CDS methods](/watchtower/credit-ratings-cds-methods.html) · [Bank evidence methods](/watchtower/bankrun-evidence-methods.html)

### Check your understanding

Is derivatives notional the same as net loss exposure?

A. Yes
B. No; the measures have different definitions
C. Only if both are in USD

**Answer B:** Notional, market value, legally netted exposure and losses are distinct quantities.


## Global Debt and source-anchored debt clocks

**Goal:** Compare reported debt measures and understand the optional source-anchored running displays.

- Select a debt definition
- Inspect the anchor
- Compare like with like

1. **Select a debt definition.** Open Global Debt and choose the sector, geography and period.
2. **Inspect the anchor.** Read the source stock, units, covered economies and any extrapolation label.
3. **Compare like with like.** Keep government, household, corporate and total nonfinancial debt definitions separate; distinguish reported values from running illustrations.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Global Debt** covers household, consumer, card, mortgage, business, private, government, total nonfinancial, servicing, arrears, rates and related statistical families. It also retains the earlier Real Estate analysis in its own section. Use the atlas, country dossier, comparison and exact-series histories to understand the selected measure.

### Compare a debt measure correctly

1. Choose the sector and measure before choosing the country ranking.
2. Read the reporting period and units: currency amount, percent of GDP, service ratio or borrowing rate.
3. Preserve valuation and lender scope. Market-value and nominal government debt are separate measures.
4. Compare like periods and definitions; do not add household/corporate totals to a private total that already contains them.
5. Export the selected series and source definition when using it outside Watchtower.

### Reported, Run, Pause and Resume

The clock shelf starts in **Reported** mode. **Run** extends the latest reported stock using the declared four-quarter change and elapsed time. **Pause** freezes the model instant; **Resume** catches up. **Reported** returns to the source stock. A refresh or button click does not create a new observed balance.

The initial clock registry contained 248 models: 242 country measures and six covered-economy subtotals. Those totals cover the source's participating economies, not necessarily all world debt. Clock rates can include exchange-rate effects, valuation changes and revisions; they are not measured second-by-second borrowing or interest.

Running values are gated by comparable consecutive quarters, source age and projection bounds. Missing country measures remain missing. Pins can be displayed in **Signal Board**; playback is session state, while pins are owner-scoped preferences. For the reasoning behind the animation, see [source-anchored debt clocks](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/source-anchored-debt-clocks/).

### Check your understanding

Does a moving debt counter mean an agency reports a new observation each second?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect its reported anchor and extrapolation method
C. Only when it moves upward

**Answer B:** A running display can be an illustration anchored to dated observations.


## Global Wealth and Affordability

**Goal:** Use wealth, consumer-price and affordability evidence with explicit scope and source periods.

- Choose a wealth or price lens
- Inspect the comparison basis
- Review a discovery item

1. **Choose a wealth or price lens.** Open Global Wealth / Affordability and read its evidence labels.
2. **Inspect the comparison basis.** Separate nominal/real/PPP, currency, observation year and the model’s selected coverage.
3. **Review a discovery item.** A hardship headline or affordability screen is context; confirm important claims with original evidence.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Global Wealth / Affordability** brings together observed price/income/wealth statistics, alternative measures, investment-category references and a real-value lab. Its broader research views cover official inflation, wealth and inequality, national capital, household portfolios, income/wages, housing/rents, food, living standards, debt/taxes, rates/money and resources.

Start with the country and indicator, not an assumed overall wealth ranking. Open an exact series to check its population, sector, frequency and unit. National capital is not household wealth; average wages are not every worker's pay; a rebased housing ratio is not automatically years of income.

Official CPI, annualised one-month inflation, twelve-month inflation and alternative measures have different windows. A Big Mac PPP comparison is a purchasing-power proxy, not an inflation rate. FAO food-price indices describe an international basket rather than a household's local shopping bill. PPP dollars and market-exchange-rate USD should remain separate.

The investment-category directory explains roles and limitations of equities, bonds, cash, housing, REITs, metals, commodities, land, infrastructure, private markets, pensions, human capital, digital assets and collectibles. It does not assign guaranteed returns. Reference-only commercial measures do not imply a subscription or numerical data entitlement.

In the **real-value lab**, choose explicit nominal-return, fee-drag and inflation assumptions. The real growth factor is `(1 + (nominal − fee drag)/100) / (1 + inflation/100)`. A copied historical CPI value becomes a labelled assumption, not a future inflation forecast. Save the assumptions with the result so another reader can reproduce the scenario.

### Check your understanding

Is a cross-country affordability screen an exact household cost-of-living bill?

A. Yes
B. No; it has a declared comparison scope and assumptions
C. Only for countries with a flag

**Answer B:** Household circumstances, definitions and source coverage can differ from the comparative screen.


## Crypto Intel and digital-asset research

**Goal:** Distinguish crypto market prices, token references, protocol/network evidence and model context.

- Select a crypto view
- Check identities and clocks
- Keep the evidence classes separate

1. **Select a crypto view.** Open Crypto Intel and identify the token/network or market being discussed.
2. **Check identities and clocks.** Read contract/network identifiers, source time and available coverage before comparing names.
3. **Keep the evidence classes separate.** A price move, protocol metric, exchange event and heuristic risk label answer different questions.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

The lower **Crypto** market tab is a quote view. **Crypto Intel** is the deeper research workspace, with Overview, Markets, Stablecoins, DeFi/venues, Chains, NFTs, Derivatives, Network, Security, Global policy, News and Sources. Existing model/watchlist/analyst functions sit alongside this source-based research.

Search and filter the chosen family, open an asset or protocol, inspect a history and use comparison/export controls where offered. Complete filtered exports can span multiple pages; preserve a coherent source snapshot. Provider rate limits and partial directories remain visible.

### Important distinctions

- **Stablecoins:** token supply and USD-valued circulation differ. A non-USD peg requires its proper FX basis; yield/share/fund tokens are not automatically USD1 pegs.
- **DeFi and venues:** TVL, trading volume, fees and revenue are different quantities. Overlapping protocol and chain totals should not be summed blindly. CEX asset references are not proof of solvency.
- **Yield pools:** APY is source-reported context, not a guaranteed forward return.
- **NFTs:** a listed floor is not a bid; floor × supply is not readily liquid market value. Addresses are not people. Collection directories can be partial.
- **Derivatives:** preserve contract type, expiry and native open-interest units. An options notional and a contract count are not the same measure.
- **Security and policy:** distinguish a historical exploit report, an official regulatory reference and an issuer assertion. A directory entry is not a legal approval or reserve audit.

Use the Source view to understand coverage before comparing chains or countries. A country filter in policy references is not a physical-risk map of a blockchain.

### Check your understanding

Do two tokens with the same display name necessarily identify the same asset?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect the network and identifiers
C. Only when they share an icon

**Answer B:** Names and icons are not sufficient asset identifiers.


## Monetary Predictions, Gold and Commodity Wars

**Goal:** Read monetary, gold and resource research without mixing flows, stocks, market prices and scenarios.

- Inspect the selected monetary view
- Separate the gold measures
- Compare resource evidence

1. **Inspect the selected monetary view.** Open Monetary Predictions and read the target, source date and method.
2. **Separate the gold measures.** Keep holdings, flows, market prices and estimates in their stated units and periods.
3. **Compare resource evidence.** In Commodity Wars, inspect source definitions and compatible country/resource periods before comparing a rank.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Monetary Predictions** contains several related but distinct research areas. Use the internal navigation to move between monetary/hyperinflation context, Gold and **Commodity Wars 2030**. Read the selected model's input definitions, source periods and evidence gaps before interpreting a ranking.

### Monetary and gold research

Monetary screens combine the source evidence and declared methodology available in the workspace. A stress ranking or authored estimate is not automatically a calibrated probability of hyperinflation. Compare the underlying inflation, money, exchange-rate and fiscal observations rather than only the headline score.

Gold research links bullion/currency context, official reserve references and mine-production evidence where supplied. Separate a reserve stock from annual mine production, a futures quote from physical-dealer pricing, and tonnes from currency-valued holdings. Country references do not imply that all reserves have been independently audited by Watchtower.

### Commodity Wars 2030

This is a source-based country resource/planning atlas. Choose a metric, reference year and estimate policy, then compare countries on the **same measure, basis, unit and year**. The reviewed catalogue initially contained 309 separate measures and a critical-material applications directory. “2030” is planning branding, not a forecast that a commodity conflict will occur in that year.

Production, reserves, resource endowments and processing capacity are different measures. Freshwater resources and adverse water stress point in different directions. Missing first-stage quantities remain unscored. A same-basis 0–100 ranking is relative to its eligible set; it is not a probability or a universal resource-security score.

Use Commodity Atlas to inspect physical references and Companies to investigate issuers, while retaining the distinction between national production statistics, mapped sites and company disclosures.

### Check your understanding

Can reserves, annual production and a market price be added as the same measure?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Only for gold

**Answer B:** They describe different units and time bases; a meaningful transformation needs an explicit method.


## Prediction Markets

**Goal:** Read market-implied event contracts alongside their resolution terms and liquidity context.

- Open a contract
- Read the rule
- Compare carefully

1. **Open a contract.** Use Prediction Markets to select a specific market and outcome.
2. **Read the rule.** Inspect the question wording, outcome deadline, resolution source and trading state.
3. **Compare carefully.** Separate price-implied expectations from a Watchtower forecast and from an already verified outcome.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Prediction Markets → Market Radar** provides a risk radar, screener, repricing view, closing calendar, event ladders, themes, browser-local watchlist, comparisons and source methods. The integrated catalogue is a reviewed subset of Polymarket and Kalshi, not each venue's entire market universe.

Open the exact contract before interpreting a displayed price. Read the outcome wording, Yes polarity, resolution criteria, close time and quote time. Two similar headlines can have different settlement conditions. Nested thresholds or contracts about the same event overlap and should not be added into a total probability.

Use books/depth and histories where available to understand the quotation's context. Missing trades or a thin book should remain missing/thin, not be replaced with an assumed price. USD volume on one venue and contract counts on another are distinct measures. Related news or a Watchtower model can provide context, but does not settle the contract.

A market price is a market observation about a particular payoff. It is not Watchtower's calibrated forecast or confirmation that the event happened. Watchlist saves here are browser-local. See [Prediction Markets methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/prediction-risk-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

What is essential before comparing two probability-like market values?

A. The card colour
B. Compatible contract definitions and resolution windows
C. The number of likes

**Answer B:** Different settlement criteria can make superficially similar probabilities incomparable.


## Companies and issuer research

**Goal:** Resolve the issuer/listing, inspect primary financial evidence and find separate credit references.

- Find the issuer
- Inspect identifiers and facts
- Check agency and CDS references

1. **Find the issuer.** Open Companies and use its universe or market dossier controls.
2. **Inspect identifiers and facts.** Check the CIK/LEI/listing and the exact financial reporting period. Category membership is not proof of current production.
3. **Check agency and CDS references.** Use the separate credit-reference card or Global Bonds hub; verify the actual source-rated entity.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

Open **Companies** when you need to move from a commodity theme or ticker to a specific issuer. Search the reference universe, identify the correct listing/entity and inspect the source-backed dossier. Use the available source, category, geography and history controls rather than assuming every result is an active listed company.

The mining/extraction universe combines selected SEC extraction/mining registrants, Wikidata entities and labelled curated references. Broad industry categories can include energy and services. Company names alone do not establish commodity exposure; a “junior” label or low market capitalisation does not establish operating stage. Listing-venue and business-address country are not mine locations.

For a selected supported SEC issuer, primary facts retain the entity identifier, taxonomy concept, value, unit, reporting start/end, filing date, form and accession source. Compare compatible periods and currencies. An amendment can supersede a fact for the same period. The panel does not manufacture trailing-twelve-month results, EV multiples or cash runway from unmatched observations.

Production, reserves/resources, AISC, guidance, mine ownership and project capex require current issuer disclosures or technical reports. Use their source links for those questions. A reference company population is useful discovery, not an exhaustive current worldwide mining census. Optional connected-provider data remains subject to your account and the provider's licence. [Companies methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/companies-research-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Does a holding-company rating automatically apply to every subsidiary?

A. Yes
B. No; the rated object must match
C. Only if names are similar

**Answer B:** Issuer, parent, subsidiary and individual obligations have separate legal and rating scopes.


## Countries and Global Politics

**Goal:** Build a dated country dossier and inspect political indicators, news and legislative records.

- Select a country profile
- Inspect politics and legislation
- Follow the source

1. **Select a country profile.** Open Countries and compare the year, definition and coverage of a statistic.
2. **Inspect politics and legislation.** Use Global Politics for political news and bills/legislation, including source-specific stages and dates.
3. **Follow the source.** Separate an indicator, a news report, passage of a bill and legal commencement; keep uncertain status explicit.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Countries: build a dated dossier

Choose a country in **Countries** and work through its overview, statistics/trends, encyclopedia, **Demographics**, comparisons and source references. Compare compatible measures and source years; some tools allow up to four countries. Export exact source series with their units and periods.

The country/territory directory is broader than contemporary coverage for every measure. World Bank statistics have publication lags. Wikipedia prose is an on-demand revision-dated reference. Archived CIA Factbook fields retain original dates; the Factbook’s retirement does not turn archival text into a current census.

Demographics provides ages/sex, families/health, education/work, migration/living and source-qualified cultural references. A same-year population pyramid requires compatible cohorts and denominators. See the dedicated Demographics lesson for details.

### Politics, news and legislation

In **Global Politics**, compare country governance/development measures using their definitions, years and coverage. Use **Political news** or **Bills & legislation** to inspect source-backed records. Select country/topic/source/date and read the source-specific stage. Original publication, capture, observation, passage and effective dates are different clocks.

A publisher’s headquarters is not the subject country of its report. Automated subject matches are not verified incident coordinates. Official legislative metadata and news-reported statements retain different evidence classes. Chamber passage is not automatically enactment or current legal force. Read the original record and any known official coverage gap.

The native country/source alert controls prepare a draft for review in Alert Center. An observed discovery/revision sequence is different from the time the event occurred; the first sample establishes a baseline. The guide never saves or enables that rule for you.

