> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gdeltcloud.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Brief Skills > Standardized GDELT Cloud Brief skills, structured output, scheduling, and billing behavior ## Overview GDELT Cloud Briefs are structured intelligence products generated by the hosted Brief agent and rendered as shareable Web Brief reports. The Brief agent does not improvise its own report format. It preloads: * `gdelt_brief_system_prompt` from the MCP server * the shared Brief tradecraft skill from MCP resources * the selected Brief production skill from MCP resources * the matching `briefs.v1` structured content schema from the shared contracts package The model populates only the analysis/content fields. Runtime software appends deterministic metadata, citations, appendix/tool diagnostics, run IDs, share/export state, and persistence fields. ## Brief Types | Brief type | Skill purpose | Strong public pattern libraries | | ------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Daily Operational Risk Brief | Concise morning intelligence: what changed, why it matters, and what to watch. | CIA President's Daily Brief, ISW daily campaign assessments | | Crisis SITREP / Flash Update | Operational update for an active incident, disruption, attack, protest, disaster, or outage. | UN OCHA SITREPs, UKMTO/JMIC maritime advisories | | Indications & Warning Watch Brief | Forward-looking warning built from observable indicators and tripwires. | CrisisWatch, DHS NTAS, CISA advisories | | Country, Sector & Supplier Exposure Monitor | Recurring exposure monitor for countries, sectors, suppliers, assets, routes, ports, and portfolios. | Control Risks RiskMap, IRC Watchlist, IMB piracy reports | ## Evidence Workflow Every Brief skill follows the same evidence loop: ```text theme={null} Structured event signal → baseline comparison → Story cluster evidence → corroboration → operational relevance → key judgment → confidence / caveat → watch indicator → finished Brief content ``` GDELT Cloud Events provide the structured signal. GDELT Cloud Stories provide the narrative and source/article layer. External MCP categories enrich the analysis when relevant: | External category | Use in Briefs | | --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `web_research_*` | Official statements, emergency guidance, port/maritime advisories, procurement pages, source extraction, and corroboration. | | `macro_finance_*` | Commodities, FX, rates, equities, shipping, energy, sovereign-risk, and sector-channel exposure. | | `prediction_market_*` | Market-implied probability context only when the contract maps cleanly to the scenario. Never use markets as ground truth. | Open-web AIS, ADS-B, ports, USAspending, SAM.gov, Open Contracting, Global Fishing Watch, OpenSky, PortWatch, and similar sources are treated as corroboration targets through `web_research_*` until GDELT Cloud exposes normalized native connectors for them. Briefs should preserve visual evidence from tool payloads when available. Event and Story cards can carry top-article `image_url`, article `domain_avatar_url`, and linked Entity `image_url` / `avatar_url`. Entity tools can carry Wikipedia thumbnail metadata. These fields should improve reader orientation and source recognition, not substitute for analytic evidence. For time-series panels, Brief agents should collect real history: * GDELT Cloud summaries: call `summarize_events` or `summarize_stories` with `group_by=date` over a recent window such as 14 or 30 days, then compare the current bucket against baseline or prior buckets. * Macro finance: use provider-supported historical or series tools; normalized outputs expose `series`, `latest_value`, and `latest_date` when history is available. * Prediction markets: use `include_history=true` where available; normalized outputs may expose `probability_series`. Do not render or describe two-point placeholder trends as meaningful analysis. If a tool only returns a current value, say that the series is unavailable and use the value as context, not proof. ## Separation Of Concerns ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart LR User[User or schedule] --> App[GDELT Cloud] App --> Contracts[Shared briefs.v1 contracts] App --> Agent[Brief agent] Agent --> MCP[MCP server] MCP --> Prompt[gdelt_brief_system_prompt] MCP --> Skills[Shared tradecraft skill + Brief type skill] MCP --> Tools[GDELT Cloud, web research, macro finance, prediction markets] Agent --> Content[Structured Brief content only] Content --> App App --> Artifact[Brief artifact: content + deterministic metadata, citations, appendix] Artifact --> Store[(Brief store)] Artifact --> Render[Web Brief report] Store --> Share[Private/public share routes] Schedule[Scheduled run] --> App ``` | Layer | Owns | | ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | MCP | Prompts, tools, resources, task skills, Brief skills, code/reference resources. | | Shared contracts | `briefs.v1` input schemas, content schemas, artifact schema, registry. | | Brief agent | Fetches MCP prompt/skills, uses MCP tools, applies the selected structured response schema, returns Brief content. | | GDELT Cloud app | Validates inputs, starts one-off or scheduled Brief runs, persists artifacts, renders Web Brief reports, and manages sharing. | | Brief store | Stores Briefs, schedules, batches, runs, share keys, plan limits, and usage logs. | Agents and frontend code should know only stable MCP identifiers such as prompt names, skill URIs, and tool category tags. The details of GDELT Cloud tool schemas and analysis tradecraft live in MCP. ## Structured Output Brief content schemas contain only agent-populated analytical content: * BLUF / key takeaway * key judgments with confidence * material changes versus baseline * evidence-backed developments * affected areas, actors, timelines, scorecards, or indicators depending on Brief type * outlook * watch indicators * recommended actions * caveats and uncertainty Software appends: * schema/artifact version * run and thread IDs * citations and source indexes * appendix/tool diagnostics * share and export state * owner/public visibility controls ## Scheduling And Plans Brief schedules use the same knobs as Alerts: | Knob | Values | | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Enabled | on/off | | Frequency | `hourly`, `daily`, `weekly` | | Allowance | plan-level `max_briefs`; `null` means unlimited | | Minimum frequency | plan-level `min_brief_frequency`; for example `daily` allows daily and weekly but blocks hourly | Scheduled Briefs are queued and processed by the same internal cron pattern as Alerts, with admin testing endpoints and an admin console. ## Query Units Direct MCP access and hosted agent access are metered differently: | Caller | Usage source | QU per MCP data tool call | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -----------: | ------------------------: | | User's own MCP client, ChatGPT connector, Claude connector, or custom LangChain agent | `mcp` | 1 QU | | GDELT Cloud Agent UI | `agent` | 5 QU | | GDELT Cloud hosted Brief agent, including scheduled Briefs | `brief` | 0 QU; metered in BU | The Agent multiplier applies to GDELT Cloud data tools and external MCP categories. Briefs are metered separately in Brief Units, so their tool calls are recorded for reporting but do not debit QU. ## Related MCP prompts used by general and Brief agents. How agents discover and call MCP tool categories.