Get started with Monitors

Interested in Monitors? The API is coming soon. To request early access or tell us about a monitoring use case, email support@bigdata.com.

Monitors turn a Bigdata Search into a recurring feed of structured events. Describe what you want to track, choose how often to search, and define the information you want returned. Each event links back to the source content. You can test a monitor against recent historical data before turning it on. This lets you check the search results, extracted fields, and duplicate detection immediately instead of waiting for new content to arrive.

How Monitors work

Describe what you want to track

Save a search, a schedule, and the fields you want to extract. New monitors should start as inactive so they cannot produce scheduled results before you test them.

Test it with historical data

Run a simulation over recent data. The simulation uses the same configuration as the live monitor but does not activate it.

Review the events

Check the results and their source links. Refine the search or extraction instructions if important developments are missing or irrelevant ones appear.

Turn on continuous monitoring

Change the monitor’s status to active. Bigdata then evaluates it automatically at the frequency you selected.

Use the results

Retrieve completed runs and send their structured events to your application, alerting system, or research workflow.

Test before activating. A short simulation makes it much easier to spot a search that is too broad, missing results, or extracting the wrong information.

Create your first monitor

This example watches for credit rating downgrades and negative watch placements affecting BlackRock. It is inactive when created and will run once per hour after activation. Only intent and schedule are required to create a monitor. The remaining fields let you customize its search and output:

name: a short label that helps you recognize the monitor
intent: what counts as a relevant event; this cannot be changed after creation
status: whether the monitor is active or inactive
search_queries: the search mode and Search documents query to use for each run
schedule: how often an active monitor searches
structured_output: the fields returned with each event
extraction_instructions: what to include and exclude
entity_watchlist: the companies or other entities to track

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.bigdata.com/v1/search-monitoring/monitors \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'X-API-KEY: <your-api-key>' \
  --data '{
    "name": "Credit Rating Downgrade or Negative Watch",
    "intent": "Watch for rating downgrades and negative watch placements affecting BlackRock",
    "status": "inactive",
    "search_queries": {
      "search_mode": "fast",
      "query": {
        "text": "credit rating downgrade negative watch",
        "max_chunks": 100
      }
    },
    "schedule": {
      "frequency": "1h"
    },
    "structured_output": {
      "company": {
        "description": "The company affected by the rating action.",
        "field_type": "entity_reference"
      },
      "rating_agency": {
        "description": "The credit rating agency announcing the action.",
        "field_type": "text"
      },
      "action": {
        "description": "The announced credit rating action.",
        "field_type": "enum",
        "values": [
          "downgrade",
          "negative_watch"
        ]
      },
      "new_rating": {
        "description": "The new rating, when stated.",
        "field_type": "text"
      }
    },
    "extraction_instructions": "Only return a new event when a rating agency announces a downgrade or places the company on negative watch. Do not treat analyst recommendations as credit rating actions.",
    "entity_watchlist": [
      {
        "name": "BlackRock Inc.",
        "rp_entity_id": "HJ95FV"
      }
    ]
  }'

The response includes the new monitor in data. Save data.id; you will use it to test, update, and retrieve the monitor.

The watchlist uses Bigdata entity IDs. Use the Knowledge Graph API to find the ID for each company you want to track.

Test the monitor

A simulation tests the monitor without turning it on. In this example, the monitor runs over six consecutive one-hour periods ending at noon UTC on August 27, 2026.

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.bigdata.com/v1/search-monitoring/monitors/<monitor-id>/simulate?end_timestamp=2026-08-27T12:00:00Z&number_of_runs=6' \
  --header 'X-API-KEY: <your-api-key>'

end_timestamp must be in UTC and at least five minutes in the past. number_of_runs is the number of periods to test, based on the monitor’s frequency. The API returns 202 Accepted because the simulation continues in the background. Save the returned simulation_id, then use it to check the results:

curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.bigdata.com/v1/search-monitoring/monitors/<monitor-id>/runs?type=simulation&simulation_id=<simulation-id>&include_events=true' \
  --header 'X-API-KEY: <your-api-key>'

Each run reports a status:

PENDING: still processing
COMPLETED: ready to review
FAILED: could not be completed

Start continuous monitoring

When the simulation produces the events you expect, turn on the monitor by changing its status:

curl --request PATCH \
  --url https://api.bigdata.com/v1/search-monitoring/monitors/<monitor-id> \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'X-API-KEY: <your-api-key>' \
  --data '{
    "status": "active"
  }'

To pause future runs without losing the configuration, change the status back to inactive.

Key concepts

Monitor

A monitor combines a saved search, extraction instructions, an output format, and a schedule. An active monitor evaluates newly available content automatically.

Simulation

A simulation tests the monitor against historical data without activating it. Use simulations to improve the quality of your results before sending them into a live workflow.

Run

A run is one evaluation period. For an hourly monitor, each run searches one hour of newly available content. Runs can come from an active monitor or a simulation.

Event

An event is a relevant development extracted during a run. It contains a summary, your structured fields, and links to the source content that supports it. In API responses, events appear in the events array.

Search query

Monitors use the same query object as Search documents. This includes search text, filters, external search, chunk limits, and ranking settings, so you do not need to learn a separate query format. The monitor adds the correct time period automatically, so do not use a fixed timestamp filter.

Structured output

The structured output describes the fields returned for every event:

text stores names, labels, and short details.
number stores numeric values.
enum limits a field to a predefined set of values.
entity_reference links a company or other entity to the Bigdata knowledge graph.

Only add fields that your application needs to filter, compare, or route. The event summary and source links provide the supporting detail.

What you can monitor

Once the first monitor is working, the same workflow can support:

M&A Activity Monitor

Track announced acquisitions, divestitures, bids, and material deal-status changes.

Central Bank Policy Decisions

Capture rate decisions and changes in forward guidance from major central banks.

Executive Departures

Detect confirmed departures, retirements, and leadership transitions.

Regulatory & Legal Actions

Watch for investigations, enforcement actions, judgments, and settlements.

Layoffs & Restructuring

Identify announced workforce reductions and major operating restructurings.

AI Product & Model Launches

Follow commercially relevant AI launches, releases, and availability changes.

Getting Started

Research Service

Search Service

Monitors

Upload proprietary content

Knowledge Graph

Watchlist

Troubleshooting

How Monitors work

Create your first monitor

Test the monitor

Start continuous monitoring

Key concepts

Monitor

Simulation

Run

Event

Search query

Structured output

What you can monitor

M&A Activity Monitor

Central Bank Policy Decisions

Executive Departures

Regulatory & Legal Actions

Layoffs & Restructuring

AI Product & Model Launches

​How Monitors work

​Create your first monitor

​Test the monitor

​Start continuous monitoring

​Key concepts

​Monitor

​Simulation

​Run

​Event

​Search query

​Structured output

​What you can monitor

M&A Activity Monitor

Central Bank Policy Decisions

Executive Departures

Regulatory & Legal Actions

Layoffs & Restructuring

AI Product & Model Launches

How Monitors work

Create your first monitor

Test the monitor

Start continuous monitoring

Key concepts

Monitor

Simulation

Run

Event

Search query

Structured output

What you can monitor