> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shovels.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Release Notes
> Find out what the Engineering team has been up to across our entire platform, including general announcements, updates, and bugfixes.
### Introduction
Plenty of fresh coverage this release. We've added **7.5M** new permits and **32** newly covered jurisdictions β Portland (OR), Orlando (FL), and a strong cluster of Twin Cities suburbs lead the way. **+131K** contractors were added too. Total permits grow by +**7.19M** (+5.4%).
### β¨ New
**Contractor Exports Return Full Result Set**
When exporting contractors from the Shovels Online web app, the resulting CSV was previously capped at the on-screen page size (**50** rows). Exports now include all matching contractors up to **1,000** rows. No action required.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Added**
* **+7,479,676** new permits added this release
* Total permits: **141,032,194** (+5.4%)
* Permits filed in April 2026: **243,517**
* Permits with linked address: **105.2M** (74.6%, +0.8pp)
**New Permits by Type**
* Electrical: **1,417,453**
* Plumbing: **1,185,763**
* HVAC: **942,391**
* Remodel: **889,732**
* New construction: **648,351**
* Roofing: **489,444**
* Addition: **325,031**
* Demolition: **101,553**
* Solar: **91,852**
**πΊοΈ Newly Covered Jurisdictions**
**32** new jurisdictions added, each with >10,000 historical records. Highlights:
* OR / Portland: **1,578,132**
* FL / Orlando: **1,028,207**
* MN / Maple Grove: **331,140**
* MN / St. Louis Park: **301,465**
* MN / Minnetonka: **264,317**
* MN / Eden Prairie: **193,188**
* MN / Edina: **168,687**
* MN / Apple Valley: **133,736**
* MN / Golden Valley: **104,639**
* NC / Holly Springs: **99,545**
* Plus 22 more across OH, OK, PA, CO, IL, GA, MO, WA, NC
### π· Contractors
* Total contractors: **2,638,372** (up from **2,550,254**)
* Newly added: **+130,899**
### Introduction
This release adds **7.5M** new permits, **32** newly covered jurisdictions, and **131K** new contractors. Total permits reach **141M** (+5.4%).
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Added**
* **+7,479,676** new permits added this release
* Total permits: **141,032,194** (+5.4%)
* Permits filed in April 2026: **243,517**
* Permits with linked address: **105.2M** (74.6%, +0.8pp)
**New Permits by Type**
* Electrical: **1,417,453**
* Plumbing: **1,185,763**
* HVAC: **942,391**
* Remodel: **889,732**
* New construction: **648,351**
* Roofing: **489,444**
* Addition: **325,031**
* Demolition: **101,553**
* Solar: **91,852**
**πΊοΈ Newly Covered Jurisdictions**
**32** new jurisdictions added, each with >10,000 historical records. Highlights:
* OR / Portland: **1,578,132**
* FL / Orlando: **1,028,207**
* MN / Maple Grove: **331,140**
* MN / St. Louis Park: **301,465**
* MN / Minnetonka: **264,317**
* MN / Eden Prairie: **193,188**
* MN / Edina: **168,687**
* MN / Apple Valley: **133,736**
* MN / Golden Valley: **104,639**
* NC / Holly Springs: **99,545**
* Plus 22 more across OH, OK, PA, CO, IL, GA, MO, WA, NC
### π· Contractors
* Total contractors: **2,638,372** (up from **2,550,254**)
* Newly added: **+130,899**
### βΉοΈ Note on Permit IDs
As part of routine pipeline updates, **280,010** permits (0.28%) had their `id` regenerated this release. The underlying permits are unchanged β same jurisdiction, state, and `permit_number` β but small shifts in `file_date` regenerate the `id`. Largest impacted: TN / Nashville (**207K**), FL / Seminole County (**43K**). Reply to your release notes email if you need the old\_id β new\_id changelog.
