Overview
Discovery Agents proactively identify any new items, or changes regarding any issue area, topic, client, or specified instructions. Every regulation, bill, agenda, (etc.) your Discovery Agent identifies will appear in your Feed. You may also receive daily email alerts, notifying you of any Discovery Agent updates, by opting-in to the Daily Digest.
How It Works
After creating a Discovery Agent, every day, Abstract will automatically
perform a full read of your data, and specified instructions. It reads your Public Footprint, your uploaded files, and all jurisdictions available in your workspace. Using that information, paired with your instructions, Abstract identifies items that appear most relevant.
Discovery Agent results will appear in your Feed, and include:
A list of bills, regulations, or policy proposals matched to your context
Short descriptions and status updates for each item
Indication of risk or opportunity
Linked references for deeper analysis
& more!
Generating a Discovery Agent
To create a Discovery Agent, there are two methods of doing so. The first method allows you to turn a Discovery Report into a Discovery Agent:
Click “New”
From the left-hand navigation bar, click the "+ New" button
Click “Generate”
From the start page, click the "Generate Discovery Report" option
Input Settings
Filter by Jurisdiction: Select the specific jurisdictions you want your Discovery Report to focus on.
Optionally, you can also skip this step to Select All jurisdictions you have available in your Abstract workspace.Select Issue Areas, Keywords, or other Prompts: You can narrow your results by entering jurisdictions, issue areas, or keywords. Abstract also supports natural language instructions.
Examples:
“Healthcare, but nothing related to CVS.”
“Technology policy in California and New York only.”
Select a Timespan: Choose the timespan you want set in your Policy Discovery report based on the Latest Action of each item.
Select “Create Discovery Agent”
Before clicking “Discover,” ensure that the “Create Discovery Agent” toggle has been turned on, in order to use the report settings to create a new Discovery Agent.
To set up a Discovery Agent using the second method:
Click “Reports”
From the left-hand navigation bar, click “reports”
Click ”Discovery Reports “
Click the “Discovery Reports” option to locate the Discovery Agents page
Click “Discovery Agents”
Click “Discovery Agents” to open the Discovery Agents page
Click “+New Discovery Agent”
Click “+New Discovery Agent” to open the settings for your new Discovery Agent
Input Settings
Report Name: give your Discovery Agent a name, to help you stay organized.
Jurisdictions: Select specified jurisdictions/Agencies/Localities from your available coverage, or leave unselected to include all.
Focus Areas: Select from the options, or add a focus area.
Additional Instructions: enter additional instructions here.
Click “Create”
Click the “Create” button to create your new Discovery Agent
View Results
Every day, new updates or items the Discovery Agents has identified will appear in your Feed.
To view the updates in your feed:
Click “Feed”
From the left-hand navigation bar, click “Feed”
Click “Discovery”
Click “Discovery” to view all new items, or updates your Discovery Agents have proactively identified
Click “View Details”
Click “View Details” to learn more about an item or update’s potential impact.
Best Practices
Set up different Discovery Agents for each of your issue areas, focuses, or clients.
Enable daily email email updates by opting into the Daily Digest, in order to stay notified.
Use the “View Details” option within your Discovery Feed to further understand potential impact, risks, or opportunities.
Common Use Cases
Scenario | Example |
Daily monitoring | Review new items relevant to your business each morning |
Client intelligence | Identify emerging legislation that may affect key clients |
Issue tracking | Explore all new activity related to a specific topic or regulation |
Support and Troubleshooting
If you encounter any issues or have questions:
Use the Help Center button in the bottom-right corner of your workspace to contact the Abstract team directly.
Messages sent through this channel go straight to your Client Partner, ensuring a quick response.
You can also request a follow-up training session to discuss how to get the most out of Discovery Agents