[Country demographic methods](/watchtower/country-demographics-methods.html) · [Political news and legislation methods](/watchtower/political-updates-methods.html)

### Check your understanding

Does passage of a bill necessarily establish that it is in force now?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect enactment and commencement evidence
C. Only if it has a headline

**Answer B:** Legislative stages and effective dates are different facts.


## Geopolitical Risk and Outcome Tree

**Goal:** Inspect country context and authored scenario pathways under their declared definitions.

- Read the country evidence
- Inspect a scenario
- Check sensitivity and results

1. **Read the country evidence.** Open Geopolitical Risk and inspect country-table/source clocks and qualifiers.
2. **Inspect a scenario.** Open Outcome Tree and read its criterion, horizon and contributing inputs.
3. **Check sensitivity and results.** Separate authored assumptions, dependence bounds and actual prospective outcomes before interpreting a model value.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Geopolitical Risk / Outlook

The workspace includes Situation/Outlook, the Country table, forecast exploration, evidence timelines, market expectations, catalysts, track record and sources, with classic diagnostics retained separately. Select a country or region and a horizon, then open the evidence behind the chosen view. Fullscreen map-and-evidence mode keeps the map with collapsible filter and data rails.

Country tables contain source-year fiscal, market, governance and model fields. Check their individual periods and qualifications. A global scenario displayed beside a country does not become that country's probability. Reporting attention describes publication activity in its stated windows; it is not an incidence rate or coverage-adjusted measure of danger.

Compare up to four countries where offered, but keep a consistent indicator definition and date basis. Prediction-market contracts and Calendar catalysts remain separately defined evidence. Optional historical conflict layers are dated context, not a current census. [Geopolitical Outlook methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/geopolitical-outlook-methods.html).

### Outcome Tree / Global Risk Studio

**Outcome Tree** makes the authored cross-domain scenario engine inspectable. Its eight non-exclusive scenario families span banking/liquidity, cross-asset dislocation, strategic supply corridors, grid/digital infrastructure, geopolitical escalation, health/biosecurity, mobility/official controls and food/energy pressure. Supported global horizons include 24 hours, seven days and thirty days.

1. Select a scenario and horizon. Read the precise criterion and forecast window.
2. Inspect retained contributors, excluded/context-only inputs and dependency groups.
3. Open the original source records and their clocks. Shared inputs can make models dependent.
4. Use a hypothetical experiment to remove groups, attenuate evidence or change an assumed prior. Observe sensitivity without treating it as a real intervention.
5. Inspect the track record and resolution state before interpreting a numerical estimate as demonstrated predictive skill.

These scenarios are not mutually exclusive, so their values do not sum to 100%. Published conditional pathways are shown only where the source model supports them. Compound-risk views use dependence-agnostic mathematical bounds rather than assuming independence. A sensitivity range is not automatically a confidence interval.

Saved experiment recipes are account-local browser preferences. Reapplying a recipe to a newer capture can produce a different experiment; read the changed-capture message. An active experiment may stay on its accepted capture until you explicitly refresh. [Outcome Studio methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/outcome-studio-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Must non-exclusive scenario values add to 100%?

A. Yes
B. No; the scenarios can overlap
C. Only in the country view

**Answer B:** Non-exclusive events and dependence bounds do not form a mutually exclusive probability partition.


## Bayes Threat, Ancap Welcomeness and country taxes

**Goal:** Read declared value-based country comparisons and source-qualified tax/fee evidence.

- Inspect the declared pillars
- Review the source and missing-input bounds
- Inspect a tax or fee

1. **Inspect the declared pillars.** Open Bayes Threat · Ancap Welcomeness and choose a country.
2. **Review the source and missing-input bounds.** Read the model weights, observation years and coverage before using the rank.
3. **Inspect a tax or fee.** Keep jurisdiction, residency/conditions, currency, effective/review dates and service scope with the value.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Bayes Threat · Ancap Welcomeness** now opens with country scores and independently refreshed evidence. Its country search, regional selection, comparisons, dossiers, pillar audit and JSON export provide several levels of detail.

### Understand the score before ranking countries

The declared model uses twelve value pillars and a 60/40 liberty/practical balance. It is a value-based comparative model, not a probability that an event will happen or a personal guarantee about relocation. All 250 country/territory references can receive numerical estimates, but ranking eligibility depends on data-backed coverage. A neutral placeholder for missing evidence is not an observed average country outcome.

Select a country, open its pillar and source/weight breakdown, and inspect the reporting/review periods. Missing-input ranges are sensitivity bounds, not statistical confidence intervals. Related WGI and V-Dem evidence should not be treated as independent confirmation merely because it appears in separate rows. Historical comparisons must retain their model version.

### Taxes & fees

The Taxes & fees view brings together source-reviewed professional tax summaries, World Bank fiscal/fee histories and selected official registry fees. Choose the country and tax category, then read the jurisdictional scope and conditions. Personal and corporate taxes, inheritance and gifts, and federal versus local charges are distinct.

A headline VAT or income-tax rate is not an effective tax bill for every person. A publisher's review date is not automatically a law's effective date. Conditional schedules should not be reduced to their first number. Historical Doing Business benchmarks remain historical; a listed incorporation fee applies to its stated service/channel and currency.

The declared fiscal screen uses fixed weights and explicit missing-input bounds. Unsupported local, social, sectoral, residency, relief and fee coverage remains a gap. Use the original authority/professional source for a specific legal or tax situation. [Welcomeness methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/ancap-welcomeness-methods.html) · [Tax and fee methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/country-tax-fees-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Is a headline tax rate an effective tax bill for every person?

A. Yes
B. No; conditions and jurisdiction matter
C. Only if it is a percentage

**Answer B:** Schedules, reliefs, residency and other taxes/fees can change the relevant amount.


## Global Risk Overview and Systemic research

**Goal:** Use Global Risk Overview and its Systemic workbench to connect coverage, drivers and defined forecasts.

- Select a country/domain
- Read drivers and coverage
- Review Systemic outcomes

1. **Select a country/domain.** Open Global Risk Overview and locate the country control.
2. **Read drivers and coverage.** Inspect the original source dates, excluded inputs and the meaning of the evidence-pressure score.
3. **Review Systemic outcomes.** Use the embedded Systemic workbench or Forecast Lab; inspect frozen definitions and prospective performance.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### One home for country, regional and systemic research

**Global Risk Overview** combines the former Risk Overview and Systemic entry points. Start with **Risk map** or **All-domain matrix**, choose a country or region, then select the evidence domain and lookback. The current overview provides20 domains across five evidence families. Its1/7/30-day controls are evidence lookbacks, not forecast horizons.

Open **Drivers & source evidence** to inspect the original observations, reporting periods, geography and source lineage. Missing, stale, expired or unsupported inputs remain unknown. Grey/unassessable areas are not certified low-risk areas. Composite evidence-pressure indices need sufficient independent-family coverage; source volume alone does not establish probability or confidence.

### Systemic research and track record

Use the embedded **Systemic outlook & track record** workbench, also available in Forecast Lab. Read **Current**, **Outlook**, **Impact & dependencies**, **Evidence**, **Track record** and **Methods** for their distinct purposes. The Systemic framework’s fourteen domains and frozen financial/regional targets remain separate from the overview’s twenty-domain evidence map.

1. Select the exact target, model and horizon. Financial fund-price outcomes are not country crisis probabilities.
2. Inspect source cut-off, original input times, coverage and excluded/context-only evidence.
3. Separate a source-supported exposure share from an assumed relationship; a graph edge alone does not quantify loss.
4. Read genuinely issued prospective records and compatible outcomes separately from current-vintage historical reconstruction.
5. Keep unresolved and insufficiently sampled outcomes unresolved. Historical fit is not demonstrated live calibration.

The financial Systemic expansion defines58 terminal-loss, close-path-loss and joint-decline targets over1/5/20 NYSE sessions. Regional warning research uses its exact sampled CAP-message criteria and requires adequate sampling before inferring a negative. Use the current target/method definitions in the workspace.

**Legacy workflows** retains older regional-matrix watches, playbooks and briefing archives with their original meaning. It is not another independently calibrated country forecast.

[Global Risk Overview methods](/watchtower/global-risk-overview-methods.html) · [Systemic methods](/watchtower/systemic-risk-methods.html)

### Check your understanding

Is a country evidence-pressure index automatically a calibrated crisis probability?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect its method and validation scope
C. Only if the score is high

**Answer B:** An index and a probability forecast are different outputs with different validation requirements.


## Forecast Lab and Energy outlook

**Goal:** Inspect forecast targets, historical research, genuine issuance and source-qualified energy scenarios.

- Read the target definition
- Inspect the track record
- Review an energy assumption

1. **Read the target definition.** Open Forecast Lab and select an instrument/scenario and horizon.
2. **Inspect the track record.** Separate current-vintage research from issued forecasts and compatible resolved outcomes.
3. **Review an energy assumption.** Use Energy’s source units, production context and explicit supply assumptions; retain missing denominators and source limits.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Markets, scenarios and track record

**Forecast Lab** combines statistical market research, source-linked cross-domain scenarios, weather outlooks, economic catalysts, conditional comparisons, personal browser watches and immutable forecast/evidence records. It also includes the newer Systemic risk and Energy views.

For the original Markets pilot, the nine reference funds are SPY, QQQ, EFA, EEM, TLT, HYG, GLD, USO and UUP. Targets are defined over one, five and twenty NYSE sessions. A displayed directional estimate refers to the stated fund-price return, not every constituent, a country, a spot commodity, a yield or a total-return investment strategy. Distributions, execution costs and slippage are not silently included.

Select an instrument and horizon. Read its base and target session, empirical range, component/analogue evidence and baseline. Then inspect historical and prospective performance separately. Brier score, log loss, calibration and interval coverage answer different questions; a nominal 80% interval still needs observed coverage evaluation.

Live issuance uses actual issue times and freezes its definition, source cutoff and inputs. A missing target session remains awaiting evidence. A source revision can withhold scoring instead of rewriting the original forecast. Previously displayed research is not automatically a backdated issuance.

### What-if comparisons and local watches

The What-if Lab selects non-overlapping historical windows meeting a specified reference-fund return condition and examines another fund in the same windows. It needs enough matching cases. This is conditional historical co-movement, not a causal shock-response estimate or a calibrated future conditional forecast.

Forecast Lab's original watches and saved baselines are account-scoped in the browser. Their visible-workspace estimate-change checks do not imply closed-browser delivery. Use My Watchtower's separate server workflow when that is the intended monitoring channel. [Forecast Lab methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/forecast-lab-methods.html).

### Energy

The Energy view includes price overview, futures curves, production/impact context, a declared supply scenario, sources/coverage, historical observations, research ranges and exports. It brings together EIA, World Bank, EU consumer-price and selected electricity references with native currencies, units, taxes and periods.

Select the series and market before comparing numbers. USD per barrel, USD per MMBtu, EUR per litre, monthly commodity benchmarks and hourly/daily electricity references describe different things. Published futures quotes are delivery-contract references, not expected future spot prices or official settlements unless explicitly identified as such.

The research projection uses a fixed declared historical method and persistence comparison. It is not established live forecasting skill. Current news/weather is context and is not inserted into historical training as though known then. The supply scenario uses explicit local-loss and elasticity assumptions; a missing comparable world total prevents numerical propagation. Production-country shares retain their source years. [Energy methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/energy-outlook-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Does a futures-curve quote prove the future spot price?

A. Yes
B. No; it is a delivery-contract reference with its own meaning
C. Only for oil

**Answer B:** Quoted futures, expected future spot and official settlements are not interchangeable.


## Infrastructure and Pacific/subsea networks

**Goal:** Inspect infrastructure assets and network references with geometry and lifecycle qualifications.

- Choose an asset/network layer
- Inspect the feature
- Compare network context

1. **Choose an asset/network layer.** Open Infrastructure and find the relevant layer/source controls.
2. **Inspect the feature.** Read its identifier, source, date, geometry meaning and operating/proposed/unknown lifecycle.
3. **Compare network context.** Use Pacific/subsea and integrated tools where useful; do not infer live flow or exact routes from schematic links.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Infrastructure** is the physical/network reference workspace: use the available asset and network layers, search, map inspection and source controls to investigate power, communications, data centres, exchanges, pipelines and related systems. Distinguish a mapped reference network from a measured service outage or current flow.

### Pacific cable connections

The recent update makes the map wrap across the date line and adds a **Pacific cables** view. The selected FASTER, Unity, JUPITER, PLCN and PC1 connections are drawn as purple dashed schematic links between approximate, system-specific localities. They describe **same-system connectivity**, not surveyed seabed paths, precise landing locations or inferred cross-connects between neighbouring systems.

Open a line or locality, read the system/source description and use the original operator or specialist reference. Omitted branches and source history remain explicit. A reference to a cancelled route does not make it part of the current schematic; the cancelled PLCN Hong Kong branch is excluded.

### Underwater power and pipelines

Use the **Undersea networks** controls for power/pipeline layers, search, lifecycle/history and Pacific/world framing. The parent layer matters: power follows Power or Global Grid, pipelines follow Pipelines, and schematic communications follow Fibre/Cables. If an overlay is unexpectedly absent, check the parent toggle first.

The October OSM reference capture contained 3,260 power ways and 15,332 pipeline ways, including inland-water crossings. These are mapped ways, not unique complete systems or an exhaustive operating inventory. Construction, proposed, disused and abandoned tags affect the default view; unverified lifecycle is not assumed operational. Shared-node components describe mapping topology, not proven live flow.

Native infrastructure, atlas overlays and these supplemental references have separate counts and scopes. Preserve OSM/ODbL or the stated schematic attribution in exports. [Subsea methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/infrastructure-subsea-methods.html) · [Fibre methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/infrastructure-fibre-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Does a mapped cable or pipeline establish current throughput?

A. Yes
B. No; reference geometry is not a flow measurement
C. Only for an underwater line

**Answer B:** Operating state and measured flow need their own evidence.


## Commodity Atlas, Commodities Data and gas facilities

**Goal:** Separate commodity prices, country totals and site/facility reference evidence.

- Choose a commodity and geography
- Read the data companion
- Inspect a site reference

1. **Choose a commodity and geography.** Open Commodity Atlas and inspect the source layers.
2. **Read the data companion.** Use Commodities Data for its tables and source-defined measures.
3. **Inspect a site reference.** Read coordinates/locality precision, capacity/production definitions, lifecycle and original source before linking it to a company.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Commodity Atlas** is the map-led resource workspace; **Commodities Data** is its data-oriented companion. Use commodity/category, geography, source and available lifecycle/history filters before selecting a site, network or country reference. Open details for the native identifier, original source, observation/reference date and geometry meaning.

Commodity prices, national production totals, reserves/resources, processing facilities, ports and transport links are different layers. A mapped mine reference does not prove current production, company ownership share or available capacity. A country production series should not be allocated to a site without an explicit source.

### New industrial-gas references

The gas-facility addition contains eleven curated facility/complex records and thirteen gas identities at release. It supports process, gas and text filtering and includes a **Neon** shortcut to the source-backed POSCO AIR SOLUTION Gwangyang reference.

