Monitors evaluate selected source types for signals you define and create updates when the system identifies a match. Detection coverage and relevance are not guaranteed; review each update against its source.
On supported mobile versions, open Monitors and choose New monitor to create one directly. The mobile form creates a Monitor without a Project, and its available controls differ from web. On accounts with Easel available, an Easel session on iOS can also propose and, after confirmation, launch a Monitor. The iOS Monitor list and detail surfaces can change the name, notification cadence, companies, signals or topics, supported news or web sources, and Project; they can also move or archive a Monitor and request a summary. Mobile controls expose a narrower source set than the web editor. The visible Pause and Resume actions change notification delivery; they do not stop Monitor evaluation or Inbox updates. See Manage a Monitor for the different effects of muting, editing, and removing one.
How a Monitor is structured
A Monitor combines four components: companies, signals, sources, and delivery. Everything else — thesis signposts, KPIs, event-driven coverage — is a matter of what you write in the signals, not a different kind of Monitor. The pages below are worked examples, not separate features.
- Companies — a fixed list, up to 100. Taking a Project's companies copies a snapshot into the Monitor; later Project membership changes do not synchronize into that list.
- Signals — plain-language descriptions of what should trigger an update, for example "Management lowers guidance".
- Sources — which supported document types the Monitor evaluates, plus news and web where available. Podcast transcripts are an additional source for company-scoped Monitors only when enabled for your account. Company-free topic Monitors do not support the Web or Podcasts source switches.
- Delivery — for a company-scoped Monitor, choose Real-time, a Daily digest, or a Weekly digest, and manage email alerts from the web app or iOS. A company-free topic Monitor instead uses Morning, Evening, or both for email delivery; these choices do not disable the other evaluation cycle.
For a market-wide watch with no company list, use the Monitor topics or events path only when the account shows that option. The review step may call the draft a scheduled brief; after you save it, the Monitor list shows the empty company scope as General coverage. If the option is absent, use a company-scoped Monitor or contact the team; an empty company set is not a substitute. See Create a Monitor without companies.
Creating one
In the web app, creation has two paths. The assisted path proposes Monitors and opens a review screen before creation. The manual stepper creates the Monitor when you submit its final step, so review each completed section before submitting. On accounts with usage enforcement, Portrait shows the projected commitment before creation; if it rejects that projection, it creates nothing. Review Settings → Usage, reduce the scope, or contact your account team before trying again. See Create a Monitor.
Reading what a monitor finds
After creation, Portrait prepares Initial context, which can appear as a Monitor launch brief. This provides background for the new Monitor; it is not a new-event alert or a 90-day summary of updates. If preparation takes longer, the interface can show Still building the initial context. Reload to check again; not every Monitor will have enough material to produce a launch brief.
Subsequent updates land in your Inbox and, if email alerts are on, in your mail. Open a Monitor to review its updates and available source attribution or links. Passage and full-source display depend on the provider's licence. A quiet feed can mean no qualifying match was captured; it does not prove that nothing relevant happened.
On desktop web, Portrait offers Create a 90-day summary after sufficient recent activity. iOS offers Run summary now, but a Monitor with no updates will not produce a summary. Check any summary against the individual updates. See Generate a 90-day Monitor summary.
Use Export Monitor updates to save an update, a summary, or updates since a chosen date as PDF from the web app.
Up next
Build a monitor around a specific investment thesis to capture updates tied to the drivers that matter most.