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Get GDELT Coverage Breakdown

gdelt_get_coverage_breakdown
Read-only

Break down news coverage volume over time by source language or source country, returning a multi-series time series (one series per language or country). Shows which countries or languages drove early vs. late coverage — useful for tracing how a story propagated geographically or across language communities. Returns the top 10 series ranked by the sum of their values and names every other series under otherSeriesLabels — pass any labels, ranked or not, as the series input to get only those series, complete. A response carries as many whole series as fit its size budget; when more remain it returns nextOffset — pass it back as offset with otherwise identical inputs for the next page. Values are normalized: each point is the topic's share of that source's media output, not an absolute article count, so values from different sources do not add up to a share. Small media markets with concentrated coverage therefore rank above large markets with diverse output — a high value means the topic dominated that source's coverage, not that it published the most articles. Use breakdownBy "country" with the signal-detection chain to map geographic attention, or "language" to detect non-English media surges.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
queryYesSearch query using GDELT syntax. Same operators as gdelt_search_articles: phrases, boolean OR, sourcecountry:, sourcelang:, domain:, theme: (GKG theme identifiers come from gdelt_search_themes).
offsetNoZero-based series offset — into the ranked top 10, or into the series named in series. Pass nextOffset from the preceding response, with otherwise identical inputs, to get the next page.
seriesNoExact series labels to return instead of the ranked overview, e.g. ["Portuguese", "Vietnamese"]. Take them verbatim from otherSeriesLabels or topSeries[].label in a response, or from the label list an unknown_series error prints. Each one comes back complete under selectedSeries, in the order requested; a label that matches nothing is rejected rather than silently skipped. Omit to get the ranked overview.
timespanNoTime window relative to now, minimum "15min"; other examples: "24h", "7d", "1m". Ignored when startDatetime/endDatetime are set. Maximum 3 months.
breakdownByYesBreakdown dimension: "language" for source language time series, "country" for source country time series.
endDatetimeNoEnd datetime in GDELT format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS — exactly 14 digits, no separators (e.g. 20240131235959). Must pair with startDatetime; supplying only one of the two is rejected.
startDatetimeNoStart datetime in GDELT format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS — exactly 14 digits, no separators (e.g. 20240101000000). Must pair with endDatetime; supplying only one of the two is rejected.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
errorNoPresent when the call failed. Absent on success.
noticeNoGuidance when the query matched no coverage in the window — how to broaden the query or extend the window — or, when this response is one page of several, which series it returned out of how many. Absent when every series fit in one response.
topSeriesNoThe ranked overview: the top 10 series by the sum of their values, those of this page in rank order. Omitted when the series input selects series instead.
nextOffsetNoOffset of the next page, for the same inputs. Absent when this page reaches the last series.
totalCountNoTotal number of series GDELT returned, before ranking into the top 10 or paging.
breakdownByNoBreakdown dimension used for this response.
endDatetimeNoEchoed end datetime when provided (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS).
startDatetimeNoEchoed start datetime when provided (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS).
dateResolutionNoTemporal resolution of data points — 15min, hour, or day — inferred from the spacing of the returned timesteps. Omitted when fewer than two distinct timesteps came back.
effectiveQueryNoEchoed query string for use in follow-up calls.
selectedSeriesNoComplete, untruncated time series for the labels requested via the series input — those of this page, in the order requested. Omitted when series was not supplied.
otherSeriesLabelsNoLabel of every series beyond the top 10, ranked by the sum of its values, on every overview page. Pass any of them to the series input to retrieve that series' complete data. Omitted when all series fit in the top 10, or when the series input selects series instead.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. Changed12 schema fields changed
    • addedInput schema / properties / offset
      Added value: +{
      +  "default": 0,
      +  "description": "Zero-based series offset — into the ranked top 10, or into the series named in series. Pass nextOffset from the preceding response, with otherwise identical inputs, to get the next page.",
      +  "maximum": 9007199254740991,
      +  "minimum": 0,
      +  "type": "integer"
      +}
    • changedInput schema / properties / series / description
      Previous value: -"Exact series labels to additionally return in full, e.g. [\"Portuguese\", \"Vietnamese\"]. Take them verbatim from otherSeriesLabels (the series folded into \"Other\") or topSeries[].label in a response, or from the label list an unknown_series error prints. Each one comes back complete under selectedSeries, on top of the usual top-10 overview; a label that matches nothing is rejected rather than silently skipped. Omit to get the overview alone."New value: +"Exact series labels to return instead of the ranked overview, e.g. [\"Portuguese\", \"Vietnamese\"]. Take them verbatim from otherSeriesLabels or topSeries[].label in a response, or from the label list an unknown_series error prints. Each one comes back complete under selectedSeries, in the order requested; a label that matches nothing is rejected rather than silently skipped. Omit to get the ranked overview."