Explore air/rare gases, helium, natural gas/LPG, electrolysis, reforming, gasification, CO₂ and biogas processes as represented. Specialty-synthesis gaps are explicit. Source-reported planned output is separate from operating output; an undated source keeps its undated status.

Markers are authored approximate **locality references**, not verified facility coordinates. Read the dashed/reference labels and source cards before using the location. The inventory is partial. Follow a reference to Companies for issuer research and to Monetary Predictions → Commodity Wars for same-basis country resource comparisons. [Gas-facility release](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/commodity-gas-plants-neon-and-industrial-gases/).

### Check your understanding

Can a national production total be assigned to a mapped facility without evidence?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Only if the facility is large

**Answer B:** Country totals, site references and ownership shares require explicit source-supported joins.


## War Room: monitoring, investigations and terrain tools

**Goal:** Move from War Room Simple questions to source-linked investigations and explicit terrain scenarios.

- Start with a clear question
- Inspect sources and assumptions
- Use All tools deliberately

1. **Start with a clear question.** Open War Room → Simple view and choose Check a place, Find a dam or Explore map.
2. **Inspect sources and assumptions.** Read the chosen catalogue, historical period, geometry and any volume/terrain gaps.
3. **Use All tools deliberately.** Open the full investigation/planning controls when needed; preserve your native case and explicitly chosen scenario inputs.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Start with Simple view

Open **War Room** and use the clear starting choices: **Check a place**, **Find a dam**, **Explore map** and **Help**. The **All tools** control returns to the complete monitoring, investigation and planning interface. These are War Room display choices, separate from the Simple/Extended levels of this guide.

For a place question, choose the intended location or a map point, select the radius and historical period, then read the summary and source details. A search radius is not a hazard footprint; no matching records does not establish safety. Country extents need an actual point rather than an invented country-centre observation. The summary can be downloaded as text for the chosen scope.

### Dams, terrain and historical records

The source picker keeps GDAT, GeoDAR and the GDW viewer extract separate. Their identifiers, counts, geometry and capacity definitions differ; nearby rows are not automatically the same dam. A reservoir outline is not a catchment or flood polygon. Published storage capacity is not current storage. Terrain/place references, storm tracks and historical hazards retain their source dates and geometry meaning.

A water-budget example requires an explicit chosen/reported volume, fraction and duration. The fraction25%means0.25. A static water-on-terrain example and a radio line-of-sight calculation use stated assumptions and the native models. They do not establish a dam breach, arrival time, flow velocity, casualties, evacuation route, access permission or guaranteed reception. Missing terrain remains unknown.

### Investigations and saved work

Use the native Monitor/Investigate/Tools workflows in All tools for source-linked cases, imagery and planning. The current War Room workbench provides authenticated owner-scoped server cases with its Save/Open/share controls. Read the save/share status before assuming a draft is persisted or another person can access it. Guided place/scenario selections and comparisons have their own session/export semantics. Private browser GIS layers and map notes belong to their own storage system.

Native fullscreen keeps the same iframe, map and draft context, with a fallback when browser fullscreen is unavailable. Use the explicit exit/close control; do not recreate the map just to gain space.

[War Room easy guide](/watchtower/war-room-easy-guide.html) · [Reference/planning methods](/watchtower/war-room-resilience-methods.html) · [Workbench methods](/watchtower/war-room-workbench-methods.html) · [Terrain/radio methods](/watchtower/war-room-methods.html)

### Check your understanding

Is a water-on-terrain drawing an engineered dam-break arrival forecast?

A. Yes
B. No; read the stated scenario/model scope
C. Only when coloured areas appear

**Answer B:** The scenario does not establish arrival times, velocities, evacuation routes or personal safety.


## Conflict / Military

**Goal:** Interpret public conflict/military observations and historical context with source and location precision.

- Select the public evidence view
- Inspect a report or marker
- Compare independent context

1. **Select the public evidence view.** Open Conflict / Military and choose the appropriate source/layer/time selection.
2. **Inspect a report or marker.** Read its source, date, classification and geography precision rather than treating a symbol as verification.
3. **Compare independent context.** Use original reports and dated historical layers separately; volume and proximity do not establish an operational conclusion.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Conflict / Military** aggregates source-qualified conflict and military-related public evidence. Use geography, time, source and layer filters, then select a record and read its geometry, event class and original report. Country outlines, event points, reference facilities and reported activity should remain distinct.

The unified map is useful for moving from a regional overview to the underlying source, rather than drawing conclusions from the density of markers alone. Multiple reports can concern one development; uneven reporting can leave significant gaps. A military-related headline, an official statement and an independently observed event have different meanings.

Use Geopolitical Risk for global model/context views, War Room for a place-based investigation, Aviation for its dedicated public aircraft observations, and Satellite & Sensor Data for orbital/reference context. A source military label on an aircraft is not independently verified ownership, mission, occupants or intent. Sharing a location or date across layers is a research lead, not by itself a causal or operational conclusion.

### Check your understanding

Does a country anchor give a verified incident coordinate?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Only for a high-severity report

**Answer B:** Subject-country context and verified incident geometry are different evidence types.


## Air / Aviation

**Goal:** Inspect public aviation observations, replay/context and private research tools with clear scope.

- Select an observation
- Read operational context
- Choose a research workflow

1. **Select an observation.** Open Air / Aviation and inspect the source-native aircraft/contact identity and time.
2. **Read operational context.** Review airport, weather and airspace evidence with its own source clock and coverage.
3. **Choose a research workflow.** Use retained replay, comparisons or authorised private case/watch features deliberately. Manual paid/provider lookups are separate actions.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

The dedicated **Air / Aviation** workspace supports 2D/3D views, unified search, filters, aircraft detail, follow, trails/charts, airport lookup, replay, comparisons, context, licensed reference images, private investigations and supported cloud views/watches/inbox functions.

### Follow a public observation

1. Search by a supported callsign, registration, identifier or airport reference. Check the identity fields rather than relying only on a familiar label.
2. Select the aircraft. Compare **position time**, **last contact time** and collection time.
3. Inspect altitude/speed/track units and the available observed trail. A directional marker follows supplied track; missing direction is not invented.
4. Use follow or fullscreen when useful. Switch to retained-observation replay for history actually captured by Watchtower.
5. Export the supported public observation or trail with its source attribution and gaps.

Public ADSB.lol is the default source. Receiver/query/metadata coverage is uneven; counts include source targets and are not all worldwide flights or verified flight legs. Retained history grows from actual collection and can shorten under caps. Gaps and implausible jumps split trails rather than being joined into a fabricated flight path.

### Airport, weather and airspace context

Context can include OurAirports references, AWC METAR/TAF/SIGMET/G-AIRMET, FAA status/TFR/airspace and retained weather warnings. FAA coverage is not a complete global NOTAM service. A weather polygon overlapping a horizontal aircraft position does not prove flight impact. Read original notices and validity windows.

### Personal and licensed additions

Use the workspace's supported cloud views, watches, server inbox and account-private investigations for its newer operations workflow. Browser notifications require the relevant open browser context; server inbox evaluation is separate. Local watch preferences and cloud records are not interchangeable.

**API Connections & Add-ons → Aviation Data Add-ons** can use your eligible FlightAware AeroAPI, ADSBX Enterprise or aviationstack credentials. These are manual, owner-private lookups with separate provider terms/charges. They do not turn paid results into shared public trails, watches or cases. [Aviation methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/aviation-methods.html) · [Investigation release](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/aviation-investigations-replay-and-private-api-connections/).

### Check your understanding

Does absent public aircraft coverage prove there was no aircraft?

A. Yes
B. No; coverage and observation gaps matter
C. Only over water

**Answer B:** A public observation feed is not an exhaustive operational picture.


## Marine and Mobility Intel

**Goal:** Read transport nodes, vessel/route observations and corridor context without overstating operations.

- Inspect a mobility node
- Inspect marine context
- Keep reference and observation separate

1. **Inspect a mobility node.** Open Mobility Intel and use the appropriate airport/port/rail/border/transit layer.
2. **Inspect marine context.** Use Marine for source-qualified maritime and chokepoint evidence.
3. **Keep reference and observation separate.** A catalogue location, vessel contact, route connection and disruption threshold can have different dates and meanings.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Marine

Use **Marine** to investigate the available vessel, port, shipping and chokepoint references. Inspect the source and geographic coverage before interpreting a ship count. Public AIS samples may be regional, delayed or incomplete; a last-known position is not a current confirmed location. Embedded third-party views retain the provider's own coverage and access.

Compare a port or route observation with its source time, baseline and relevant event evidence. A position or traffic count does not directly establish cargo, ownership, delay, capacity utilisation or cause. Use Commodity Atlas and Infrastructure for physical context without treating nearby reference assets as proven affected assets.

### Mobility Intel

Mobility connects ports/chokepoints, aviation weather/status and selected rail, border or corridor evidence. Its direct-evidence views retain native records, scope and formulas. PortWatch activity, METAR weather, FAA restrictions and sampled Finnish rail observations measure different things.

A weather report is not an airport-congestion reading. A scoped FAA restriction does not imply an airport-wide closure. Predicted rail timing is distinct from observed lateness. A same-weekday activity baseline needs adequate comparable samples; insufficient or stale data should not become an infinite anomaly score or a quiet condition.

For an investigation, choose one node/corridor, inspect its original operational series, then add weather, infrastructure and reporting as separately labelled context. Distinguish reference corridors from measured operations and preserve that distinction in exports.

### Check your understanding

Does an airport reference record prove the airport is operating normally right now?

A. Yes
B. No; current operations need separate evidence
C. Only if it has coordinates

**Answer B:** A maintained reference inventory is different from a live operational-status assessment.


## Weather Alerts and Natural Hazards

**Goal:** Read official warnings, physical events, forecasts and historical hazard layers correctly.

- Read a warning window
- Compare the hazard evidence
- Check the layer’s meaning

1. **Read a warning window.** Open Weather Alerts and inspect issue/effective/expiry times and source geometry.
2. **Compare the hazard evidence.** Open Natural Hazards for its event and source-specific context.
3. **Check the layer’s meaning.** Separate observed events, forecast areas, historical references, advisories and unlocated records. Teaching example: geometry.

**Example:** Separate observed events, forecast areas, historical references, advisories and unlocated records.

### Weather Alerts

The global warning view offers country, severity, current/upcoming and multilingual text filters; paginated lists; original information/instructions; source details; map geometry; JSON export; and a country/territory coverage directory.

Read the issuing authority, issue/effective/expiry times, severity and message status. CAP updates and cancellations follow explicit source references. Multiple messages or language blocks are not necessarily separate storms. Japan's JMA municipality/hazard states retain their own levels and are not simply interchangeable with CAP severity categories.

A coverage directory listing does not guarantee complete current delivery for that country. **No reported warning**, **partial**, **stale**, **not integrated** and **unavailable** have different meanings. Warnings without qualified geometry remain in the list; Watchtower does not fabricate a country-centre impact polygon. [Global warning release](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/global-weather-alerts-and-country-coverage/).

### Natural Hazards

Use **Natural Hazards** for earthquakes, severe-weather products, fires, tropical systems, volcanic evidence and related observations/reference layers. Its recent expansion reuses still-valid global warnings, adds source event inspection and improves native-unit temperature, rain and snowfall cards.

The volcanic controls include source bulletins and published VAAC observed/+6/+12/+18-hour airborne-ash areas, with source flight levels. **Airborne ash is not ground ashfall, a pyroclastic-flow footprint or an evacuation zone.** An older open EONET listing does not establish a continuing eruption. No synthetic danger cone should be inferred from a volcano point.

Optional historical landslide reports, dated fault traces, reference volcanoes and LHASA model imagery have separate meanings and are generally off until selected. COOLR reports can be historical. GEM fault traces are geological references, not earthquake predictions. Provider-latest LHASA imagery may lack an exposed run timestamp.

Snow depth appears only when a source supplies it; rainfall is not converted to snowfall with an assumed ratio. Preserve observation/forecast/maximum labels, units and accumulation windows. The newness highlight uses an eligible source time for a bounded ten-minute window; refreshing does not restart an event's age. [Expanded hazard methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/natural-hazards-expanded-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Does a weather warning polygon prove measured damage everywhere inside it?

A. Yes
B. No; warning area and observed impact differ
C. Only at high severity

**Answer B:** Read the issuing authority’s definition and the evidence for actual impacts.


## Space Weather and Satellite & Sensor Data

**Goal:** Read space-weather observations, warnings, forecasts and satellite references with their epochs.

- Inspect the space-weather panel
- Inspect a satellite reference
- Use imagery or pass tools carefully

1. **Inspect the space-weather panel.** Compare Live, Threats, Forecast, Aurora, Asteroids and Sources for their different products.
2. **Inspect a satellite reference.** Open Satellite & Sensor Data and read catalogue/element/source epochs.
3. **Use imagery or pass tools carefully.** A dated image comparison and a pass calculation are source/geometry-specific products, not current sensor collection or guaranteed visibility.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Space Weather tabs

The Space Weather area contains **Live**, **Threats**, **Forecast**, **Aurora**, **Asteroids** and **Sources**. Use it to distinguish measured solar-terrestrial conditions, official NOAA products, research models and NASA/JPL orbital references.

Live/Threats can include Kp, solar wind, radiation channels and official R/S/G scale context. Read channel, unit, quality flag and validity time. Kp, local K, Dst and geoelectric fields are different quantities. Missing official values should not be interpreted as G0/R0/S0. A regional geoelectric model is not a measured induced-current or power-failure map.

Aurora uses model fields and their valid times, not a direct sky observation. Inspect a cell, frame date and hemisphere/world view. Cloud, local terrain and light pollution affect what a person sees and are not automatically represented. GloTEC background-only versus observation-supported cells have their own support meaning.

Asteroids separates orbital catalogue references, predicted close approaches, Sentry monitoring, Scout candidates and historical fireballs. MOID is a distance between orbital paths, not a predicted simultaneous encounter. PHA classification is not an impact prediction. Source orbital epochs and TDB approach dates differ from a present-time position. [Space Weather methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/space-weather-methods.html).

### Satellite & Sensor Data

Search the orbital/reference catalogue, filter ownership/type/coverage, select an object and inspect its source elements, epoch and projected track. Positions calculated from orbital elements are estimates with age limits. Missing or incompatible elements do not acquire invented positions.

Ownership references can be uncertain or use classifications that are not simple ISO countries. An organisation attached to a station module is not necessarily the owner of the whole station. Object counts can include reference/uncertain records and are not a count of confirmed operational satellites. Layers and fullscreen controls change presentation while retaining these qualifications.

