Documents, citations, and sourcing
Choose the right source lane and identify the records you need when an examination stops with a gap.
Start with a prepared local packet for the pilot. Live web research adds provider requirements, external costs, and record-identity checks.
Prepared local records are the default
provider="fixture" searches the prepared server-side document folder. It avoids live portal navigation and document purchases. The full analysis still consumes model credits.
Choose a registered survey by its exact name from list_surveys. A path on your laptop is not a server-side document folder. There is no MCP upload tool or standalone upload dashboard.
To prepare a new packet:
- Agree on a private transfer method with the project owner.
- Send the PDFs with county, state, survey, and subject-tract context.
- Have the owner place the records beneath the server repository’s
data/directory and prepare the registered survey or server-sidedocs_dir. - Confirm the exact survey name or request values with the owner before starting.
You are ready when the owner confirms that the service can access the packet and supplies the case identity. Follow Your first examination to start it.
Provider capabilities
A provider searches for and retrieves records. Selecting one does not guarantee that a particular record is available.
| Provider | Source lane | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
fixture | Prepared local PDFs | Missing cited records remain gaps |
openarchive | Authoritative open-archive sources | Does not resolve most paywalled intermediate records |
exa | Public web sources | A portal landing page is not the recorded instrument |
browserbase | Supported county and records portals | Requires host and request opt-ins; portal failures and external costs remain possible |
composite | Configured providers in sequence | Requires the relevant credentials, adapters, and opt-ins |
Every non-fixture MCP request requires positive, finite budget and cost_per_doc values. The budget tracks estimated per-document sourcing spend. It does not cap the total model, browser, search, or purchase bill.
Browser sourcing and paid purchases
Browser sourcing requires the host setting ALLOW_BROWSER_SOURCING and request value allow_browser=true. Paid retrieval also requires host setting ALLOW_BROWSER_PURCHASE and request value allow_purchase=true.
Purchase opt-in requires browser opt-in and a compatible provider (browserbase or composite). An agent prompt cannot enable a disabled host gate. Ask the owner to confirm the host settings and spend plan before a live sourcing session.
The engine checks purchased record identity before ingestion. County, book series, volume/page, date, and instrument number help distinguish a correct delivery. An instrument number can repeat across counties or years; volume/page can repeat across book series.
A rejected delivery may already have incurred a provider charge. The identity check prevents use of a wrong document; it does not issue a refund. If identity remains unverified, preserve that warning for examiner review.
Why the chain stopped
The frontier is the worklist of starting instruments and predecessor references still to examine. Read the stop reason with the job’s coverage limits and review notes.
| Stop reason | Meaning | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
PATENT_REACHED | The worklist drained without an unresolved cited gap and a sovereign patent was reached | Review every branch, ownership basis, and report |
ROOT_OF_RECORD | The worklist drained without an unresolved cited predecessor; the earliest available record need not be a patent | Assess whether that root evidence is sufficient for the case |
DEAD_END_RED | A cited predecessor remains unresolved | Obtain and verify the named missing record |
BUDGET_EXHAUSTED | The sourcing/recompute spend ledger reached its configured budget | Review spend and the remaining sourcing work with the owner |
FRONTIER_DRAINED | A persisted completion state reports no remaining sourcing work | Read its coverage notes and reports; this is not a legal sufficiency finding |
Document and depth caps can also leave coverage incomplete. One branch reaching a patent does not erase a missing deed elsewhere. A missing or unreadable supplied starting document keeps coverage incomplete while useful outputs remain available.
Numeric book/page forms such as 1/1 and 01/01 identify the same reference for matching. Alphabetic book identifiers and distinct source filenames remain separate. Always retain county and book-series context when requesting a missing instrument.
Add records after a gap
You need the earlier job ID, saved reports, and the exact unresolved citation.
- Send the owner the job ID, county, book series, volume/page or instrument number, and the report note that identifies the gap.
- Have the owner obtain the record and verify its identity against the citation, parties, and date.
- Have the owner add the verified PDF to the prepared packet.
- Ask the owner to choose the rerun and checkpoint approach. The MCP interface has no resume or append-to-job tool.
- Save the new job ID and compare its reports with the earlier artifacts. Check whether the named gap closed and whether ownership changed.
This task succeeds when the missing record is included and the new artifacts show its effect, or clearly explain why the gap remains unresolved. Do not assume that uploading a record privately changed an existing job.
For source-backed correction notes, use Read and review the results. For the meaning of incomplete evidence, read The title-examination model.