    • changedOutput schema / anyOf
      Previous value: -[
      -  {
      -    "not": {
      -      "required": [
      -        "error"
      -      ]
      -    },
      -    "required": [
      -      "topSeries",
      -      "effectiveQuery",
      -      "breakdownBy",
      -      "totalCount"
      -    ]
      -  },
      -  {
      -    "required": [
      -      "error"
      -    ]
      -  }
      -]New value: +[
      +  {
      +    "not": {
      +      "required": [
      +        "error"
      +      ]
      +    },
      +    "required": [
      +      "effectiveQuery",
      +      "breakdownBy",
      +      "totalCount"
      +    ]
      +  },
      +  {
      +    "required": [
      +      "error"
      +    ]
      +  }
      +]
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in a non-empty breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Only one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied, one of them is not a real UTC calendar timestamp, or startDatetime is not earlier than endDatetime. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in a non-empty breakdown. `offset_out_of_range`: The requested offset is at or beyond the last series of a non-empty overview (the top 10), or of the series named in series. `invalid_date_range`: Only one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied, one of them is not a real UTC calendar timestamp, or startDatetime is not earlier than endDatetime. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples
      Previous value: -[
      -  "unknown_series",
      -  "invalid_date_range",
      -  "invalid_query",
      -  "gdelt_rate_limited",
      -  "gdelt_unavailable"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "unknown_series",
      +  "offset_out_of_range",
      +  "invalid_date_range",
      +  "invalid_query",
      +  "gdelt_rate_limited",
      +  "gdelt_unavailable"
      +]
    • addedOutput schema / properties / nextOffset
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Offset of the next page, for the same inputs. Absent when this page reaches the last series.",
      +  "type": "number"
      +}
    • changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description
      Previous value: -"Guidance when the query matched no coverage in the window — how to broaden the query or extend the window. Absent when breakdown data was returned."New value: +"Guidance when the query matched no coverage in the window — how to broaden the query or extend the window — or, when this response is one page of several, which series it returned out of how many. Absent when every series fit in one response."
    • removedOutput schema / properties / otherAggregated
      Removed value: -{
      -  "description": "Combined time series for all series beyond the top 10. Omitted when all series fit.",
      -  "items": {
      -    "additionalProperties": false,
      -    "description": "A single aggregated data point for the \"Other\" bucket.",
      -    "properties": {
      -      "date": {
      -        "description": "Timestep in ISO 8601 format.",
      -        "type": "string"
      -      },
      -      "value": {
      -        "description": "Aggregated normalized coverage volume for all remaining series — a share of media output, not an absolute article count.",
      -        "type": "number"
      -      }
      -    },
      -    "required": [
      -      "date",
      -      "value"
      -    ],
      -    "type": "object"
      -  },
      -  "type": "array"
      -}
    • changedOutput schema / properties / otherSeriesLabels / description
      Previous value: -"Label of every series folded into otherAggregated, ranked by total volume — the identities the \"Other\" bucket would otherwise dissolve. Pass any of them to the series input to retrieve that series' complete data. Omitted when all series fit in the top 10."New value: +"Label of every series beyond the top 10, ranked by the sum of its values, on every overview page. Pass any of them to the series input to retrieve that series' complete data. Omitted when all series fit in the top 10, or when the series input selects series instead."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / selectedSeries / description
      Previous value: -"Complete, untruncated time series for each label requested via the series input, in the order requested. Omitted when series was not supplied."New value: +"Complete, untruncated time series for the labels requested via the series input — those of this page, in the order requested. Omitted when series was not supplied."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / topSeries / description
      Previous value: -"Top 10 series by total coverage volume."New value: +"The ranked overview: the top 10 series by the sum of their values, those of this page in rank order. Omitted when the series input selects series instead."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / totalCount / description
      Previous value: -"Total number of series returned before truncation to top 10."New value: +"Total number of series GDELT returned, before ranking into the top 10 or paging."