### Check your understanding

Does an orbital-element calculation guarantee that you can see a satellite?

A. Yes
B. No; epoch, observer geometry and visibility conditions matter
C. Only for a large satellite

**Answer B:** Propagation and visibility are different claims; retained elements have a stated age.


## Outages and Cyber Exposure

**Goal:** Distinguish measured service disruption, cyber references and inferred exposure.

- Read the disruption evidence
- Inspect cyber evidence
- Check the causal claim

1. **Read the disruption evidence.** Open Outages and select a source/service/geography with its original date.
2. **Inspect cyber evidence.** Use Cyber Exposure for source-specific vulnerabilities, incidents and network context.
3. **Check the causal claim.** An outage and a vulnerability record do not by themselves establish a common cause or a compromised organisation.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### World Disruption Observatory

**Outages** brings together service incidents and other disruption-related evidence with source/time/location filters, maintenance/recovery/context/stale controls, a map, an unlocated list and exports. Open the source detail before treating a coloured marker as an ongoing failure.

A provider status notice, planned maintenance, a recovery message and a measured regional power fault are different records. An unlocated cloud-service event should not acquire a headquarters “impact point.” Satellite orbit positions are not customer-impact footprints. Old standing-status notices are not newly failed systems. Source record counts are not unique outage counts.

### Cyber Exposure

The deeper cyber workspace includes advisories, CISA KEV, EPSS, recent critical CVEs, package advisories, Internet measurements, response directories, ATT&CK, reporting, dated C2 history and sources. Select the view and identifiers, inspect native evidence and export a coherent filtered selection.

**CVSS** describes technical severity; **KEV** records known exploitation under its catalogue rules; **EPSS** is a defined thirty-day exploitation estimate/rank. A due date can apply to a particular regulated audience. None of these alone proves that your organisation runs a vulnerable affected version.

Country lenses may show measurement samples, issuing jurisdictions, directory references or report associations. They are not automatically attack-origin/victim locations or national cyber-safety rankings. Historical hosting references remain historical even if a retained source flag once said “online.” Use the original advisories and affected-version detail for a concrete exposure investigation.

### Check your understanding

Does a known vulnerability establish that a particular company has been compromised?

A. Yes
B. No; vulnerability, exposure and incident evidence differ
C. Only if the severity is high

**Answer B:** The source record must support the specific exposure and incident claim.


## Sanctions / Ownership and CBDC & Digital Money

**Goal:** Use exact identities and source dates for sanctions/ownership and digital-money research.

- Resolve the sanctions subject
- Compare ownership evidence
- Inspect the digital-money programme

1. **Resolve the sanctions subject.** Open Sanctions / Ownership and inspect identifiers, programme, jurisdiction and dates.
2. **Compare ownership evidence.** Treat names and relationship links as source-qualified matches, not automatic legal conclusions.
3. **Inspect the digital-money programme.** Use CBDC & Digital Money and read whether a programme is researched, piloted, proposed or operating.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Sanctions, trade controls and ownership

Open **Sanctions / Ownership** for listed targets, entities, individuals, vessels/aircraft, trade/export controls, country/thematic regimes and sources. Search for an identifier and open the exact source entry. Preserve the list/programme, measure, reasons and dates.

List entries can overlap and are not a deduplicated population of legally resolved identities. Similar names do not establish identity. Blocking, sectoral restrictions, banking measures, licensing requirements, verification lists and procurement/import rules are distinct. A source programme's update date is not automatically a designation date.

Country programme maps do not establish a universal embargo or a restriction's severity. Ownership search/reporting remains a separate research tool; the workspace does not automatically resolve ownership chains or apply every jurisdiction's ownership rule. Use the issuing authority's current record for a specific case.

### CBDC & Digital Money

Explore country ratings, retail CBDCs, wholesale money, private money, cross-border projects, regulation, stablecoin context, dated evidence, comparison and source gaps. Select the track before comparing countries.

The declared maturity bands run from research through design/prototype, controlled pilot, limited operation and operational product. They are **ordinal deployment stages**, not percentages of national readiness, adoption, privacy, safety or investment merit. A country rating is based on eligible explicitly mapped project evidence within one track.

A shared project can cover several jurisdictions without becoming several independent programmes. A completed historical pilot is not necessarily current operation. Private stablecoins and tokenised deposits are not CBDCs; supported currency or partner participation does not establish national adoption. Editorial review and source availability expire separately, so a fetched page does not automatically renew a rating.

### Check your understanding

Is a similar name enough for an exact sanctions match?

A. Yes
B. No; identifiers and the applicable source record matter
C. Only for companies

**Answer B:** A name match needs identity review; legal status depends on the relevant authority and record.


## Insurance Risk & Resilience

**Goal:** Combine insurance statistics and worldwide stress context without inventing carrier losses.

- Choose the evidence lens
- Read dates, geography and source class
- Inspect the financial boundary

1. **Choose the evidence lens.** Open Insurance Stress and inspect the financial or worldwide stress view.
2. **Read dates, geography and source class.** Distinguish hazard observations/warnings, reported conflict/unrest, historical records and original authored CAT references.
3. **Inspect the financial boundary.** A hazard near an asset does not supply a carrier’s policies, treaty terms or measured insured loss.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

The navigation tab **Insurance Stress** opens the broader Insurance Risk & Resilience workspace. Its views include country/industry statistics, solvency/capital, premiums/claims, balance sheets, allocation, market development, protection gaps, backstops, catastrophe observations, selected insurer references, histories, comparisons and sources. The older US proxy monitor remains separately labelled.

Choose a financial measure and reporting period before using a map or ranking. Preserve currency multipliers, ratio scale, solo/group scope and provisional/final status. A ratio of 1.0 can mean 100% in the source; EUR million is not EUR. Year-to-date quarters are not independent flows to be summed. Country reporting domicile is not an insurer's entire underwriting footprint.

Source-qualified review flags identify declared thresholds, such as a reported solvency or combined-ratio condition. They are not blended insolvency probabilities. A net combined ratio uses its specified claims/expense and premium basis; investment income and a claims-paid/gross-written-premium calculation are different.

Catastrophe points are source physical-event references. They do not automatically establish insured losses or carrier exposure. EIOPA protection-gap models, historical statistics and dated scheme descriptions retain their vintages. The selected insurer directory is a reference collection, not a complete licensed-register census. Retain source/derivative/free-original-material notices in exported work.

The current worldwide stress map includes source-qualified natural hazards, military/conflict and civil-unrest context alongside original CAT reference zones. Choose its Layers/view controls and inspect the source class and geometry precision. [Worldwide insurance stress methods](/watchtower/insurance-stress-map-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Does a nearby hazard marker establish an insurer’s loss amount?

A. Yes
B. No; insured exposures and contract terms are separate evidence
C. Only for large events

**Answer B:** The map supplies context, not an unobserved insurer-loss calculation.


## Health / Biosecurity and Crime & Terror

**Goal:** Read public health and crime/security sources with their denominators, definitions and coverage limits.

- Inspect health evidence
- Inspect crime/security evidence
- Check comparability

1. **Inspect health evidence.** Open Health / Biosecurity and read the source definition, period and geography.
2. **Inspect crime/security evidence.** Open Crime & Terror and distinguish reported events, official statistics and authored context.
3. **Check comparability.** Different reporting systems, denominators and missing coverage can make simple country rankings misleading.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Health / Biosecurity

Use Health's evidence views for official disease/outbreak reporting, wastewater and animal-health context where supplied, plus its facilities reference view. Select the source, country, date and event type, then read reporting/observation periods and geographical coverage. More reports can reflect more surveillance rather than a directly comparable increase in disease incidence.

The **Facilities** view supports source, type, focus, containment and lifecycle filters. It combines reviewed institutional references with supported registration evidence. FDA registration is not product approval or containment certification. BSL4, CL4, PC4 and other source schemes retain their own labels. Planned or commissioning facilities do not become verified operational capacity.

Facility markers can be city/locality references rather than building coordinates. Unmapped records remain available. A source reference should not be interpreted as a complete census of laboratories, manufacturing plants or national health capacity. [Health methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/health-world-methods.html) · [Facility methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/health-facilities-methods.html).

### Crime & Terror

This map-led workspace combines global evidence with selected police/agency bulletins and statistical area/cell references. Use the filter and data rails, source/lag details, unlocated records, comparison and export tools. Some workflows open a map-first fullscreen view; close it to restore the original tab.

Police bulletins can be preliminary. A municipality centre is not an incident site. Statistical cells aggregate a specified category/month and reporting sample, while coverage can be capped or lagged. Different jurisdiction definitions and collection windows prevent treating raw counts as comparable personal-risk rates.

Inspect the original classification, period and geometry before combining Crime & Terror with a country dossier or a War Room case. A blank area can be uncovered or suppressed by filters; it does not establish low crime. Separate your assessment from the source's statement.

### Check your understanding

Does an empty map establish low disease or crime incidence?

A. Yes
B. No; coverage and filtering may be incomplete
C. Only in a small country

**Answer B:** An absence of displayed records is not a measured zero incidence rate.


## Cameras, viewing walls and Flock locations

**Goal:** Use camera references/viewing walls and Flock locations without assuming availability or access rights.

- Inspect a camera record
- Use playback explicitly
- Inspect Flock locations

1. **Inspect a camera record.** Open Cameras and read the source, media type, timestamps and available access.
2. **Use playback explicitly.** Start/stop the supported image/stream or viewing-wall slot yourself; registered references do not guarantee playback.
3. **Inspect Flock locations.** Treat these as community-mapped location references with source-change history, not plate records or verified live hardware status.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Public camera explorer

Open **Cameras** to search a place, radius, country, source or media type. Inspect the source record before opening an image or stream. Official snapshots, community discovery links and directory-only references are different. A registered camera record does not guarantee live playback.

Create a viewing wall using the supported 1/4/9/16-slot layouts, favourites and explicit start/stop controls. Custom public HTTPS images/HLS/clips or YouTube links may be supported, subject to browser, codec, CORS and provider rules. The wall does not create a recording or a media-rebroadcast entitlement.

Walls/favourites and custom URLs are account-scoped browser preferences. Export/import them for a deliberate backup. Hidden/replay/account transitions stop or clear playback as required; opening a new account should not restore another account's wall. [Camera methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/camera-methods.html).

### Flock locations

Choose **Flock locations** for the community-mapped OSM/DeFlock ALPR reference inventory, its map/list/search/radius filters, explicit bearings and source-change history. This is a database of reported locations, not plate records, camera video, verified hardware counts or current operational status.

An added or removed source record is a mapping change; it does not prove that hardware was installed, removed or moved at that instant. No viewing cone is inferred from a point. Tracked IDs are browser-local and do not send notifications. Preserve the source dates and ODbL attribution in exports. [Flock release](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/publicly-mapped-flock-camera-locations/).

### Check your understanding

What does a removed Flock source record prove?

A. The hardware was removed at that moment
B. A source mapping change; physical status needs evidence
C. All associated footage was deleted

**Answer B:** Mapping updates and real-world installation/removal are different events.


## Portfolio, personal relevance and exposure monitoring

**Goal:** Understand owner-scoped portfolio inputs, quote coverage and conditional exposure research.

- Check the active account
- Inspect the inputs
- Review the exposure method

1. **Check the active account.** Open Portfolio and verify the account and saved-state status before editing.
2. **Inspect the inputs.** Read quantities, instrument/listing identifiers, currencies and quote freshness. Enter or save only through the native controls.
3. **Review the exposure method.** An overlap or industry relationship is not a measured loss; keep assumptions and mapping gaps with the conclusion.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

**Portfolio** applies research context to the holdings and exposure information you choose to maintain. Begin by checking the verified account and the saved portfolio state before editing. Identify each instrument and listing, enter quantities/cost assumptions in the appropriate units, and confirm the application's save result. A portfolio view is not a broker order ticket.

Inspect quote freshness and mapping coverage before interpreting valuations or exposures. A fund can hold many underlying assets; a ticker's listing country does not establish its economic exposure. A missing quote or unresolved mapping is a gap, not a zero-value holding. Snapshot valuations, historical research and scenario assumptions should remain separately labelled in any report.

Personal-relevance/consequences tools can connect selected evidence to your supplied context. Treat their results as conditional research: the source event, exposure mapping and assumed consequence are separate steps. A geographic overlap or shared industry label is not measured loss or a guaranteed impact on a holding.

Where the account's exposure-monitor rules are available, inspect the rule's fields, thresholds, evaluation status and delivery channel. These rules have their own server-side contracts. They do not automatically convert every browser rule, watchlist or map pin into unattended monitoring. Export the assessment assumptions with your evidence when sharing a portfolio-related conclusion.

Only the portfolio’s native controls edit or save holdings. Learning progress contains lesson identifiers and knowledge checks, not your portfolio inputs.

### Check your understanding

Does a missing quote mean a holding is worth zero?

A. Yes
B. No; it is a valuation coverage gap
C. Only for a small holding

**Answer B:** Unknown prices must not silently become zero-value assets.


## Alerts and Intelligence Rule Studio

**Goal:** Design and inspect rules with correct evaluation, freshness, delivery and unknown-state semantics.

- Identify the monitoring system
- Read the condition tree
- Practise missing-input logic

1. **Identify the monitoring system.** Open Alerts and distinguish browser rules from personal server-inbox workflows.
2. **Read the condition tree.** Inspect ALL/ANY/NOT groups, units, crossing/duration behaviour, freshness and cooldown before saving or arming.
3. **Practise missing-input logic.** Use the teaching example to see how unknown propagates through a condition. Teaching example: alert-logic.

**Example:** Use the teaching example to see how unknown propagates through a condition.

There are several monitoring workflows. Choose by where the condition is evaluated and where you expect to read the result.

| Workflow | Evaluation and delivery | What to remember |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alerts / Intelligence Rule Studio | Browser evaluation while the eligible page is visible, live and verified. | Closing the page stops this evaluator; it does not promise email, Telegram or webhooks. |
| My Watchtower | Private server workflow with configured watches, budgets, scheduled briefings and in-app inbox. | Read the server inbox and its exact matched evidence. |
| Aviation operations | Supported server watch/inbox features plus browser-specific notifications. | Browser notifications require their open/allowed context; paid manual lookups are separate. |
| Forecast Lab original watches | Account-local browser baselines and visible-workspace change checks. | A saved target is not automatically a closed-browser notification subscription. |
| Linked Events / Flock tracking | Local tracking, notes or source-change inspection. | Tracking by itself does not arm an alert. |
| Exposure monitor | Its own entitled, owner-scoped monitoring rules. | Confirm the particular rule and channel; do not assume it shares another tool's capabilities. |

### Build a multi-input browser rule

1. Open **Alerts → Intelligence Rule Studio** and name the question the rule is meant to detect.
2. Select inputs from the available loaded public-source field catalogue. Read each field's units and timestamp basis.
3. Combine conditions using **ALL (AND)**, **ANY (OR)** and optional **NOT** groups. For example, `A AND (B OR C)` makes a different claim from `(A AND B) OR C`.
4. Set the maximum age, matching/crossing/duration behaviour and cooldown deliberately.
5. Test against the current evidence. Inspect true, false and unknown branches before saving and arming.
6. Read a triggered report for the exact thresholds, source values, times and optional scenario note.