β
**No breaking changes.** All existing integrations continue to work unchanged.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Added**
* **+7,479,676** new permits added this release
* Total permits: **141,032,194** (+5.4%)
* Permits filed in April 2026: **243,517**
* Permits with linked address: **105.2M** (74.6%, +0.8pp)
**New Permits by Type**
* Electrical: **1,417,453**
* Plumbing: **1,185,763**
* HVAC: **942,391**
* Remodel: **889,732**
* New construction: **648,351**
* Roofing: **489,444**
* Addition: **325,031**
* Demolition: **101,553**
* Solar: **91,852**
**πΊοΈ Newly Covered Jurisdictions**
**32** new jurisdictions added, each with >10,000 historical records. Highlights:
* OR / Portland: **1,578,132**
* FL / Orlando: **1,028,207**
* MN / Maple Grove: **331,140**
* MN / St. Louis Park: **301,465**
* MN / Minnetonka: **264,317**
* MN / Eden Prairie: **193,188**
* MN / Edina: **168,687**
* MN / Apple Valley: **133,736**
* MN / Golden Valley: **104,639**
* NC / Holly Springs: **99,545**
* Plus 22 more across OH, OK, PA, CO, IL, GA, MO, WA, NC
### π· Contractors
* Total contractors: **2,638,372** (up from **2,550,254**)
* Newly added: **+130,899**
### βΉοΈ Note on Permit IDs
As part of routine pipeline updates, **280,010** permits (0.28%) had their `id` regenerated this release. The underlying permits are unchanged β same jurisdiction, state, and `permit_number` β but small shifts in `file_date` regenerate the `id`. Largest impacted: TN / Nashville (**207K**), FL / Seminole County (**43K**). Contact your account team if you need the old\_id β new\_id changelog.
### Introduction
This release marks a major milestone: Shovels is now powered entirely by our own data pipeline. We've transitioned away from our third-party permit data provider, giving us full end-to-end ownership over permit and contractor data quality, enrichment, and refresh cycles. While the total permit count is lower, the data is significantly richer β with improved field coverage across the board, a powerful new `description_derived` field on 81M permits, and better contractor intelligence. This is a one-time transition and a stronger foundation for everything going forward.
### β¨ New
**π Fully Shovels-Owned Pipeline**
100% Shovels-Owned Data β faster iteration, better enrichment, consistent data provenance.
All third-party provider data has been removed. This gives us full control over data quality and allows us to iterate faster on enrichments without vendor dependencies. Each future release will continue as a full snapshot, growing as we expand our coverage.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**Net-New Permits Added**
* **+11.6M** Permits β expanded coverage across new jurisdictions: NY (+4.0M), TX (+3.5M), FL (+1.9M)
* Total permits in this release: **129.9M**
* Permits retained with original IDs: **118.3M**
* Permits filed in March 2026: **352K**
**New Field: `description_derived`**
* **81M** Permits β **62.4%** coverage
* A clean, plain-English summary of each permit's raw description (e.g., "Tear off and replace the roof on an existing single-family home")
**π Permit Data Quality**
Field coverage improved significantly in this release:
* Subtype coverage: **75.7%** (+18%)
* Final date coverage: **70.5%** (+16%)
* Fees coverage: **65.0%** (+11%)
* Job value coverage: **62.6%** (+10%)
* Issue date coverage: **80.5%** (+9%)
* File date coverage: **90.5%** (+4%)
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Contractor License Coverage**
* **63.5%** (+20%) β up from 43%, significantly richer licensing data on **2.5M** contractors
* Phone number coverage: **57.7%** (+7%)
* Email address coverage: **30.2%** (+6%)
**3 New State Licensing Boards Added**
Massachusetts plumbing (\~**120K** plumbers), North Carolina plumbing & electrical, and Iowa plumbing. CSL dataset grew to **3.14M** records (+4%).
### β οΈ Important Changes
This release includes breaking changes. Please review carefully.
