Strategic Briefing
What it is
The Strategic Briefing is the analyzed layer that sits on top of your monitoring. Where a dashboard shows you one number moving, the briefing reads across all 14 dimensions at once — the six CompetLab monitors continuously, plus eight more it researches specifically for the briefing — and turns weeks of raw runs into a decision document: a headline thesis, the moves worth making, and a plain read on why the field looks the way it does.
It’s not another dashboard and it’s not a raw export. It’s the one place your competitive picture is pulled together and prioritized, so you can act on it without stitching the dimensions together yourself. The full registry of the 14 dimensions — which are monitored and which are researched — lives on Core concepts.
Monitoring is the raw layer; the briefing is the analyzed one
The two halves of CompetLab answer different questions. Monitoring tells you what’s happening as it happens. The briefing tells you what to do about it, every month, or every two weeks on Process. They draw on the same underlying runs, so they never disagree about the facts.
| Monitoring | Strategic Briefing |
|---|---|
| Raw, continuous — checked on your plan’s schedule, or slower if you set it | Analyzed, every month (every two weeks on Process) — synthesized for you |
| Six monitored dimensions, each on its own cadence | All 14 dimensions, read together |
| Dashboards, run history, and alerts between briefings | A narrative: thesis, competitor read, and tickets on your board |
| Answers “what moved this week?” | Answers “what should I do this month?” |
If you want the continuous side — how a check works, the six dimensions, alerts, and setting each cadence — start at Monitoring. This page is about the synthesis on top.
Who it’s for
The briefing is written to be read by a person making a call, not parsed by a script. It’s aimed at whoever owns the competitive picture and has to decide where the next month’s effort goes:
Everything in it is framed as a decision: each competitor sized up by the threat it poses, and a single recommended call on where to point your resources. Every move in the briefing lands on your Strategic Tickets board — as a new ticket, most important first, or on the ticket already there for that work. You can read the whole thing in a sitting, or open just the dimension you care about.
What’s inside, at a glance
Every edition opens with an executive hub — a one-sentence thesis, the top moves to make, and a one-line verdict for each dimension — that answers most questions at a glance. From there you can go as deep as you want:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Executive hub | The headline read: thesis, the few claims that matter most, and a verdict per dimension. |
| Tickets this edition | Where the edition ends. Every move in the briefing lands on your Strategic Tickets board — as a new ticket, most important first, or on the ticket already there for that work. This pane shows how many tickets the edition opened, how they stand by column now, and a way through to the board. |
| Deep-dive per dimension | Open any of the 14 for the full sub-report, with its own charts and watch list. |
| Competitor board | Each rival sized up by the threat it poses, with an analyst note — including newcomers worth adding. |
| Coverage note | An honest account of what could and couldn’t be compiled this edition, so a thin cycle never reads as an empty finding. |
Here’s roughly what the hub looks like — the headline layer you land on:
That’s the front page. For the full structure — every section, in the order you read it, and how the deep-dives and the edition’s tickets work — see Reading a briefing.
Cadence, and the edition you read
The briefing regenerates on its plan’s rhythm — every 30 days on Monitor, every two weeks on Process — independent of how often the monitored dimensions run. Each regeneration compiles the eight researched dimensions fresh and re-reads the accumulated monitoring history, so a new edition reflects everything that has moved since the last one.
In the app, what you open is always the latest finished edition — the most recent complete read for your project.
Past editions are kept. In the app the briefing opens on the latest finished edition, and
every earlier one stays readable — in the app’s editions list, and through the API and MCP tools
(get_briefing_history to list them, get_briefing_edition to open one).
If a newer edition is being generated while you’re reading, you keep the last complete one until the new edition is ready.
How you get it
The briefing is generated automatically for every project — you don’t request it. There are three ways to read it:
In the app, it’s the Strategic Briefing view for your project — the full narrative, the
deep-dives, and a closing pane counting the tickets the edition opened on your Strategic Tickets
board. From an AI assistant, the get_briefing MCP tool returns the same synthesized read so an
agent can work from it. And over HTTPS, the REST API returns the edition as structured JSON —
including the availability state, so you can tell a ready briefing from one that’s still being
prepared.