Missing, stale, failed or future inputs are **unknown**. `NOT unknown` remains unknown. A crossing needs two comparable timestamped values. “Observed true for” means matching sampled checks over the chosen duration; gaps can reset that duration. Unknown data does not silently rearm a condition as if it had become known false.

Imported definitions require review and arming. Browser-local rule/report exports can contain your notes and assumptions. Experimental linear projection from session samples is an extrapolation of observed snapshots, not a calibrated event forecast or invented historical series. [Rule methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/intelligence-rules-methods.html).

### Check your understanding

Can a crossing be established from a single first observation?

A. Yes
B. No; it needs comparable observations under the rule’s definition
C. Only for a high value

**Answer B:** A first sample is a baseline, and missing/stale samples do not establish a crossing.


## Data Q&A, AI Analysis and Oracle

**Goal:** Choose deterministic lookup, guided AI assistance or a deeper report according to the question.

- Start with structured evidence
- Choose an AI task deliberately
- Review the deeper report scope

1. **Start with structured evidence.** Open Data Q&A and choose a source/measure/period.
2. **Choose an AI task deliberately.** Use Assistant for the relevant bounded task and inspect the source selection before Run AI.
3. **Review the deeper report scope.** Open AI Analysis/Deep Analyst when an entitled report is appropriate. Check evidence, costs and provider/account status first.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Deterministic Data Q&A

**Data Q&A** supports structured lookup over reviewed public sources. Use Ask, the source/dataset catalogue, Evidence, Browser snapshots and Methods to inspect what was read. Specify a country, measure and period when relevant. Keep units, reporting years and source coverage with every result. A registered dataset, a successful response and an original observation are different states.

The original lookup workflow remains distinct from the model-assisted **Semantic search & Data Q&A** task. Use the explicit AI handoff when you want interpretation or query expansion. Completing one displayed page does not mean an entire upstream source was read.

### Assistant, AI Analysis and Oracle

The header **Assistant** offers13 bounded research/help tasks. Choose the task, review the current public context and sources, use Preview evidence, and choose Run AI when ready. Generation uses the eligible account’s configured OpenAI connection and existing request limits. A configured key is not proof that the provider will accept every request. Opening the learning guide makes no model request.

**AI Analysis / Deep Analyst** supports a deeper question/report workflow with its current scope and entitlement. **Oracle** is a separate interface. Check the relevant account/provider/credit terms in the actual tool rather than assuming all three have identical funding or persistence.

A useful question includes purpose, geography/entity, period, output and evidence standard: ‘Summarise the selected funding and shipping evidence; separate observations, model context and missing coverage, and cite original dates.’ This is a request example, not a claim about current events.

Read citations and exact supporting spans. Source support does not establish source truth, exhaustive coverage or model calibration. An AI answer does not silently become an official score, a saved case or an enabled rule. Native actions and private persistence require their own explicit controls.

[Assistant capabilities](/watchtower/assistant-guide.html) · See the full Assistant tools lesson in this guide.

### Check your understanding

Does an AI summary independently verify every cited source?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect source support and limitations
C. Only if it has citations

**Answer B:** Citations improve traceability but do not establish independent truth or exhaustive coverage.


## Reports and evidence-backed briefings

**Goal:** Read or request a report with its edition, evidence manifest, covered period and account scope intact.

- Select an edition
- Inspect edition evidence
- Export or request explicitly

1. **Select an edition.** Open Reports and read the publication and covered period.
2. **Inspect edition evidence.** Use the source/manifest controls and keep the edition’s captured evidence identity.
3. **Export or request explicitly.** Read the offered formats and current price/scope before any purchase or generation. Use native confirmation controls yourself.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

Open **Reports** in the app or the [report library](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/reports/). The system distinguishes periodic daily/weekly/monthly editions, requested special reports, local/browser research outputs and personal My Watchtower briefings.

### Read an edition

1. Identify the edition date and covered period: daily, weekly or trailing calendar-month windows are not interchangeable.
2. Read the executive briefing and domain sections, then open the source/coverage register.
3. Use **Inspect edition evidence** where entitled. The evidence view binds to the edition's captured source identity rather than silently substituting today's data.
4. Inspect source fields/pages or download the source manifest. Preserve original observations, source state, query scope and model versions.
5. Download the offered HTML/PDF/JSON formats and writing style. The selected style should not change the underlying factual evidence or purchased scope.

An edition can include current evidence, retained/aged context, unknown clocks and unavailable sources. Its source count is not a number of independent verified incidents. A lack of capture history limits what “changed over the period” can establish. Report documents can remain available after some raw evidence retention expires; use the manifest and any explicit evidence-expiry notice.

### Request and purchase deliberately

Choose the report's topic/scope and inspect availability and the displayed price before confirming. Use the current displayed report scope, price and checkout terms; offers can change. Optional research requests may have separate credit/provider costs.

After a payment or generation request, use the existing purchase/confirmation status and report library. A pending confirmation is not an instruction to pay again. Download under the purchasing account, and retain the original edition identity with your copy. [Reporting release](https://www.watchtower.technology/blog/daily-intelligence-briefings-and-report-evidence/).

### Check your understanding

Should today’s source values silently replace an older report’s captured evidence?

A. Yes
B. No; keep the edition identity and evidence period
C. Only for a PDF

**Answer B:** A reproducible report depends on its original captured evidence and documented revisions.


## Replay, saved work and exports

**Goal:** Keep application replay, source history, forecast history and storage locations distinct.

- Identify the history type
- Check persistence
- Export context with evidence

1. **Identify the history type.** Read whether you are using application replay, a source’s dated history or genuinely issued forecast records.
2. **Check persistence.** Confirm browser-local, session-only or account-server storage in the particular tool before leaving it.
3. **Export context with evidence.** Include selected scope, original dates, units, source identifiers and scenario assumptions; a view link is not a private-data backup.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Three different kinds of history

**Application replay** uses a captured browser/application snapshot and the data it contains. **Source history** is the provider's or collector's retained dated series/records. **Prospective forecast history** is the immutable record of forecasts actually issued and later resolved or left awaiting evidence. These histories should not be conflated.

When you enter replay, some workspaces restore captured inputs and others deliberately withhold live views. A missing historical field should not be filled with today's reading. Return to Live explicitly before expecting current source requests or monitoring. Aviation's observation replay and forecast-ledger inspection also have their own scope and retention.

### Where does a save live?

| Kind of work | Storage meaning to check |
| --- | --- |
| My Watchtower watches, inbox and personal editions | Account-private server workflow. |
| Supported Aviation cloud views/watches/investigations | Account-private server features; distinguish older/local preferences and manual paid results. |
| Portfolio and API connections | Owner-scoped account features; verify hydration/save/connection status. |
| War Room cases | Current authenticated owner-scoped server workbench with native Save/Open/share controls; guided/session drafts and exports remain separate. |
| Linked Events notes/tracking/views | Browser-local account-scoped preferences, not automatic cross-device monitoring. |
| Camera walls/Flock tracking | Browser-local account-scoped preferences and imports/exports. |
| Outcome Studio recipes, original Forecast Lab watches, Prediction Market watches | Account-local browser state in those features. |
| Rule Studio | Browser-local rules/reports and visible-page evaluation. |
| Dam-scenario comparisons and many exploratory drafts | Session-limited unless explicitly exported or saved. |
| Reports | Edition/purchase identity and access determine the stored document/evidence available to you. |

Signing into the same account on a different device does not make every browser-local feature appear there. Clearing site data can erase local research even when cloud records remain. Export important local work first and check import controls for the same feature/version. A copied view link is not a backup of private evidence or notes.

### Export for another reader

Include the question, selected country/period/filter, source URL, source dates, units, missingness, model/scenario version and your interpretation. Explain whether the file is a displayed selection, a complete filtered export or a manifest. Keep source attribution/licensing notices. Snapshot conflicts should trigger a coherent reread, not silent page mixing.

### Check your understanding

May a missing replay field be filled silently with today’s live value?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Only when the field is numeric

**Answer B:** That would mix time contexts and misrepresent what the captured snapshot contained.


## API Connections and AI-agent MCP access

**Goal:** Use optional owned provider connections and discover/read the professional MCP catalogue coherently.

- Inspect the connection controls
- Discover reviewed datasets
- Complete the right pagination

1. **Inspect the connection controls.** Open User & Settings and find API Connections & Add-ons. Provider entitlement and Watchtower access are separate.
2. **Discover reviewed datasets.** Use the live list_data_routes result and its allowed parameter descriptions before a read. Teaching example: paging.
3. **Complete the right pagination.** Keep MCP snapshots and endpoint-native page tokens separate; restart a coherent read after expiry or mismatch.

**Example:** Use the live list_data_routes result and its allowed parameter descriptions before a read.

### Optional owned provider connections

Open **User & Settings → API Connections & Add-ons**. Inspect the eligible provider, supported fields, connection/capability status and use conditions. Save a credential only through the native account controls. Provider entitlement, provider charges and Watchtower access are separate. A configured connection does not prove complete source coverage or every redistribution right.

Private credentials do not belong in a research question, URL, public note, screenshot or exported configuration. Private provider results remain separate from the shared public corpus.

### Connect an authorised AI agent

1. Sign in with the required API capability and find **AI Agent MCP — Hosted Agent Access**.
2. Create an appropriately scoped token yourself through the native controls. Keep the one-time token in the client's secret settings.
3. Configure the remote HTTP endpoint `https://watchtower.technology/agent/mcp` with the expected Authorization bearer header. The public `/agents/` page is documentation, not the endpoint.
4. Initialise and inspect the live tool schemas. Use `watchtower.list_data_routes` to discover reviewed datasets.
5. Read a returned path using `watchtower.read_data_route` and the documented parameters.

An illustrative discovery call is:

```json
{"name":"watchtower.list_data_routes","arguments":{"query":"credit-evidence"}}
```

An illustrative read is:

```json
{"name":"watchtower.read_data_route","arguments":{"path":"/agent/api/credit-evidence","params":{"dataset":"ratings","q":"Example issuer","limit":20},"limit":50}}
```

These are request examples, not current results. Use the live catalogue rather than a memorised route count. Keep `snapshot`, capture/expiry times, source clocks and stale flags. Continue a JSON-pointer page with its returned offset/snapshot. Native endpoint row pagination can be separate: finishing a reader page does not prove every upstream record was read. On expiry/mismatch, restart a coherent read.

Shared readers exclude private workspaces, credentials, account/payment/admin data and mutation routes. Deep Analyst generation is a separate explicit/entitled action. [Hosted agent setup](/agents/)

### Check your understanding

Does finishing one MCP JSON-pointer page prove that all native source records were read?

A. Yes
B. No; the endpoint can have its own pagination
C. Only for JSON

**Answer B:** There can be two independent paging layers with separate snapshot rules.


## Accounts, subscriptions, affiliates and administration

**Goal:** Distinguish verified access, purchases, provider costs and role-restricted administration.

- Confirm the active identity
- Read the current offer or status
- Recognise restricted roles

1. **Confirm the active identity.** Use the account/access controls and wait for verification before private edits.
2. **Read the current offer or status.** Use the displayed checkout and purchase state; a pending confirmation is not an instruction to pay again.
3. **Recognise restricted roles.** Affiliate, Backoffice, App Health, reviewer and private OpenCode operations have their own permissions. Public guide visibility does not grant them.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Account, access and costs

Open **User & Settings** to inspect the current account/access state. Wait for verified access before editing private work. A previous account label, a URL or a pending checkout is not proof of current entitlement. Use the actual displayed plan, price, renewal/tax and payment terms; this guide does not freeze a historical offer. Optional reports, AI/provider usage and data add-ons can have separate costs.

If confirmation is pending, use the purchase’s existing status or refresh-access flow under the purchasing account. Do not infer that you should pay again. For unresolved access/billing/deletion questions, use the public support and privacy/terms links. Financial-record retention can differ from account access.

### Role-aware tools

Affiliate access requires the applicable invitation, approval and programme terms. Backoffice, App Health, forecast-review/resolution and private OpenCode tools are restricted to their authorised roles/accounts. Reading this public guide does not grant those operations. Keep private account and provider information out of public reports or prompts.

An affiliate approval, payout review, pending payment and confirmed payment are different states. A forecast reaching maturity does not by itself justify resolving it as correct or incorrect. Follow the exact native workflow and evidence requirements.

The guide’s practice controls navigate or locate approved interfaces. They do not change an account, purchase, payout, provider connection, token or forecast outcome for you.

[Terms](/lander/terms/) · [Privacy Notice](/lander/privacy/)

### Check your understanding

Does a displayed old account label prove current access is verified?

A. Yes
B. No; check the current access state
C. Only for an administrator

**Answer B:** Verification, expiry and account transitions can change available operations.


## Troubleshooting and reporting a problem

**Goal:** Diagnose navigation, source, graphics, access and saved-state problems with useful evidence.

- Identify the affected layer
- Use the native recovery control
- Submit a useful report

1. **Identify the affected layer.** Distinguish an unavailable source, an access check, a graphics issue and a navigation/layout problem.
2. **Use the native recovery control.** Retry the relevant view, inspect source status, or check the account/layout as appropriate. Preserve important local work first.
3. **Submit a useful report.** Name the workspace, action, time, expected/actual result and visible error. Use the report control when offered; review any screenshot before sending.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### A tab is missing

Check Brief/Monitor/Investigate mode and your current access. Look in Help, Commands, the horizontally scrollable tab strip and the expandable Research/Finance/OSINT area. Review Customize Workspace or a saved startup layout. A renamed tab can preserve its older underlying identity; for example, Global Debt contains the retained Real Estate research.

### The page is loading or the map is blank

Wait for the actual Foundation/Workspace/Data stages; a loading animation is not a completion percentage. Use the supplied retry/reload control if loading fails. Open the intended tab and its map explicitly. On compact screens, close a control rail that covers the canvas. If a graphics-recovery control is offered, use it before repeatedly recreating the view. Source imagery can genuinely be unavailable at a selected place or zoom.