  2. Changed1 schema field changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / query / description
      Previous value: -"Search query using GDELT syntax. Same operators as gdelt_search_articles: phrases, boolean OR, sourcecountry:, sourcelang:, domain:, theme:."New value: +"Search query using GDELT syntax. Same operators as gdelt_search_articles: phrases, boolean OR, sourcecountry:, sourcelang:, domain:, theme: (GKG theme identifiers come from gdelt_search_themes)."
  3. Changed5 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / anyOf
      Previous value: -[
      -  {
      -    "not": {
      -      "required": [
      -        "error"
      -      ]
      -    },
      -    "required": [
      -      "dateResolution",
      -      "topSeries",
      -      "effectiveQuery",
      -      "breakdownBy",
      -      "totalCount"
      -    ]
      -  },
      -  {
      -    "required": [
      -      "error"
      -    ]
      -  }
      -]New value: +[
      +  {
      +    "not": {
      +      "required": [
      +        "error"
      +      ]
      +    },
      +    "required": [
      +      "topSeries",
      +      "effectiveQuery",
      +      "breakdownBy",
      +      "totalCount"
      +    ]
      +  },
      +  {
      +    "required": [
      +      "error"
      +    ]
      +  }
      +]
    • changedOutput schema / properties / dateResolution / description
      Previous value: -"Temporal resolution of data points — 15min, hour, or day."New value: +"Temporal resolution of data points — 15min, hour, or day — inferred from the spacing of the returned timesteps. Omitted when fewer than two distinct timesteps came back."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Only one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied, one of them is not a real UTC calendar timestamp, or startDatetime is not earlier than endDatetime. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in a non-empty breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Only one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied, one of them is not a real UTC calendar timestamp, or startDatetime is not earlier than endDatetime. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples
      Previous value: -[
      -  "no_breakdown_data",
      -  "unknown_series",
      -  "invalid_date_range",
      -  "invalid_query",
      -  "gdelt_rate_limited",
      -  "gdelt_unavailable"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "unknown_series",
      +  "invalid_date_range",
      +  "invalid_query",
      +  "gdelt_rate_limited",
      +  "gdelt_unavailable"
      +]
    • changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description
      Previous value: -"Recovery hint when no breakdown data was returned. Absent on successful responses."New value: +"Guidance when the query matched no coverage in the window — how to broaden the query or extend the window. Absent when breakdown data was returned."
  4. Changed1 schema field changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Exactly one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Only one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied, one of them is not a real UTC calendar timestamp, or startDatetime is not earlier than endDatetime. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
  5. Changed1 schema field changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Exactly one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request because its one-request-per-five-seconds limit was reached. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Exactly one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request for its one-request-per-five-seconds limit, or too many requests were already queued for this one to start in time. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
  6. Changed2 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / dateResolution / description
      Previous value: -"Temporal resolution of data points."New value: +"Temporal resolution of data points — 15min, hour, or day."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / dateResolution / enum
      Previous value: -[
      -  "hour",
      -  "day"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "15min",
      +  "hour",
      +  "day"
      +]
  7. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / timespan / description
      Previous value: -"Time window relative to now, e.g. \"24h\", \"7d\", \"1m\". Ignored when startDatetime/endDatetime are set. Maximum 3 months."New value: +"Time window relative to now, minimum \"15min\"; other examples: \"24h\", \"7d\", \"1m\". Ignored when startDatetime/endDatetime are set. Maximum 3 months."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / description
      Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Exactly one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or rate-limited. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Exactly one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_rate_limited`: GDELT rejected the request because its one-request-per-five-seconds limit was reached. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or temporarily returned no usable data. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / error / properties / data / properties / reason / examples
      Previous value: -[
      -  "no_breakdown_data",
      -  "unknown_series",
      -  "invalid_date_range",
      -  "invalid_query",
      -  "gdelt_unavailable"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "no_breakdown_data",
      +  "unknown_series",
      +  "invalid_date_range",
      +  "invalid_query",
      +  "gdelt_rate_limited",
      +  "gdelt_unavailable"
      +]
  8. Changed6 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / $schema
      Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"
    • addedInput schema / additionalProperties
      Added value: +false
    • changedOutput schema / $schema
      Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"
    • addedOutput schema / anyOf
