Get a data point's revision history
get_revision_historyRead-only
Retrieve the revision history of a FRED data point, showing the initial value, each revision with publication date, current value, and total drift.
Instructions
One data point's life across revisions: earliest archived print -> today.
`series_id`: a FRED series ID. `observation_date`: the data point's PERIOD
START date (ISO) — quarterly series use quarter starts (Q4 2008 =
"2008-10-01"), monthly use month starts. Returns the earliest archived
value, every revision with its publication date, the current value, and
the total drift.
Caveat: ALFRED's archive starts late for many series (`archive_starts`
shows where). `initial_value` is the true first print — what
decision-makers actually saw — only when the archive reaches back to the
observation's original release.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| series_id | Yes | ||
| observation_date | Yes |
Output Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| series_id | Yes | The FRED series ID | |
| title | Yes | Series title | |
| observation_date | Yes | The observation the history is for (period start date) | |
| units | Yes | Units of the values | |
| archive_starts | No | The first vintage in ALFRED's archive for this point. If this is much later than observation_date, initial_value is the earliest ARCHIVED value, not the true first print | |
| initial_value | Yes | The value in ALFRED's earliest archived vintage — the as-published 'real-time' number when archive_starts reaches back to the observation's release | |
| current_value | Yes | The value as published today, after all revisions | |
| total_revision | No | current_value - initial_value (null if either is missing) | |
| steps | Yes | Each distinct value the point has held, oldest first (consecutive re-publications of an unchanged value are merged) | |
| steps_truncated | No | True if middle revisions were omitted to cap the list (the initial and current steps are always kept) |