The recommendations themselves aren’t a section of the edition — they’re tickets. To read what one
edition opened, call GET /v1/projects/{projectId}/tickets?origin=briefing&briefingRunId={runId}
(the runId is in the briefing’s meta), or the list_tickets MCP tool with the same filters.
Work with it in code
The same synthesized edition the dashboard renders is available to your tools and your scripts.
FAQ
What is the Strategic Briefing?
The Strategic Briefing is CompetLab's deliverable, every month or every two weeks on Process — a synthesized, prioritized read across all 14 dimensions of your competitive position. It's the analyzed layer on top of the raw monitoring: rather than showing you numbers to interpret, it says what changed, what it means, and what to do about it. Each edition opens with an executive hub — a one-sentence thesis, the top moves to make, and a verdict for every dimension — then lets you drill into a deep-dive per dimension and a competitor-by-competitor read. Every move in the briefing lands on your Strategic Tickets board — as a new ticket, most important first, or on the ticket already there for that work. The edition ends on a pane counting those tickets. It's a decision document, not another dashboard, and it's generated automatically for each project rather than requested.
How is the briefing different from monitoring?
Monitoring is the raw, continuous layer — six dimensions checked on your plan's schedule, or slower if you set it, each with its own dashboard, run history, and alerts between briefings. The Strategic Briefing is the analyzed layer on top: a synthesis, every month or every two weeks on Process, that reads across all of that, plus eight further dimensions it researches specifically for the briefing, and turns it into a narrative. Put simply, monitoring tells you what's happening as it happens; the briefing tells you what to do about it, every month, or every two weeks on Process. Both draw on the same underlying runs, so they never disagree about the facts — the briefing just adds the judgment a stream of numbers can't give you on its own.
How often is it refreshed?
Every 30 days on Monitor, every two weeks on Process. The briefing regenerates on its plan's rhythm, independent of how often the individual monitored dimensions run — you might check AI Visibility weekly, but the synthesis that ties everything together arrives on that rhythm. Each regeneration researches the eight briefing-only dimensions fresh and re-reads the accumulated monitoring history, so a new edition reflects everything that has shifted since the last one. Between editions, the monitored dimensions keep updating on their own schedules and alerts keep firing, so you're never blind while you wait — the briefing is the periodic step back, not your only source of signal.
Can I read past editions or browse an archive?
Yes. Every edition your project has produced stays readable, newest first. In the app there's an editions list beside the briefing; through the API and the MCP tools, get_briefing_history lists them as cheap metadata rows — publication date, edition number, status, and that edition's headline verdict — and get_briefing_edition opens any one of them in full, in the same shape as the current briefing. In the app, opening the briefing without asking for a specific edition always gives you the latest finished one. If a newer edition is being generated while you're reading, you keep the last complete one until it's ready. For how a specific figure moved week to week, the monitored dimensions keep full run history you can page through and chart; the briefing is the judgment for a cycle, the dimensions are the timeline behind it.
Who is the briefing for?
It's written for the person who owns the competitive picture and has to decide where next month's effort goes — typically a founder, a CMO or marketing lead, or a competitive-intelligence lead. Everything in it is framed as a decision rather than a data dump: each competitor sized up by the threat it poses, and a single recommended call on where to point your resources. Every move in the briefing lands on your Strategic Tickets board — as a new ticket, most important first, or on the ticket already there for that work. A new ticket carries the edition's estimate of the work where the edition made one. It's meant to be read by a person in one sitting, not parsed by a script — though the same edition is available over the API and MCP when you do want it in a tool.
How do I get the briefing?
Three ways, all reading the same edition. In the CompetLab app, it's the Strategic Briefing view for your project — the full narrative, a deep-dive for each dimension, and a closing pane counting the tickets the edition opened. Every move in the briefing lands on your Strategic Tickets board — as a new ticket, most important first, or on the ticket already there for that work. From an AI assistant, the get_briefing MCP tool returns the synthesized read so an agent can work from it, and list_tickets reads the tickets an edition opened. And over HTTPS, the REST API returns the edition as structured JSON, including an availability state that tells a ready briefing apart from one still being prepared; GET /v1/projects/{projectId}/tickets?origin=briefing&briefingRunId={runId} returns that edition's tickets. You don't request a briefing — it's generated automatically for every project and refreshed on its plan's cadence — every month, or every two weeks on Process; these are just the three surfaces you read it through.