The source model
Every report begins with the exact post.
Each report begins with the exact Off Leash post as its primary source. The structured briefing follows it. International coverage and data layers appear afterward as linked context, never as a replacement for the original.
- Primary source — the original Off Leash post.
- Structured report — developments, assessment, actors, places, and categories.
- International coverage — named reporting linked to the development it covers.
- OSINT layers — geospatial, humanitarian, conflict, sanctions, and hazard data.
The pipeline
From post to permanent operating picture.
A report moves through six stages. Each stage is additive: the primary source is preserved, structure is layered on, corroboration is attached, and a human editor signs off before publication.
- Ingestion — Every qualifying Off Leash post is preserved as the exact primary source. The original post is the record the report is built on.
- Transcription and extraction — The post is transcribed and structured into a headline, briefing, developments, locations, actors, categories, and forecast calls.
- Geocoding — Places are resolved into map positions, and each development is connected to its country, regional, place, and actor dossiers.
- OSINT and news corroboration — The research layer searches named international reporting and official public data using the report date, development text, places, and actors, then links each source to the development it covers.
- Human editorial review — An editor reviews the structured report before anything is published. Review is mandatory; nothing reaches a public page without it.
- Publish — The permanent report, globe layers, dossier timeline, deep index, forecast ledger, and newsletter edition are created, and the report is carried into the archive so it compounds over time.
Evidence labels
What each evidence status means.
Every development carries one evidence label. The labels below are the customer-facing vocabulary; internal editorial states stay unchanged so review gates and scoring continue to operate on the canonical values.
- Corroborated — reporting that has been corroborated.
- Erik’s assessment — an explicit judgment rather than a corroborated fact.
- Developing — a situation still in motion, not yet settled.
- Unverified — the raw primary source, presented without independent corroboration.
Source policy
Named international coverage only.
The research layer searches international reporting and official public sources using the report date, development text, places, and named actors. Each retained link carries its publisher, title, URL, access date, and the exact development it covers. Duplicate links collapse into one source record across the archive.
Only named international news and official public data are used as customer-facing sources. Wikipedia and Wikidata were used by an early entity-lookup prototype; they are not part of the customer-facing intelligence product and are excluded from the published source record.
The operating picture also launches directly into vetted mapping tools for fire activity, satellite and street imagery, conflict mapping, geographic names, and global reference layers.
Map precision
How coordinates are resolved.
Each development is placed at the most precise position its evidence supports, and the resolution is recorded so the map never implies more certainty than exists. When no reliable position exists, the development stays as text rather than being forced onto the map.
- Location result — A specific resolved place, mapped at the location itself.
- Country centroid — Placed at the country center when only the country is known.
- Region centroid — Placed at the regional center when only the region is known.
- Editor entered — A coordinate an editor set directly during review.
- Not mappable — Kept as a text-only development when no reliable position exists.
Corrections
The archive should show its work.
A material correction should preserve the original publication time, state what changed, identify the editor, and update every connected map event and dossier.
Removing a claim from a public page should not silently erase the review history from the private editorial record.
New to the desk?
Start with the plain-language pages.
What is this? explains what Off Leash Intel is and who it is for. How to use this walks through reading a report, working the map, and following the forecasts.