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

# Track a datapoint

[Canonical page](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/monitors/create-datapoint-monitor/)

## Applicability

- **Task:** Configure and verify a Monitor for a defined datapoint
- **Access:** Portrait account with applicable usage and source access
- **Audience:** Portrait users maintaining ongoing coverage
- **Surfaces:** web
- **Availability:** Production
- **Content type:** how-to
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-07

Use this pattern when you need a sequence of updates about one metric across a defined company set, such as traffic, pricing, utilization, take rate, or backlog conversion.

Add the companies you care about (a project's companies copy in with one click), then write the metric as the signal.

## Configure the pattern

1. Create a Monitor in the web app and add the intended companies.
2. Write one measurable signal, including the metric, direction or magnitude, and reporting period.
3. Choose the source types that can contain the metric.
4. Choose **Real-time**, **Daily digest**, or **Weekly digest** for email delivery and review the complete configuration before saving. On accounts with usage enforcement, review the displayed usage estimate too. If Portrait rejects the projected commitment, it creates no Monitor; review **Settings → Usage** and reduce the scope or contact your account team.

Example signal:

> Alert me when management or a supported document discloses net pricing actions or realized price/mix. Include the direction, magnitude, reporting period, and an exact quote where display rights permit; otherwise include source attribution.

Ask for the number and its period, not just the topic — that is what makes the updates comparable quarter to quarter.

## Verify and refine

Open the saved Monitor and confirm the companies, signal, source set, and cadence. When an update arrives, verify that the period and metric match the signal and compare the attribution with the underlying source. If updates are too broad, narrow the metric or source set; if they are absent, confirm source access and widen an overly specific signal.

An initial **Monitor launch brief** provides background; it is separate from subsequent datapoint matches. See [Manage a Monitor](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/monitors/manage-a-monitor/) for source start dates, usage after edits, and stopping coverage. Use [Export Monitor updates](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/monitors/export-monitor-updates/) to retain a PDF of selected results or a period of captured updates.

## Up next

[Track events](https://portraitresearch.com/documentation/monitors/create-event-monitor/)