generated: '2026-08-14'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://data.useplinth.com/developers, /developers#access, /developers#governance,
  /openapi.json, /.well-known/api-onboarding, /methodology, and 404 probes for a changelog,
  status page and roadmap.
checked: '2026-08-14'

versioning:
  scheme: unversioned-path
  spec_version: 1.0.0
  spec_version_source: info.version in https://data.useplinth.com/openapi.json
  notes: >-
    No version segment in the path — everything is served under /api on data.useplinth.com. The
    only version identifier Plinth publishes is info.version 1.0.0 in the OpenAPI. There is no
    documented version-negotiation header, no dated version pinning, and no statement of what a
    bump to 1.1.0 or 2.0.0 would mean for a client.
  drift_control:
    mechanism: generated-from-routes
    evidence: >-
      "The OpenAPI description is generated from the service's own route signatures, so it cannot
      drift from the API" (/developers#governance), corroborated by the Spectral ruleset header,
      which names the generator (pipeline/grants_api.py::_public_openapi) and states the spec is
      asserted in CI (pipeline/eval/openapi_snapshot_test.py).
    reading: >-
      This is a genuine and unusual strength — the spec cannot lie about the routes. It is NOT a
      substitute for a changelog: a generated spec silently reflects a breaking change rather than
      announcing it.

changelog:
  published: false
  probed:
    - url: https://data.useplinth.com/changelog
      status: 404
    - url: https://data.useplinth.com/developers/changelog
      status: 404
  note: >-
    No dated changelog, release-notes page or version history is published anywhere on
    data.useplinth.com or www.useplinth.com, and none is linked from the APIs.json index (16 typed
    properties, none of them ChangeLog/Releases/Versioning). No `ChangeLog` pointer is emitted and
    no changelog/ artifact was authored — an honest absence.
  consumer_impact: >-
    With no changelog and no version negotiation, a consumer's only way to detect a change is to
    diff /openapi.json themselves. The provider has made that easy (the spec is generated and
    machine-fetchable) without closing the loop.

status_page:
  published: false
  probed:
    - url: https://status.useplinth.com
      status: dns-nxdomain
    - url: https://data.useplinth.com/status
      status: 404
  documented_alternative:
    url: https://data.useplinth.com/developers#access
    what_it_is: >-
      An "Access and limits" section, advertised as `status` in the RFC 9727 api-catalog linkset.
      It documents allowances and the 402 boundary — it is NOT an uptime/incident page and reports
      no component state.
  note: >-
    No `StatusPage` pointer is emitted. The api-catalog `status` relation points at a limits
    document, not an availability surface, and crediting it would be exactly the
    "venue-listing-as-Website" class of false credit.

sla:
  published: false
  note: >-
    No uptime commitment, support-response target or credit regime is published on the pricing
    page, the terms, or the developer documentation. The For-foundations tier advertises "bespoke
    onboarding and support" with no stated targets.

deprecation:
  policy_documented: false
  deprecated_operations: []
  sunset_header: false
  rfc8594: false
  evidence: >-
    No operation in the 10-operation OpenAPI carries `deprecated: true`; no Deprecation or Sunset
    header is documented; no deprecation, sunset or breaking-change policy page exists.
  note: No `Deprecation` pointer is emitted.

data_lifecycle:
  refresh_cadence: monthly
  evidence: >-
    "Responses are JSON and cached (the underlying data refreshes monthly)" (/developers);
    "refreshed monthly, so far fresher than the 990 financial data" (compliance endpoint);
    "UK rows come from the Charity Commission's monthly bulk extract".
  source_lag: 12-24 months
  lag_evidence: >-
    "The IRS releases e-file data on a 12-24 month lag, so every figure is dated to its fiscal year
    rather than to today" — info.description in the OpenAPI, repeated in llms.txt, on /developers,
    on /developers/schema and on /methodology.
  methodology_url: https://data.useplinth.com/methodology
  note: >-
    Worth separating from API lifecycle: the CONTRACT is unversioned and unannounced, but the DATA
    lifecycle is documented with unusual candour — every figure dated to a fiscal year, the lag
    stated on five separate surfaces, and coverage ceilings (e.g. "any by-cause dollar total covers
    ~67% of grant dollars") published rather than buried.

support:
  channels:
    - type: email
      value: data@useplinth.com
      scope: API support, corrections, access requests, vulnerability reports
      source: https://data.useplinth.com/developers#governance and /.well-known/security.txt
    - type: email
      value: hello@plinth.org.uk
      scope: General/commercial contact (site footer)
    - type: form
      value: https://www.useplinth.com (Book a call)
      scope: For-foundations tier / sales
  corrections_policy: >-
    "Corrections to a figure are welcome and we fix them at the source: mail the address above with
    the EIN and the filing you are reading." (/developers#governance)
  load_testing_policy: >-
    "Please don't run load tests against the API to prove a point — ask and we'll give you a
    window." (/developers#governance)

roadmap:
  published: false
  probed:
    - url: https://data.useplinth.com/roadmap
      status: 404
  note: No public roadmap. No `Roadmap` pointer emitted.

pointers_emitted: [Lifecycle]
pointers_withheld:
  - pointer: StatusPage
    reason: No uptime/incident page exists; the api-catalog `status` link is a limits document.
  - pointer: Deprecation
    reason: No deprecation or sunset policy is published and no operation is marked deprecated.
  - pointer: ChangeLog
    reason: No dated changelog exists (404 on both candidate paths).
  - pointer: Roadmap
    reason: No public roadmap (404).