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Event Design Principles

Snowtrail Events are designed to provide reliable, actionable information about market developments.

Core Principles​

1. Timeliness​

Events are detected and published as quickly as possible after they occur, with clear timestamps indicating when the event was identified.

2. Accuracy​

Event information is validated before publication. Updates are issued as new information becomes available.

3. Completeness​

Events include all relevant context timing, location, magnitude, and estimated impact to support both immediate response and historical analysis.

4. Consistency​

Event categorisation and structure is consistent across markets, enabling systematic analysis and comparison.

Event Lifecycle​

Events progress through defined states:

  1. Detected - The transition is computed from the data knowable at the time
  2. Updated - New information is incorporated as a new version of the same event key
  3. Superseded - A later data revision means the transition no longer occurs; the event is kept and marked SUPERSEDED (superseded_by_source = DATA_REVISION) rather than deleted

Impact Estimation​

Where possible, events include quantified impact estimates:

  • Volume affected
  • Duration
  • Magnitude of the move that triggered the event

Historical Record​

All events are preserved in the historical record, enabling:

  • Research on event patterns over time
  • Comparison of events with market outcomes in your own analysis
  • Audit of what was published at the time, including superseded events