Federal Index
Methodology
Methodology and corrections
How Federal Index decides what to read, how it checks what it holds, how it keeps source text apart from its own analysis, and how errors are corrected. Version 1.0, published .
In brief
- A person approves every new source before it is read.
- A source is described as coverage only while it is producing documents: at least 10 held, and a successful read within 14 days of the measurement.
- Every date has a type, and “last updated” is never used.
- Citations in an interpretation must appear in the source document, or the interpretation is stopped.
- Corrections are published here with their date.
How sources are added
Federal Index identifies government bodies and publishers that customers’ footprints reach and proposes adding them. A person reviews and approves each addition before it is read; nothing enters coverage automatically. Additions are weighted toward the jurisdictions customers operate in, and the Coverage Commitment requires written notice to account holders when a new level of government enters coverage.
How sources are checked
The corpus is measured as a whole, and every public figure on this site comes from that one measurement, stated beside the date it was taken. A source is named as producing — and counted toward coverage — only when it holds at least 10 documents and returned a successful read within the 14 days before the measurement. The most recent measurement was taken on : 75,510 documents, 16 federal sources and 18 county governments.
When a source pauses or is retired
A source that stops returning documents for 14 days moves out of the producing tables on the Source Register into “holding documents, not currently reading”, and is no longer described as coverage anywhere on this site until it reads again. Connections that return nothing are listed separately, so the register shows its gaps. A reduction in contracted coverage is notified in writing under the Coverage Commitment.
Dates and status
Each document keeps its own type — final rule, proposed rule, notice, bill, opinion, enforcement record — and each date its own meaning. A document carries its published date, its effective date when it has one, and the end of its comment period; a proposed rule shows its comment period, never an effective date. The dates Federal Index records about its own work — source last read, indexed, briefing written, reviewed — are defined on the Source Register.
Source text and analysis
What the government published and what Federal Index says about it are shown separately. Federal Index uses AI to summarize and classify documents. Two checks sit in front of anything a customer sees: every citation in an interpretation that identifies a statute or regulation must appear in its source document, or the interpretation is stopped; and every customer-facing summary passes an automated review against its source text before it is published. Only analysis a person at Federal Index has checked is described as reviewed or verified.
Applicability is not decided by Federal Index. Relevance is expressed as “may apply” or “needs review”, and the customer’s own reviewers decide. A citation shows where a statement comes from; it does not show that the statement applies to a particular organization.
Publishers and access services
A government publisher issues the record; an access service carries it. Both are named, each is labelled, and the official record is linked wherever it can be addressed. See access services on the Source Register.
Corrections
If a source is missing, a count looks wrong, or a document Federal Index cited does not say what it was said to say, write to hello@federalindex.us. Corrections to Federal Index publications — briefings, coverage notes and methodology notes — are listed below with their date and what changed. Changes to coverage are versioned in the Coverage Commitment.
| Date | Publication | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| No corrections have been issued as of . | ||
Versions
This page is version 1.0, published . Material changes to the method will be recorded here with their date.