      Added value: +[
      +  {
      +    "not": {
      +      "required": [
      +        "error"
      +      ]
      +    },
      +    "required": [
      +      "dateResolution",
      +      "topSeries",
      +      "effectiveQuery",
      +      "breakdownBy",
      +      "totalCount"
      +    ]
      +  },
      +  {
      +    "required": [
      +      "error"
      +    ]
      +  }
      +]
    • addedOutput schema / properties / error
      Added value: +{
      +  "additionalProperties": {},
      +  "description": "Present when the call failed. Absent on success.",
      +  "properties": {
      +    "code": {
      +      "description": "JSON-RPC error code for this failure.",
      +      "maximum": 9007199254740991,
      +      "minimum": -9007199254740991,
      +      "type": "integer"
      +    },
      +    "data": {
      +      "additionalProperties": {},
      +      "properties": {
      +        "reason": {
      +          "description": "Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `no_breakdown_data`: No breakdown data returned for the query. `unknown_series`: A label passed in the series input matches no series in this breakdown. `invalid_date_range`: Exactly one of startDatetime / endDatetime was supplied. `invalid_query`: GDELT rejected the query string as malformed — bad keyword length, unbalanced parentheses, or an illegal character. `gdelt_unavailable`: GDELT DOC API is unreachable or rate-limited. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
      +          "examples": [
      +            "no_breakdown_data",
      +            "unknown_series",
      +            "invalid_date_range",
      +            "invalid_query",
      +            "gdelt_unavailable"
      +          ],
      +          "type": "string"
      +        },
      +        "recovery": {
      +          "additionalProperties": {},
      +          "description": "Actionable next step for the caller.",
      +          "properties": {
      +            "hint": {
      +              "type": "string"
      +            }
      +          },
      +          "required": [
      +            "hint"
      +          ],
      +          "type": "object"
      +        },
      +        "retryable": {
      +          "description": "Whether retrying may succeed.",
      +          "type": "boolean"
      +        }
      +      },
      +      "type": "object"
      +    },
      +    "message": {
      +      "description": "Human-readable description of what went wrong.",
      +      "type": "string"
      +    }
      +  },
      +  "required": [
      +    "code",
      +    "message"
      +  ],
      +  "type": "object"
      +}
    • removedOutput schema / required
      Removed value: -[
      -  "dateResolution",
      -  "topSeries",
      -  "effectiveQuery",
      -  "breakdownBy",
      -  "totalCount"
      -]
  9. Changed3 schema fields changed
    • addedInput schema / properties / series
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Exact series labels to additionally return in full, e.g. [\"Portuguese\", \"Vietnamese\"]. Take them verbatim from otherSeriesLabels (the series folded into \"Other\") or topSeries[].label in a response, or from the label list an unknown_series error prints. Each one comes back complete under selectedSeries, on top of the usual top-10 overview; a label that matches nothing is rejected rather than silently skipped. Omit to get the overview alone.",
      +  "items": {
      +    "type": "string"
      +  },
      +  "type": "array"
      +}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / otherSeriesLabels
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Label of every series folded into otherAggregated, ranked by total volume — the identities the \"Other\" bucket would otherwise dissolve. Pass any of them to the series input to retrieve that series' complete data. Omitted when all series fit in the top 10.",
      +  "items": {
      +    "type": "string"
      +  },
      +  "type": "array"
      +}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / selectedSeries
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Complete, untruncated time series for each label requested via the series input, in the order requested. Omitted when series was not supplied.",
      +  "items": {
      +    "additionalProperties": false,
      +    "description": "A single language or country coverage series.",
      +    "properties": {
      +      "data": {
      +        "description": "Time-ordered data points for this series.",
      +        "items": {
      +          "additionalProperties": false,
      +          "description": "A single data point for this series.",
      +          "properties": {
      +            "date": {
      +              "description": "Timestep in ISO 8601 format.",
      +              "type": "string"
      +            },
      +            "value": {
      +              "description": "Normalized coverage volume at this timestep — the topic's share of this source's media output, not an absolute article count.",
      +              "type": "number"
      +            }
      +          },
      +          "required": [
      +            "date",
      +            "value"
      +          ],
      +          "type": "object"
      +        },
      +        "type": "array"
      +      },
      +      "label": {
      +        "description": "Series label (language name or country name).",
      +        "type": "string"
      +      }
      +    },
      +    "required": [
      +      "label",
      +      "data"
      +    ],
      +    "type": "object"
      +  },
      +  "type": "array"
      +}
  10. Changed2 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / otherAggregated / items / properties / value / description
      Previous value: -"Aggregated coverage volume for all remaining series."New value: +"Aggregated normalized coverage volume for all remaining series — a share of media output, not an absolute article count."