A closed main globe deliberately stops its own live/rendering work. Independent workspaces have separate visibility lifecycles. A source read can also be slower than the interface itself. Check the source status and original timestamps after recovery rather than assuming a new fetch created a fresh observation.

### A number is absent, stale or different from another view

Check selected unit, period, valuation, currency, source, filters and snapshot. One view may show a reference catalogue, another a qualified current subset and another retained history. Negative source results, blocked access or an unknown clock must not be replaced with a guessed zero. For a multi-page snapshot conflict, refresh through the workspace and restart the coherent export.

### The session says reconnecting

If **Session: reconnecting**, **Connection interrupted** or **Retry connection** appears, private tools are paused while the account connection is verified. Restore connectivity and use the offered retry control if needed. This differs from a confirmed sign-out or changed-account response. Check the final account identity/access state before resuming private edits; the presence of a previous label is not an active entitlement.

### An alert did not arrive

Identify the monitoring system first. Was it a browser rule, server inbox, Aviation notification or a passive tracked item? Check armed state, known inputs, duration, cooldown, daily budget, timezone and the actual delivery channel. Browser permissions and page visibility matter to browser notifications. A tracked ID alone is not a notification subscription.

### Saved work is missing

Check the account, device/browser, storage location and selected profile before resetting anything. Browser-local and session work will not necessarily appear on another device. Use the feature's backup/import recovery controls and retain any corrupt-preference backup offered. A refresh-access or replay transition can intentionally clear an active private view while verification runs.

### Submit a useful report

Use **Report Error**, Help or support. Describe the workspace, action, approximate time/timezone, expected versus actual result, browser/viewport and any visible source/error identifier. A screenshot showing the affected controls can help; remove private holdings, notes and credentials. Report the source status as shown. One failed provider, a graphics issue and an access error require different remedies.

### Check your understanding

What is the most useful first description of an issue?

A. Everything is broken
B. The workspace, action, time and observed error
C. Only the score on the page

**Answer B:** Specific reproduction details help distinguish source, interface and account failures.


## Practical end-to-end playbooks

**Goal:** Combine multiple tools into a reproducible research workflow for a real question.

- State one question
- Gather complementary evidence
- Produce a bounded conclusion

1. **State one question.** Choose a country, company, event or operational topic and a clear time window.
2. **Gather complementary evidence.** Move from Search or an overview into the relevant specialist workspaces; retain supporting and contrary evidence.
3. **Produce a bounded conclusion.** Explain what the evidence supports, what remains unknown and how another reader can reproduce your selection.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### A five-minute morning brief

Open Pro Brief or the Brief overview, read the leading source-dated developments and prices, then check My Watchtower's changes/inbox and the upcoming Calendar. Choose two items for deeper review, open their source details and acknowledge the personal items you have read. Finish with a short list of what changed, what matters to your question and what remains unverified. Avoid equating the number of headlines with the number of independent events.

### Compare countries for a long-term research question

Start in Countries and compare the same indicators/years. Open Global Politics for governance history, Ancap Welcomeness for its declared value-based pillars, Taxes & fees for source-qualified fiscal details, and Wealth/Global Debt for economic context. Preserve nominal/real/PPP distinctions and coverage gaps. Your conclusion should explain the criteria you chose rather than presenting a model rank as universally best for every person.

### Investigate an energy or supply-chain disruption

Identify the source-dated development in Search/News or Linked Events. Inspect the relevant place in Commodity Atlas and Infrastructure, distinguishing precise geometry from schematic/locality references. Add Marine/Mobility and official weather evidence as separate context. Use Energy's explicit supply scenario only if the inputs support it, and label all assumptions. Save an investigation with supporting and contradictory evidence; do not convert a nearby asset into a measured production loss.

### Research a company behind a commodity theme

Choose the commodity and source period, identify reference companies, then resolve the issuer and listing in Companies. Inspect primary financial facts and current issuer disclosures for production/cost/reserve claims. Use a market chart for its own price question. Keep country production totals, company category membership and mine/project exposure separate. Export the selected facts and record the remaining disclosure gaps.

### Review a banking concern

Begin with the precise claim and its original date. Use Bank Run Monitor for institution/system evidence, Financial Stress and Deposits for broader funding context, Global Debt for relevant balance-sheet definitions and Countries for fiscal/market references. Look for independent confirmations and counter-evidence. A payment outage, a market-price decline and a deposit outflow are not the same event or proof of the same cause.

### Monitor a weather-related aviation question

Check the official warning's issue/effective/expiry period in Weather Alerts. In Aviation, inspect source-native positions and contact clocks, then airport/METAR/TAF/airspace context. Use retained replay only for observations actually captured. Read original official notices; horizontal overlap does not establish flight impact. Save an appropriately scoped watch or case and identify whether you expect a server inbox item or an open-browser notification.

### Evaluate a forecast instead of collecting a dramatic number

Open the target definition, base/target time, source cutoff, model version and range. Compare the baseline and relevant historical tests. Find the genuinely issued record and subsequent compatible outcome if available. Distinguish unresolved, awaiting-source and source-revised states. Explain the calibration and sample limitations before using the estimate in another report. Compare identical definitions rather than mixing country context with global or fund-price targets.

### Create a reproducible briefing for another reader

State the question, period and audience. Gather a small set of source-dated facts from the relevant workspaces, record contrary evidence and gaps, and use a report or cited investigation export. Include the manifest/evidence identifiers where available, native units and all scenario assumptions. Check that the recipient can access the linked material and that the export's licence permits the intended use. Preserve a copy of the edition you actually used.

### Check your understanding

What makes a cross-workspace briefing reproducible?

A. A large number of screenshots
B. A clear question, compatible definitions, source dates/IDs and stated assumptions
C. A confident headline

**Answer B:** A reader needs the underlying evidence scope, not only a conclusion.


## Integrated map sources and tools

**Goal:** Find integrated imagery, private layers, drawing, transit, camera, AQHI and satellite tools in their current homes.

- Open the correct home
- Find the domain additions
- Inspect storage and attribution

1. **Open the correct home.** Infrastructure contains Street imagery, My layers, Draw/measure and Map briefings.
2. **Find the domain additions.** Mobility has transit positions, Cameras has selected traffic stills, Weather has Canadian AQHI, and Satellite & Sensor Data has imagery/pass tools.
3. **Inspect storage and attribution.** Check capture time/licence for imagery and explicit browser-save/export controls for your private GIS work.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

These map sources now live in the existing Watchtower tabs. The standalone Spatial Research tab has been removed. Use the focused source/tool buttons in each tab:

| Existing tab | Integrated sources and tools |
| --- | --- |
| Infrastructure | Street imagery, My layers, Draw / measure, Map briefings |
| Mobility Intel | Transit vehicle positions |
| Cameras | DriveBC, Calgary and Toronto traffic-camera stills |
| Weather Alerts | ECCC Canadian AQHI station readings |
| Satellite & Sensor Data | Dated NASA image comparison and selected-satellite passes |

Infrastructure, Mobility, Weather and Cameras use their existing 2D maps. Satellite imagery comparison uses an on-demand comparison map within Satellite & Sensor Data. Choose **Close added layer** to close the tool controls and clear that source overlay. **Expand tab** uses the existing fullscreen behavior. Public source clocks, attribution, coverage gaps and private account/replay controls remain in force.

Private layers, annotations and saved scenes use the same owner-scoped browser storage as before. Find them under **Infrastructure → My layers / Map briefings**; they have not been uploaded or migrated to a cloud account. Shared map buttons are labelled **Map notes** and **Manage layers**. Old Spatial Research bookmarks open the matching Infrastructure tools.

### Street imagery: find, inspect and follow a sequence

1. In **Infrastructure**, select **Street imagery**, choose Panoramax or KartaView, and zoom to a street or neighbourhood. **Example area** supplies a practical starting location; it does not guarantee current source availability.
2. Choose **Search current area**. Panoramax searches the bounded map viewport; KartaView asks for photos near its centre. These are bounded photo reads, not exhaustive global coverage layers.
3. Select a marker or record. Inspect the capture date, upload date, creator/credit, licence and original-source link. A recently downloaded image can have been captured years earlier.
4. Use **Previous photo**, **Next photo** or **Load sequence** to inspect the available read. A sequence read is bounded to 100 photos; source omissions and longer sequences remain incomplete. A declared equirectangular image supports an interactive panorama; ordinary photographs remain flat images.

Panoramax images carry per-image licences. The workbench displays previews only for the supported declared licences and reviewed image hosts; other records remain source-link-only. KartaView imagery is credited to Grab and KartaView Contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. KartaView clocks without a verified timezone retain their native text and capture date; they are not turned into invented UTC instants. A missing compass is not assumed to face north.

**Mapillary is optional.** Save your own eligible client access token in **API Connections**, then choose Mapillary. Credentials stay encrypted in the existing owner vault. Query results are owner-private and are excluded from shared caches, Search, public MCP and scene evidence exports. A configured connection is not proof of imagery coverage or every display entitlement. No provider subscription or credential is bundled with the workbench.

### Private GIS: import and keep control of persistence

Choose **Infrastructure → My layers** and select or drop GeoJSON/JSON, KML, KMZ or GPX. Files are parsed in a browser worker and are not uploaded. Review the preview before choosing **Add preview to my layers**. The accepted coordinate system is WGS84 longitude/latitude; projected files need reprojection before import.

The file limit is 30 MiB, with bounded expanded KMZ size, feature count, coordinates and properties. DTDs, external entities, network links, encrypted archives and remote model references are rejected. Embedded external images/models are not imported. Descriptions and properties are sanitized and bounded; this is not a byte-for-byte archival importer. Original coordinate heights and accepted source timestamp arrays are retained, while rendering is two-dimensional. GPX track-segment gaps remain gaps; the workbench does not synthesize a vehicle animation from a path.

For each layer, use **Show/Hide**, **Locate**, **Export GeoJSON** or **Remove**. Imported and drawn features are session work until you choose **Save in this browser**. Saved work is scoped to the verified account in this browser's IndexedDB storage; it is not a server or cloud backup. Other devices and another browser profile will not automatically have it. Clearing browser data removes the local copy, so export a backup first. Browser-local files and previously exported backups are separate from server account records.

**Reload saved workspace** discards unsaved session edits only after confirmation. Concurrent saves use revisions: a conflicting tab must reload instead of silently overwriting another saved revision. An unknown saved format is preserved for **Recovery export** or an explicit **Reset this browser workspace**. Changing account or entering application replay hides private rendered work and stops active operations. Live private tools require verified access again before displaying saved work.

### Drawing and measurements

In **Infrastructure → Draw / measure**, name the annotation and select **Pin**, **Path** or **Area**. Click the map to add vertices; **Undo vertex** removes the last point and **Finish drawing** completes the annotation. Pins finish on a single click. **Cancel** or Escape abandons an unfinished drawing. Shared 2D map toolbars offer the same actions.

Lengths use a spherical-Earth great-circle calculation; polygon areas use spherical geometry. Values are research measurements, not surveyed boundaries, engineering lengths or legal parcel areas. Self-crossing drawn boundaries are rejected. Date-line display is unwrapped independently of the exported original coordinates. Use layer export and an appropriate GIS/survey workflow when precision matters.

### Satellite passes: predictions with a declared epoch

**Satellite passes** searches the existing public orbital catalogue for a name or NORAD number. Select the desired record, choose an observer latitude/longitude or **Use map centre**, set a UTC window of 1–72 hours and a minimum elevation. You can also enter from the selected satellite's detail in the Satellite & Sensor Data globe.

The planner propagates one selected OMM record with SGP4. It reports up to twelve qualifying passes, start/peak/end, peak elevation, rise bearing and modeled sunlight/dark-sky overlap. The first pass has an estimated ground track. If the object is already above the threshold at the start, its rise is unknown within the window; if it remains above the threshold at the end, the set is explicitly clipped rather than invented.

An element epoch older than seven days at the analysis date, a future-dated epoch or invalid elements is refused. **At the 16 October 2026 implementation audit, the existing CelesTrak collector was paused and its retained elements were dated 4 October.** The workbench does not reset that source pause or relabel those elements as current. To study their original period, choose a date near the element epoch and explicitly enable **Historical reconstruction**. To calculate from newer elements you already have, load a local OMM JSON object or array; those supplied elements stay in the session and are not independently authenticated by Watchtower.

Observer height is assumed to be sea level. Sunlight uses a cylindrical Earth-shadow model and approximate Sun position. Clouds, brightness and your local skyline are not modeled. “Visible” is modeled sunlight/darkness overlap, not a guarantee that a person will see the satellite, and a pass is not an imaging schedule. **Export calculations** retains the orbital epoch, analysis clock, actual calculation time and assumptions.

### Transit: real source positions, bounded coverage

Select an operator in **Mobility Intel → Transit positions**, choose **Go to operator** and **Load / refresh positions**. The initial enabled sources are Toronto TTC, Hamilton HSR, Durham Region Transit, Boston MBTA, Netherlands OVapi and Norway Entur. The Austin entry remains disabled pending qualification of a changing source download. Other agencies are outside this release.

The feed's native vehicle timestamp is preferred; a feed timestamp fallback is labelled. Positions older than ten minutes or materially future-dated are excluded. Unknown clocks remain explicitly unknown. Source speed is metres per second; no speed, bearing or movement is fabricated. TTC is a surface-vehicle feed and does not provide subway positions.

Filter loaded records by route, name or ID and inspect a marker for its original clock and source. **Refresh each minute** works only while this view is visible; source caching, capacity limits and permission/rate pauses still apply. An empty or partial feed does not mean that no vehicles are operating. Source evidence exports retain these qualifications and attribution.

### Canadian AQHI and public camera stills

**Weather Alerts → Canadian AQHI** and **Cameras → Canadian traffic stills** offer ECCC's Canadian Air Quality Health Index and reviewed DriveBC, Calgary and Toronto traffic-camera sources. Use **Go to source** to orient the map. AQHI is Canada's 1–10+ scale: low 1–3, moderate 4–6, high 7–10 and very high above 10. It is not US AQI and should not be compared numerically as if it were a universal pollution scale. The display flags aging observations and withholds the current value after six hours; a last reported value keeps its own observation time.

Camera entries are public reference locations and source-published still images. They are not guaranteed live video. A Watchtower image-check time is not the frame's capture time. Source camera direction can be unknown, and Calgary address quadrants are not compass bearings. DriveBC partner credits are retained and third-party imagery awaiting rights review is withheld. Ontario511's reviewed catalogue was unavailable at qualification; no camera inventory is inferred from that failure.

