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The catalog/Background

Chronology

How a situation developed, phase by phase, with the turning points marked.

3 credits·in-depth·about 2–4 min·12 domains

What it answers

The question Chronology is built for

Name the subject. It sets out the arc in one line, then the phases the situation moved through, a dated timeline, the moments that turned it, where it stands now, where it is heading, the signals to watch and the questions still open.

Who reaches for it

Anyone joining a story late: a new hire on a long-running account, a reporter picking up a beat, a student who needs the sequence before the argument.

What comes back

9 sections, on every run

These are the headings the result renders, read from the same promise the form makes before you spend a credit. A section that depends on what the record holds is rendered when it can be and never promised here.

01

The arc

02

Brief

03

Phases

04

Timeline

05

Turning Points

06

Where It Stands Now

07

Where It's Heading

08

Watch Signals

09

Open Questions

What you give it

2 boxes, 1 required

Subject or situation to chronicle
required · up to 300 characters
Scope / framing
optional · up to 600 characters
Try it on: a subject you already hold an opinion about, so you can grade the result against what you know. Each one opens the form filled, in the General domain.
The Wagner mutiny, hour by hour
What it will not do

The lines it holds

A date is on the timeline because a source carries it. Where the sequence is disputed the disagreement is recorded rather than resolved, and the projection of where it heads is labelled as a projection.

Every claim carries its grade

A claim the scan could not source is marked as such rather than dressed up. How the grades work →

Verified or grounded
Reported or attributed
Contested
Open question
Where it runs

Available in 12 domains

A domain may name it in its own words and price it on its own terms; each row is what that domain shows.

General3 creditsDefense3 creditsFinance3 creditsEnergy3 creditsHealth3 creditsPolicy3 creditsTechnology3 creditsClimate3 creditsLearning3 creditsSportsas Season Timeline3 creditsTravelas Timeline3 creditsLifestyleas Timeline3 credits
See one

Nothing published in this shape yet

No Chronology has been published to the public library yet. Browse what has →

Roles that lean on it

8 role guides suggest it

Newsroom editor / desk headlead scanOSINT analystTransitioning military officerFreelance researcher / analystInvestigative reporterFreelance business writerHigh school social studies teacherAcademic / research librarian
Try it

Run Chronology on something you already know

The fastest way to judge the result is to pick a subject you know cold and read it against what you know. The scan names its credit cost before it runs.

Start with Chronology →Plans and credit packs
More in the catalog

Other research in background

Follow the MoneyWho pays, who profits, and through what channels, with the total at stake.Key PlayersThe people and organizations that matter on an issue, and how they line up.How It WorksHow a system or process actually works: the inputs, the steps, the parts, and where it breaks.By the NumbersThe key figures on a subject, sourced and dated, with the ones to read carefully marked.Why It ChangedWhy a published number actually moved, after checking whether the counting changed first.The whole catalog →