> For the complete user guide index, see [llms.txt](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/llms.txt).

# Data sources and access

[Canonical page](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/data-sources/overview/)

## Applicability

- **Task:** Determine which source categories and restrictions apply
- **Access:** Portrait account and applicable firm data entitlements; Easel use through Slack, Teams, and email using a linked Portrait account requires full Easel access; Easel ask and session operations in CLI also require an account-enabled Easel CLI bridge
- **Audience:** Portrait users evaluating the evidence available to a workflow
- **Surfaces:** web; ios; slack; teams; email; cli; mcp
- **Availability:** Production with source-, workflow-, and account-dependent access
- **Content type:** reference
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-22

Portrait combines licensed sources, public sources, and Portrait-generated company intelligence. The source set used for a result depends on the workflow, selected scope, account entitlement, and surface.

## Source categories

| Category | Typical use | Access considerations |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory filings | Annual and quarterly reporting, disclosures, risk factors, and management discussion | Public filings; display and extraction depend on workflow |
| Earnings transcripts | Prepared remarks and Q&A | Coverage and availability vary by company and period |
| News | Developments between company disclosures | Some content is searchable as excerpts and cannot be reproduced in full |
| Visible Alpha estimates | Consensus, company-specific metrics, and revision history | Depth and export rights depend on the firm's Visible Alpha agreement |
| Third Bridge expert calls | Entitled expert-network research | Requires a separate firm entitlement and has redistribution limits |
| Podcast transcripts | Company and industry commentary from published podcast episodes | Deep Research enabled by default unless explicitly disabled; Monitors require separate access; episode coverage varies |
| Market and reference data | Prices, valuation inputs, ownership, and company relationships | Provider, metric, history, and surface determine availability |
| FRED | Macro time series used in supported chart workflows | Requires a user-provided FRED API key where the chart flow asks for it |
| My Library | Files and notes provided by the user | Available only to workflows that explicitly support the item or project context |
| Live web | Current primary and secondary sources | Available to supported Easel work, Deep Research when selected, and company-scoped Monitors; the Web source switch is not supported for company-free Monitors |

Annual reports can contain audited annual financial statements. Quarterly reports usually contain interim financial statements that are reviewed rather than audited.

## Sources are not universal across workflows

Do not infer that a source available in the web app is available in mobile, MCP, or every workflow. For example, Portrait MCP does not expose Third Bridge or FactSet documents directly and has no tools to browse or read My Library. An eligible Deep Research launch can attach known My Library document IDs and automatically looks for the latest version of the user's My Library notes and uploads associated with selected companies. It uses those versions when their extracted text is ready for research; unavailable content can be omitted, without using an earlier version instead. My Library is not an automatic context source for Screening or Mosaic. Easel through Slack, Teams, email using a linked Portrait account, or CLI requires full Easel access; Easel `ask` and `sessions` in CLI additionally require the account-enabled Easel CLI bridge.

Deep Research's documentary selector does not exclude supported financial context such as market data or available Visible Alpha estimates. Deleted or revoked attachments can also be omitted while a run proceeds with the remaining sources. Review [Deep Research scope and document-volume limits](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/research/select-companies-and-sources/) before assuming that a report used exactly the selected documents and nothing else.

Podcast transcripts in Deep Research are enabled by default unless explicitly disabled for the account; no special invitation is normally required. They must still be selected for the report. Podcast Monitors have an independent access gate and are not enabled merely because Deep Research can use podcasts. Company-free Monitors do not support the Podcasts source switch. For company-scoped Monitors, ordinary Podcast coverage starts at activation and does not backfill older episode alerts; see [Manage a Monitor](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/monitors/manage-a-monitor/).

In Charts, access and visibility are separate: the editor can limit accounts without full Visible Alpha access to three visible Visible Alpha series, including qualifying derived series. See [Chart calculations and data](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/charts/calculations-and-data/) before interpreting a missing line as missing underlying data.

## Check your access

If a source selector, document, or metric is absent:

1. confirm the workflow and surface named by the guide;
2. check whether the source requires a firm entitlement or user connection;
3. use an available source when it can answer the same question;
4. [contact the team](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/more/contact-us/) when the firm's expected access and the product do not match.

See [Third Bridge](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/data-sources/third-bridge/) for its specific entitlement model.