Concept Bundles

BRAD API v2.3.0 adds conceptScores to responses for selected events. Concept scores measure how strongly an event's source text aligns with curated themes such as liquidity stress, financial contagion, or loss of confidence.

See the BRAD API reference for endpoints, request parameters, and complete response schemas.

What is a concept bundle?

A concept bundle is a curated collection of signals that describe a theme. A bundle can include:

keywords, such as industry or topic-specific terms;
phrases, including common word sequences and idioms; and
combinations of named entities and relevant keywords.

Scoring methodology

BRAD evaluates an event in two stages:

High-recall screening. A lightweight embedding model performs a broad similarity search to identify events that may relate to a configured concept.
Semantic re-ranking. A specialized model compares the candidate event text with the bundle's keywords and phrases, then returns the strongest relevance value as maxScore.

The first stage prioritizes coverage; the second stage improves precision. Bundle terms can be refined as monitoring needs evolve.

Interpreting `maxScore`

maxScore is currently an unbounded raw model score, not a probability.

Value	Interpretation
Higher positive score	Stronger relevance to the named concept.
Zero or negative score	Little or no relevance to the named concept.

Use scores to rank events within the same concept. Scores from different concepts are not directly comparable because each bundle has its own terms and score distribution. For alerting, establish a baseline and threshold separately for each concept.

In a future API version, these raw scores may transition to normalized values between 0 and 1.

Response structure

conceptScores is an array and may not be present for every event.

Field	Type	Description
`conceptId`	string	Unique identifier for the concept bundle.
`conceptName`	string	Human-readable bundle name.
`maxScore`	number	Unbounded raw relevance score.

Example

{
  "conceptScores": [
    {
      "conceptId": "05708369-f67c-481a-ab21-73d8f2fdc612",
      "conceptName": "Contagion",
      "maxScore": 1.4233367443084717
    },
    {
      "conceptId": "0a70b3fb-aabd-4602-8df1-19c79cf827cc",
      "conceptName": "Bank run terminology",
      "maxScore": -0.004242682829499245
    }
  ]
}

Here, the event is more relevant to Contagion than to Bank run terminology. This comparison is useful for understanding the result, but operational thresholds should still be calibrated independently for each bundle.

Available concept bundles

The following bundles are currently available. Additional bundles can be added on request.

Concept bundle	Example signals
Bank run terminology	bank run; run on the bank; bank collapse; bank failure; withdrawing money; empty ATMs; branch queues; `#bankrun`
Stability terms	insolvency; liquidity crisis; bank bankruptcy; solvency; deposit insurance; FDIC takeover; bank bailout; undercapitalized bank
Deposit and withdrawal language	withdraw all money; deposit flight; cash withdrawal limits; frozen accounts; withdrawal delays; wire transfer problems; uninsured deposits
Contagion	financial panic; financial contagion; systemic risk; banking crisis; credit freeze; market crash; liquidity crunch
Loss of confidence	bank hiding losses; unsafe deposits; deceptive statements; bank fraud; accounting tricks; hidden bank losses
Regulatory intervention	emergency bank measures; central bank intervention; emergency liquidity; bank holiday; deposit freeze; forced merger; government seizure; Federal Reserve
Notable action phrases	“get your money out”; “withdraw before it's too late”; “I'm closing my accounts”; “cash is safer than deposits”; “bank won't let me withdraw”
Concerning mention combinations	`[Bank Name] + collapse`; `[Bank Name] + insolvent`; `[Bank Name] + failing`; `[Bank Name] + trouble`; `[Bank Name] + unsafe`; `[Bank Name] + withdrawals`
Capital or liquidity	capital inadequacy; Tier 1 ratio declining; funding problems; weak capital position; low capital buffers; stress test failure; capital plan rejected
Asset quality	loan loss provisions; increasing defaults; non-performing loans; credit deterioration; asset write-downs; toxic loans; deteriorating loan book
Financial performance	missed earnings; profit warning; revenue shortfall; negative growth; earnings downgrade; deteriorating metrics; investor disappointment

What is a concept bundle?​

Scoring methodology​

Interpreting maxScore​

Response structure​

Example​

Available concept bundles​