### Dated imagery: discover first, compare with context

1. Open **Satellite & Sensor Data → Compare imagery** and pan/zoom to a study area no larger than 25 square degrees on one side of the date line.
2. Choose HLS Sentinel-2, HLS Landsat 8/9 or both. Search a window of up to 32 days within the last year.
3. Inspect acquisition dates, source granule footprints and cloud metadata. **Use as A/B** fills the comparison controls. The read is bounded to 200 recent granules per product.
4. Choose **Load A / B comparison**. Both NASA Worldview Snapshot responses must explicitly confirm pixels before the paired preview appears. Drag the reveal control to inspect the two dated images, then **Export comparison recipe** to retain products, dates, area and check times.

HLS previews are 30 m products. The optional VIIRS NOAA-21 daily overview is 250 m and uses manually selected dates; it is not an HLS acquisition listing. The date labels describe source products, not continuous live imaging. A footprint or low whole-granule cloud percentage does not establish clear pixels everywhere in your selected area. Cloud, season, illumination and sensor differences can explain apparent change. This is visual comparison, not an automated change-detection or attribution model.

### Map briefings: a guided map story

Open **Infrastructure → Map briefings**, name the scene and capture a map view with a shot name, duration and notes. A shot records the camera and visible private-layer references. Optionally include up to 3,000 loaded public evidence geometries with their source clocks. Capture several shots, reorder them, edit duration/notes, preview a shot and use **Play**, **Pause** or **Stop / restore view**. A scene supports 1–40 shots and at most ten minutes total.

Playback uses captured metadata by default. The explicit **Refresh public source recipes during playback** option requests current public data instead. Imported evidence is supplied by the scene author and is not independently authenticated. Captured camera/photo metadata does not archive image bytes or reproduce an old live camera frame. Private Mapillary output is excluded from captured shared evidence.

**Save scene to workspace** retains the scene in session; **Save in this browser** persists the workspace. **Export scene JSON** shares a portable definition. Referenced private geometry is excluded by default. Enable **Include referenced private geometry** only when you want recipients to receive and read that data; up to twelve layers may be included. Importing a scene is a local operation. Reviewing its notes and provenance remains important even when its schema validates.

### A practical combined workflow

Import a study boundary you are entitled to use, locate it, and add a named research pin. Inspect dated street imagery around the pin, then compare two suitable satellite-preview dates. If relevant, add public transit or Canadian AQHI/camera context. Capture a short scene with explicit notes about what each source can and cannot establish. Save locally and export the scene with only the private geometry you deliberately intend to share.

The [Integrated map-source methods](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/spatial-research-methods.html) document the source list, limits, attribution and failure behavior. [Third-party software notices](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/spatial-research-notices.txt) retain the licences for selected adapted God’s Eye View algorithms and bundled viewer/parser libraries.

### Check your understanding

Where is the former standalone Spatial Research functionality now?

A. In the relevant existing workspaces, with private map work under Infrastructure
B. Permanently removed from every workspace
C. Automatically uploaded to a shared cloud map

**Answer A:** The map tools were integrated into their domain workspaces; their storage and source meanings remain distinct.


## Corporate, fund and instrument ratings / CDS

**Goal:** Find broad agency reference coverage and inspect reported CDS transactions without mixing entities or contracts.

- Choose a rating reference
- Inspect scope and dates
- Inspect a CDS disclosure

1. **Choose a rating reference.** Open Global Bonds → Ratings & CDS. Use issuer/instrument, agency, country, LEI/ISIN and horizon filters.
2. **Inspect scope and dates.** Read the actual rated name, parent boundary, grade type, original action date and source status. Vehicle-name matches need review.
3. **Inspect a CDS disclosure.** Keep spread, coupon, upfront, currency, UPI, lifecycle and publication/execution dates distinct. Teaching example: credit-fields.

**Example:** Keep spread, coupon, upfront, currency, UPI, lifecycle and publication/execution dates distinct.

### Find the exact rated object

Open **Global Bonds → Ratings & CDS**. Use Issuer ratings or Funds, vehicles & instruments, then narrow by name, agency reporting code, country, rated object, horizon, exact issuer LEI or instrument ISIN. Companies & Commodities Ratings, issuer profiles and company dossiers provide contextual entry points. Bank Run Monitor and Financial Stress link to the wider reference workspace.

These are source-qualified agency opinions. A parent, subsidiary, issuer, bond, programme, tranche and fund can be different rated objects. A fund holding’s grade is not a fund-wide rating. A name search returns candidates; even an exact dossier-supplied LEI lookup does not independently verify the earlier dossier identity resolution. National/global scales and different agencies are not silently converted into one ordinal score.

Read original action time, register update time, retrieval time, agency and status. ‘No withdrawal flag reported’ is not independent certification of current validity. Source record counts include multiple agencies/horizons/objects and can include historical references. Vehicle discovery also includes relevant source-category/name matches; it is not an exhaustive legal-fund taxonomy.

### Read a CDS disclosure

Choose CDS disclosures, a reporting jurisdiction, product and publication-day window. Open a reported reference group or an individual row. Distinguish single-name/index CDS, tranches, options and other credit derivatives. The retained window concerns publication days, not necessarily execution dates.

Spread notation 3 is decimal × 10,000 basis points; 4 is already basis points. Keep raw values/codes. A fixed coupon, upfront payment, monetary price, capped notional and missing spread are different fields. Reserved/unknown values do not become zero; genuine reported zero is preserved. No probability of default or par spread is invented from a coupon/upfront.

Read original/correction/superseding identifiers, lifecycle and the exact currency/effective/expiry terms. Reporting jurisdictions/provinces can overlap; report counts are not unique trades or net exposure. Generic product labels are not company names. Reported underlier names and UPI/obligation identifiers are not automatic issuer matches.

The existing BSW/CMA-ICE five-year bank reference remains a separate selected-issuer table, and earlier model CDS proxies retain their model label. These records are research evidence with original dates, not an executable continuous quote feed.

[Credit ratings and CDS methods](/watchtower/credit-ratings-cds-methods.html) · [Bank CDS methods](/watchtower/bank-cds-methods.html)

### Check your understanding

Does an old rating record with no withdrawal flag independently certify a current rating?

A. Yes
B. No; inspect the source status and original dates
C. Only for investment grade

**Answer B:** The guide and workspace preserve the as-reported reference; current validity is not independently certified.


## Country demographics and population pyramids

**Goal:** Read country demographic series, pyramids and archived cultural references in compatible periods and definitions.

- Choose a country and topic
- Inspect a population pyramid
- Read archived social references carefully

1. **Choose a country and topic.** Open Countries and select Demographics for the desired statistical topic.
2. **Inspect a population pyramid.** Use a common source year and understand within-sex versus total-population denominators.
3. **Read archived social references carefully.** Keep original years, wording, overlaps and coverage; affiliation/language/origin data are context, not individual traits or country-risk scores.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### Choose a topic and an observation year

Open **Countries → Demographics**. Select a country/territory and use the age/sex, families/health, education/work, migration/living and cultural-reference topics. Read each indicator’s source year, definition, unit and coverage before comparing countries. The full reference directory is not full statistical coverage.

### Read a population pyramid

The population pyramid uses compatible same-year age/sex inputs. Within-sex age shares are different from shares of the total population; the stated sex shares convert the denominators. Missing cohorts or incompatible years remain unavailable rather than being interpolated into a complete-looking pyramid. The representation follows the source categories and does not enumerate every possible individual gender identity.

### Keep social/cultural references qualified

Religious affiliation, belief, language, origin and ethnicity use different concepts. Archived source statements can overlap and can have different dates and geographical scopes. A historical affiliation label is not an inference about a person’s beliefs, practice, politics or identity. These references are not country-risk scores.

Select a common source year for statistical comparisons where supported; changing that selector does not re-date archived prose. Inspect the original wording and source links, then export the selected evidence with its definitions.

[Country demographics methods](/watchtower/country-demographics-methods.html)

### Check your understanding

Can different age/sex cohort years be silently mixed into a current pyramid?

A. Yes
B. No; a coherent pyramid requires compatible same-year inputs
C. Only if values are percentages

**Answer B:** Year and denominator alignment matter; missing cohorts remain missing.


## All 13 Assistant tools: choosing and checking

**Goal:** Choose among all 13 Assistant tasks and verify the evidence, plan, support and permitted follow-up actions.

- Choose the right task
- Inspect inputs and output boundaries
- Review the result

1. **Choose the right task.** Open Assistant and select the task that matches your question; the Extended text lists all 13.
2. **Inspect inputs and output boundaries.** Review public context, selected sources, document excerpts, original dates and the preview before choosing Run AI.
3. **Review the result.** Inspect supporting spans, source links and gaps. Native actions and alert drafts require your explicit use of their controls.

**Example:** Apply this workflow to one deliberately selected source/entity/period; retain the evidence and any unanswered questions.

### A practical task chooser

Open **Assistant**, choose a task, write a focused question, and review the public context/source selection. Use **Preview evidence** before **Run AI**. The account’s configured OpenAI connection, access, request limits and provider availability apply. The interactive Simple/Extended learning guide works without that connection.

| Task | Useful input and output | Check before using it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI Help Guide | A question about using Watchtower; explanation from versioned public documentation | Current learning guide and feature methods outrank older handbook text |
| Contextual Analyst | A focused question and selected public evidence; cited findings/gaps | Original spans, source dates and selected scope |
| Explain risk & change | Existing score components and compatible before/after evidence | A changed score alone does not identify a cause |
| Semantic search & Data Q&A | Entity/place/measure/period; expanded query and reranked candidates | Typed query plan and bounded source pages; not a precomputed complete vector corpus |
| Multilingual claim extraction | Original source text | Event, claim, plan, denial and history remain distinct |
| Country-role review | Original text about countries | Affected/actor/mentioned is subject context, not verified incident GPS |
| Semantic report linking | A selection of source reports | Candidate links do not merge records or establish independence |
| Contradictions & revisions | Claims with compatible subjects, periods and scopes | A revision or changed denominator is not automatically a contradiction |
| Cited briefing | Question, audience, period and evidence standard | Draft scope, original dates, contrary evidence and gaps |
| Alert triage & rule drafts | A source field, operator and threshold | Native editor review; no automatic save/enable |
| Document analysis | Explicit text/PDF or supported official-source document | Page/excerpt bounds; image transcription is labelled and needs original-page review |
| Map query assistant | A geographic question and suitable source geometry | Country anchors and inferred points are not verified facility/event coordinates |
| Forecast evidence review | Exact target/model/issuance/performance evidence | Advisory review does not rewrite outcomes or establish calibration |

### Follow the evidence trail

Open Evidence to inspect citations, original source links and qualifications. Plans show the interpreted query and any supported deterministic calculation. Model statements need source support; support checks do not prove the publisher’s claim. Source instructions are data, not commands to the assistant.

### Explicit actions and context

Navigation, supported filters/highlights, Deep Analyst handoff and unsaved alert drafts require explicit user actions and current context. The assistant does not automatically read private cases, portfolios, browser storage or provider secrets. Attachments are explicit per-request inputs, not an automatic import of private work. Account/replay changes clear or cancel in-flight private context.

Document input is bounded: text and selected PDF excerpts have limits, and image-only pages can require labelled AI transcription. Original legal/source wording and exceptions take precedence over a summary. Read the actual tool’s current size and usage limits.

[Assistant reference](/watchtower/assistant-guide.html)

### Check your understanding

Does opening the Assistant or a guide lesson automatically run the model?

A. Yes
B. No; generation is an explicit action
C. Only in Extended mode

**Answer B:** The learning guide is static/client-side; AI generation uses the separate configured account workflow when requested.