    • changedOutput schema / properties / topSeries / items / properties / data / items / properties / value / description
      Previous value: -"Normalized coverage volume at this timestep."New value: +"Normalized coverage volume at this timestep — the topic's share of this source's media output, not an absolute article count."
  11. Changed4 schema fields changed
    • changedInput schema / properties / endDatetime / description
      Previous value: -"End datetime in GDELT format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS. Must pair with startDatetime."New value: +"End datetime in GDELT format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS — exactly 14 digits, no separators (e.g. 20240131235959). Must pair with startDatetime; supplying only one of the two is rejected."
    • addedInput schema / properties / endDatetime / pattern
      Added value: +"^\\d{14}$"
    • changedInput schema / properties / startDatetime / description
      Previous value: -"Start datetime in GDELT format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS. Must pair with endDatetime."New value: +"Start datetime in GDELT format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS — exactly 14 digits, no separators (e.g. 20240101000000). Must pair with endDatetime; supplying only one of the two is rejected."
    • addedInput schema / properties / startDatetime / pattern
      Added value: +"^\\d{14}$"
  12. Changed2 schema fields changed
    • addedOutput schema / properties / endDatetime
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Echoed end datetime when provided (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS).",
      +  "type": "string"
      +}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / startDatetime
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Echoed start datetime when provided (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS).",
      +  "type": "string"
      +}
  13. Changed7 schema fields changed
    • changedOutput schema / properties / breakdownBy / description
      Previous value: -"Breakdown dimension used."New value: +"Breakdown dimension used for this response."
    • addedOutput schema / properties / effectiveQuery
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Echoed query string for use in follow-up calls.",
      +  "type": "string"
      +}
    • changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description
      Previous value: -"Recovery hint when no data was returned. Absent on successful responses."New value: +"Recovery hint when no breakdown data was returned. Absent on successful responses."
    • removedOutput schema / properties / query
      Removed value: -{
      -  "description": "Echoed query string.",
      -  "type": "string"
      -}
    • removedOutput schema / properties / seriesCount
      Removed value: -{
      -  "description": "Total number of series before truncation to top 10.",
      -  "type": "number"
      -}
    • addedOutput schema / properties / totalCount
      Added value: +{
      +  "description": "Total number of series returned before truncation to top 10.",
      +  "type": "number"
      +}
    • changedOutput schema / required
      Previous value: -[
      -  "query",
      -  "breakdownBy",
      -  "dateResolution",
      -  "topSeries",
      -  "seriesCount"
      -]New value: +[
      +  "dateResolution",
      +  "topSeries",
      +  "effectiveQuery",
      +  "breakdownBy",
      +  "totalCount"
      +]
  14. First observed

TDQS

A4.6/5.0
Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already cover readOnlyHint and openWorldHint, yet the description adds a great deal: values are normalized shares not article counts, small concentrated markets can outrank large ones, only the top 10 series are returned with the rest under otherSeriesLabels, a size budget may truncate the response and yield nextOffset, and a non-matching series label is rejected rather than skipped.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Purpose is front-loaded and each block covers a distinct concern (what it returns, pagination, normalization, usage). It is on the long side and the normalization explanation is dense, but no sentence is idle filler — the verbosity is driven by genuinely useful semantics.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

With an output schema present, the description need not restate field types, and it complements it by explaining ranking, truncation and the selectedSeries/otherSeriesLabels shape. Pagination, time-window limits (max 3 months) and query syntax are all covered, leaving nothing an agent needs before calling it.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 100%, so the baseline is 3, but the description goes beyond the schema by explaining what offset pages through (nextOffset with otherwise identical inputs), what series accepts (verbatim labels from otherSeriesLabels/topSeries/unknown_series errors, returned complete under selectedSeries) and why normalization makes cross-series values non-additive.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

The description names a specific verb and resource (break down news coverage volume over time) and pins the scope precisely: one series per source language or source country, returned as a multi-series time series. It is clearly separable from the sibling gdelt_get_coverage_timeline, which lacks the per-source breakdown dimension.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines4/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

It gives concrete when-to-use guidance for each enum value: breakdownBy "country" with the signal-detection chain to map geographic attention, "language" to detect non-English media surges. What it does not do is explicitly contrast against gdelt_get_coverage_timeline or state exclusions, so it falls short of a full when/when-not/alternatives treatment.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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