## Capability directory

- **Summary** (Market Overview): Scan source-qualified market benchmarks, identities, units and observation clocks. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **US curve** (Market Overview): Read the US Treasury curve by tenor and distinguish yields from their changes. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Ratios** (Market Overview): Inspect the defined market/commodity ratios and the sources behind each comparison. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Global yields** (Market Overview): Compare available government-yield references with their country and source dates. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Fear & Greed** (Market Overview): Inspect the cross-asset Fear & Greed view, its composition and coverage. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-fear-greed-market-tone-and-bond-move-units).
- **Market Tone** (Market Overview): Read Market Tone as its own stated price/input-based gauge. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-fear-greed-market-tone-and-bond-move-units).
- **FX strength** (Market Overview): Inspect currency-strength context without confusing reference rates, returns and economic exposure. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Natural Hazards** (Main workspaces): Inspect observed hazards, warnings, forecasts and historical/reference layers with their source definitions. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-weather-alerts-and-natural-hazards).
- **My Watchtower** (Main workspaces): Manage the private personal watch/change/inbox/briefing workflow under the current account. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-my-watchtower).
- **Calendar** (Main workspaces): Check event schedules, release values, revisions and source time zones. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-economic-calendar).
- **Forecast Lab** (Main workspaces): Review defined market/scenario/energy targets, evidence, historical research and genuine issued outcomes. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-forecast-lab-and-energy-outlook).
- **Social** (Main workspaces): Inspect public social-source reporting, original posts, source clocks and uncertainty. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Linked Events** (Main workspaces): Follow related source records, revisions, evidence links and local research context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-linked-events-and-incident-graph).
- **Insurance Stress** (Main workspaces): Compare insurance evidence and worldwide hazard/conflict/unrest context without inferring carrier losses. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-insurance-risk-resilience).
- **Crypto Intel** (Main workspaces): Explore token/network, protocol and market evidence with exact identities and source scope. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-crypto-intel-and-digital-asset-research).
- **Global Bonds** (Main workspaces): Research curves, sovereign/corporate credit, ratings/CDS, derivatives, offshore currencies and funding sources. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-global-bonds-financial-stress-deposits-and-bank-run-monitor).
- **Global Markets** (Main workspaces): Explore worldwide market references, regional views, identities, coverage and exports. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Global Politics** (Main workspaces): Read governance indicators, political news and official/report-based legislative updates by source and period. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-countries-and-global-politics).
- **Geopolitical Risk** (Main workspaces): Inspect country/region outlook, fiscal and market context, evidence, catalysts and defined model outputs. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-geopolitical-risk-and-outcome-tree).
- **Outcome Tree** (Main workspaces): Explore authored cross-domain scenario pathways, sensitivity, dependence and outcome evidence. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-geopolitical-risk-and-outcome-tree).
- **Countries** (Main workspaces): Build country dossiers, compare source series and inspect demographics, profiles and source references. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-countries-and-global-politics).
- **Bayes Threat · Ancap Welcomeness** (Main workspaces): Inspect declared country-comparison pillars, missing-input bounds and source-qualified tax/fee details. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-bayes-threat-ancap-welcomeness-and-country-taxes).
- **Global Wealth / Affordability** (Main workspaces): Read wealth, consumer-price and affordability evidence with source years, currencies and comparison scope. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-global-wealth-and-affordability).
- **Monetary Predictions** (Main workspaces): Explore monetary/gold/resource evidence and declared scenario or comparison methods. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-monetary-predictions-gold-and-commodity-wars).
- **CBDC & Digital Money** (Main workspaces): Compare digital-money programmes and CBDC policy evidence with source-reported development stages. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-sanctions-ownership-and-cbdc-digital-money).
- **Mobility Intel** (Main workspaces): Inspect airport, port, rail, border, corridor and transit references/observations with coverage limits. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-marine-and-mobility-intel).
- **Global Debt** (Main workspaces): Research sector/country debt evidence and source-anchored optional debt-clock illustrations. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-global-debt-and-source-anchored-debt-clocks).
- **Global Risk Overview** (Main workspaces): Use Global Risk Overview’s country/region evidence map, matrix and embedded Systemic workbench. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-risk-overview-and-systemic-risk).
- **Data Q&A** (Main workspaces): Ask supported structured questions and inspect reviewed source values, evidence and native pages. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-data-q-a-ai-analysis-and-oracle).
- **AI Analysis** (Main workspaces): Use the entitled deeper AI analysis/report workflow with explicit question, evidence and account scope. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-data-q-a-ai-analysis-and-oracle).
- **Incident Graph** (Main workspaces): Inspect source-linked incident context and graph relationships without assuming independent verification. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-linked-events-and-incident-graph).
- **Entity Explorer** (Main workspaces): Explore reported entities and relationships; review identifiers and source lineage. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-linked-events-and-incident-graph).
- **Sanctions / Ownership** (Main workspaces): Inspect sanctions/ownership references with exact identities, authority, programme and dates. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-sanctions-ownership-and-cbdc-digital-money).
- **Cyber Exposure** (Main workspaces): Read vulnerability, incident and network context without equating a reference with a confirmed compromise. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-outages-and-cyber-exposure).
- **Satellite & Sensor Data** (Main workspaces): Inspect satellite/sensor references, dated imagery comparisons and epoch-qualified pass calculations. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **Infrastructure** (Main workspaces): Explore physical/network layers, street imagery, private GIS, drawing and map briefings. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-infrastructure-and-pacific-subsea-networks).
- **War Room** (Main workspaces): Use guided place/dam/history questions or the full investigation, case and terrain/radio tools. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-war-room-monitoring-investigations-and-terrain-tools).
- **Commodity Atlas** (Main workspaces): Inspect commodity/site/network reference layers and original source geometry/periods. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-commodity-atlas-commodities-data-and-gas-facilities).
- **Commodities Data** (Main workspaces): Use the data-oriented commodity companion for source-defined rows, measures and map context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-commodity-atlas-commodities-data-and-gas-facilities).
- **Companies** (Main workspaces): Resolve issuer/listing identities, financial facts, filings, company profiles and separate credit references. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-companies-and-issuer-research).
- **Financial Stress** (Main workspaces): Inspect banking, funding, flow, positioning and wider financial-stress evidence and methods. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-global-bonds-financial-stress-deposits-and-bank-run-monitor).
- **Deposits** (Main workspaces): Read deposit/liquidity measures with their definitions, source coverage and reporting periods. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-global-bonds-financial-stress-deposits-and-bank-run-monitor).
- **Prediction Markets** (Main workspaces): Inspect prediction-market contract terms, deadlines, resolution sources and market context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-prediction-markets).
- **Cameras** (Main workspaces): Search public camera references, use explicit viewing-wall controls and inspect mapped Flock locations. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-cameras-viewing-walls-and-flock-locations).
- **Bank Run Monitor** (Main workspaces): Inspect institution/system banking evidence, model context and the selected published bank CDS reference. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-global-bonds-financial-stress-deposits-and-bank-run-monitor).
- **Pro Brief** (Main workspaces): Start with a concise source-dated briefing, then follow important claims to their evidence homes. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-daily-summary-pro-brief-and-signal-board).
- **Signal Board** (Main workspaces): Triage displayed signals and inspect the exact measure or source behind a tile. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-daily-summary-pro-brief-and-signal-board).
- **Alert Screen** (Main workspaces): Use the configured monitoring/alert display and read its chosen conditions and metrics. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-daily-summary-pro-brief-and-signal-board).
- **Watchtower Search** (Main workspaces): Search the retained public corpus and follow qualified results to source records and workspaces. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-watchtower-search).
- **Alerts** (Main workspaces): Inspect alerts and rule definitions, including evaluation location, freshness, unknowns and delivery. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-alerts-and-intelligence-rule-studio).
- **Portfolio** (Main workspaces): Review owner-scoped holdings/exposure inputs, source quotes, valuation gaps and explicit saves. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-portfolio-personal-relevance-and-exposure-monitoring).
- **Reports** (Main workspaces): Read or request an entitled report and preserve its edition, period and evidence manifest. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-reports-and-evidence-backed-briefings).
- **Marine** (Main workspaces): Read maritime, port and chokepoint evidence and distinguish movement observations from references. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-marine-and-mobility-intel).
- **Air / Aviation** (Main workspaces): Inspect public aircraft/contact observations, replay/context and supported private research/watch features. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-air-aviation).
- **Conflict / Military** (Main workspaces): Review source-qualified public conflict/military reports, observations and historical context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-conflict-military).
- **Outages** (Main workspaces): Inspect disruption evidence by source, service, geography and original event/publication times. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-outages-and-cyber-exposure).
- **Weather Alerts** (Main workspaces): Read official warnings, weather products and source-specific area/validity windows. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-weather-alerts-and-natural-hazards).
- **Health / Biosecurity** (Main workspaces): Inspect public-health/biosecurity observations with definitions, denominators, periods and source scope. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-health-biosecurity-and-crime-terror).
- **Crime & Terror** (Main workspaces): Read source-qualified crime/security events and statistics without assuming complete reporting. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-health-biosecurity-and-crime-terror).
- **Breaking** (News feed): Read the current breaking-news selection and inspect each original report and publication clock. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Economics** (News feed): Focus the newsroom on economic reporting while keeping claims and observations distinct. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Technology** (News feed): Focus on technology reporting and inspect the original claim/source context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Health / Bio** (News feed): Read health/biosecurity reporting with the source’s evidence, dates and terminology. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Natural Disasters** (News feed): Read natural-hazard reporting alongside the relevant official/event workspace. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Search** (News feed): Search the news selection deliberately and open the original source record. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Narratives** (News feed): Follow narrative/reporting patterns while checking source lineage and changes in scope. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-news-social-and-narratives).
- **Commodities** (Markets panel): Inspect commodity-market reference rows with instrument, currency, unit and source time. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Indices** (Markets panel): Inspect equity index/benchmark rows; this is distinct from an individual-company universe. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Forex** (Markets panel): Read FX pairs and their reference/change conventions with the relevant source clock. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Crypto** (Markets panel): Read crypto market price rows, then use Crypto Intel for deeper token/network context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Global Stocks** (Markets panel): Explore available global stock references and preserve company/listing-country qualifications. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-market-overview-markets-and-global-markets).
- **Live** (Space Weather): Read current space-weather observations with source issue/observation times. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **Threats** (Space Weather): Inspect space-weather threat/warning products and their validity windows. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **Forecast** (Space Weather): Read forecast products with the source’s horizon and uncertainty rather than treating them as observations. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **Aurora** (Space Weather): Inspect aurora-related products with their source and observation/forecast meaning. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **Asteroids** (Space Weather): Read asteroid/reference approaches with their stated object/time/model context. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **Sources** (Space Weather): Inspect the space-weather source catalogue and qualifications behind the panel. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-space-weather-and-satellite-sensor-data).
- **AI Help Guide** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Contextual Analyst** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Explain risk & change** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Semantic search & Data Q&A** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Multilingual claim extraction** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Country-role review** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Semantic report linking** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Contradictions & revisions** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Cited briefing** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Alert triage & rule drafts** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Document analysis** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Map query assistant** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Forecast evidence review** (Assistant): Use this explicitly requested AI task with selected public evidence or product documentation. Inspect inputs, citations, scope and the current account/provider status. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-assistant-tools).
- **Map Layers** (Shared controls): Open the main layer directory; specialist maps also have their own layer controls. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-navigation-and-workspace-controls).
- **Evidence inspector** (Shared controls): Inspect the selected item and its source/clock/meaning in the native evidence pane. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-reading-data-correctly).
- **Timeline** (Shared controls): Inspect current timeline/replay context with the source’s own event definitions. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-replay-saved-work-and-exports).
- **Commands** (Shared controls): Find supported native tools and navigation entries by name. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-navigation-and-workspace-controls).
- **Workspace fullscreen** (Shared controls): Expand a current workspace while retaining the same native view. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-navigation-and-workspace-controls).
- **Customize Workspace** (Shared controls): Review supported panel, layout and preference controls before saving or resetting. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-navigation-and-workspace-controls).
- **API Connections & Add-ons** (Shared controls): Configure eligible owned provider connections through the native account controls. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-api-connections-and-ai-agent-mcp-access).
- **Hosted AI Agent MCP** (Shared controls): Create an appropriately scoped token and discover the live reviewed dataset catalogue. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-api-connections-and-ai-agent-mcp-access).
- **Report an issue** (Shared controls): Describe the affected workspace, action, time and visible error using native reporting/support. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-troubleshooting-and-reporting-a-problem).
- **Learning progress** (Shared controls): Resume public lessons and practice checks; guide progress does not grant account permissions. [Lesson](https://www.watchtower.technology/watchtower/guide.html#extended/extended-navigation-and-workspace-controls).

## Glossary

- **Advanced:** The broader capability-gated specialist workspace, distinct from the public brief.
- **Alert:** A particular monitoring condition/result. Always identify its evaluator and delivery channel.
- **API:** A programmatic interface; availability of a route does not grant every source licence.
- **Basis point (bp/bps):** One hundredth of a percentage point. A 4.00% to 4.10% yield move is 10 bps.
- **CAP:** Common Alerting Protocol. A message is an issuing product, not necessarily one distinct physical event.
- **Canonical home:** The main workspace for a data family; other views can link or summarise it.
- **Catalogue:** Registered interfaces, fields, sources or references; registration differs from usable current data.
- **Collected / checked:** Watchtower's retrieval or verification clock, not automatically the original observation time.
- **Confidence / support:** A source/model-specific concept. Read its definition; it is not a universal probability of truth.
- **Coverage:** Which places, times, entities or source records a dataset actually supports.
- **CSV:** A tabular export. Preserve units, period, source and selection scope.
- **Daily bar:** A source trading-session record. Its timestamp is not necessarily a current last-trade clock.
- **Derived:** Calculated from stated inputs rather than separately observed.
- **Exposure:** A defined relationship to an asset, place or event; association alone is not measured loss.
- **Fixing:** A dated reference exchange-rate determination; distinct from an executable live quote.
- **Forecast horizon:** The exact future window or session count for a specified target.
- **Gated / ineligible:** A required access, source, definition, freshness or evidence condition is not met.
- **GeoJSON:** A geographic export format; geometry still needs its source and precision label.
- **Heuristic:** An authored screening rule or transformation, not necessarily an empirically calibrated prediction.
- **Immutable edition / issuance:** A record whose original content/identity is retained; corrections use separate versions or outcomes.
- **JSON Pointer:** A path such as /sources/0 selecting a field/subtree in a structured response.
- **Last known / retained:** Previously accepted evidence retained with its original clocks and state.
- **Locality reference:** Approximate place context, not a surveyed site or exact event position.
- **MCP:** Model Context Protocol: a way for an authorised AI client to discover/call the reviewed tools.
- **Missing / null:** No qualified value supplied. It is not a numerical zero.
- **Model version:** The definition/calculation identity needed to compare or reproduce an output.
- **Nominal / real / PPP:** Current monetary units, inflation-adjusted values and purchasing-power comparisons; not interchangeable.
- **Observation period:** The date/month/quarter/year or interval a statistic describes.
- **Owner-scoped:** Bound to the verified account rather than shared across signed-in users.
- **Percent / percentage point:** A relative ratio/change versus an arithmetic difference between percentages.
- **Prospective:** Actually issued before the target outcome, with its real issue time and frozen evidence.
- **Published-vintage replay:** Historical reconstruction using currently available historical data, which may contain revisions.
- **Reference-only:** A useful directory/method/source link without a qualified integrated numerical feed.
- **Replay:** A captured historical application/source context; it is not an instruction to fill gaps with live data.
- **Resolution:** The defined process that records whether a forecast's exact target occurred with sufficient evidence.
- **Scenario / sensitivity:** A conditional assumption or changed-input experiment, not automatically a confidence interval.
- **Snapshot:** A captured generation used for coherent reads; native source and MCP snapshots can be separate.
- **Source-revised:** A source change affects compatibility with a frozen record; scoring can be withheld.
- **Stale / partial:** Outside the source-age requirement or incomplete in the declared scope.
- **Stock / flow:** A balance at a point in time versus an amount measured over an interval.
- **TVL / volume / fees / revenue:** Distinct digital-asset measures that should not be added or substituted without a defined basis.
- **Watchlist:** A saved selection. Its storage, evaluation and notification behaviour depends on the feature.
- **Yield:** A rate for the specified instrument/convention, not its price return.
- **Basis point:** One hundredth of a percentage point. 100 bps equals 1 percentage point.
- **CDS spread:** A reported credit-derivative spread field with its own contract, source time and price notation.
- **Coupon:** A contractual fixed payment rate; it is not automatically the observed market spread.
- **Upfront payment:** A separately reported monetary payment, not a par spread or probability.
- **LEI:** A legal-entity identifier. Check the source entity and parent boundary rather than relying on a similar name.
- **ISIN:** A securities identifier for a particular instrument; not automatically an issuer identity.
- **UPI:** A derivative product identifier; it is not a legal-entity identifier.
- **Prospective forecast:** A forecast actually issued before its outcome, under a frozen target/input definition.
- **Current-vintage backtest:** Historical research reconstructed using a stated data vintage; not automatically an issued live forecast.
- **Source record:** A published/retained row or document; multiple records can describe the same event.
- **Learning progress:** Your local lesson/check history. It is not a credential, access grant or proof of source/model accuracy.
- **Unknown:** An unestablished value or condition, distinct from a reported zero or known false.
- **National rating scale:** An agency’s scope-specific ranking system; it is not automatically interchangeable with a global scale.