**Contractor IDs have been regenerated** β if you've stored contractor IDs, they will need to be updated. We've prepared a contractor ID changelog mapping old IDs to new ones β **81.8%** of new contractors are mapped. Download below:
* API customers: [CSV](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3kSW5FHHjf6v6tpbW674fRP1R2lLwW1Rn6tN73dcMDW4GsQDQ98SGw3N6vy4lVm4CsvN11-T7bshGFSW6CbHSq3wj5yLW49845J4_sVl9MmY8YFQXg22W4RD6pS4cllXZW4xwn771mwZRWW3tzSlD91mj6HW45VSRj2QqJTMW3h7rtP4sXfpgW4crt1r6vxFBCN907w1gr-_69N707N7PXDYptF2LGBT36Tw3W3w6kF292m2v5W4cdT7k5NRPcvW6Ql9YM86tWgQW4gPSWW6WVzG_W7JS4vG5Kwn7jW11-7yc1SY66qf2ffJC404) Β· [Parquet](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3pjN8v7d4B7P-fHVsFdnZ1WF_ZrVTqSB76Jnk4dW2N8t4gh4lZW4G1s3Q2N3K35W3X-HKF4Dm42QW7YQ5cn8tjyFSW97DzMJ4KHs3vW53jsbw6wfWLyW1_zx9h1mrW0-N7h_CsCMqPDyW1YLhR48HFFgfMc4wrVJx0N3W35l5Pn717L0RW8fxL3m5vHVLnW3vKBhH2T5W55W1Lzy8-8PW-YnW8W0FX-7lJ_6sW8FNLc73wwRRnW2K1l9V285Bm3W64Hrtb4mbTjMW2hLgLH8gkxbgW3grbJt8t-9WGVGjYY22fn7nSf3BSfSK04)
* EDL customers: [CSV](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3nBW8F6Xd224xD1sW3LkhRt3m9crmW3sWkzn2hTQh7N25zvBSZrqkgW1mZy1523Qt3PW39vzvW3cfbGBW19ggrC6TVx_TW6P_try6HvLbJVCq5Kd8qD83bW7jDWPD68H_ZtW6CSqZY4NzgjgW5D8SRM1X_85lW7D3D0826xqsNW24v1751FDK98W6xV5987WGwQKW4y0QjJ2yF0HJW8PLLCq4w7bWNW2BJHJt5j1j1PW7vsg4w51QmjsW8Ynw7j2nC04yW5t1Q4-8XjvXBW6DNRWb6Q1bL2W6zkKY58PJ0dzVNzwPD7JsqV9f662NQv04) Β· [Parquet](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3lKW7drhVs6TTxHyW80CqX97hWX2tW5PtSbj86S_8VW5XJdRG2VT9MsW8WHTs88r9lvfN6Sk5FG95t6lW1-G_9p1z_jxdW1H599x3CJGLbW6H5WJn5tpGg0W5P2lBq8zRQK5W3Wk8Gz75KCltW19md2K1q6F_jW7W84R6587TJ2W8P6-Dp1fS3SvW2BJ1v48RD2jgW6YVqRt2nLlkFW6Nwx3677NKpMW16RzXG75_gx6N3WC5g6CsC5YW1hLxv59dZJ3_W4hMkc_7wFPBbN1pdJDcbxYL0W2RMp4F9g6NcFN2p4Yd1W6XXgf4q396j04)
For background on how contractor IDs work, see [Why Contractor IDs Can Change](https://docs.shovels.ai/docs/knowledge-base/data/contractors/id-changes#why-contractor-ids-can-change).
**Permit count decreased** β from 216M to **130M**. **98M** older permits sourced from a third-party provider were removed. The **118.3M** permits that remain kept their original IDs β no action needed for those records.
**Contractor count decreased** β from 3.9M to **2.5M**. This reflects the removal of duplicates and low-quality records. The remaining **2.5M** contractors are cleaner and more richly attributed.
**Some jurisdictions have reduced coverage** β DC was dropped entirely. VT, RI, MA, CT, DE, WI, and NM lost >80% of permits due to the removal of third-party data. Coverage will grow as we expand our own data collection.
**`first_seen_date` has been reset** β all values now fall between 2025-05-19 and 2026-03-28. Going forward, this field will accumulate normally with each biweekly release.
**Employee and resident records reduced** β Employees: 38.1M β **12.8M**. Residents: 45.9M β **27.6M**.
### Introduction
This release transitions Shovels to a fully owned data pipeline, with richer field coverage, a new `description_derived` field on 81M permits, and better contractor intelligence.
β οΈ **This release includes breaking changes.** Contractor IDs have been regenerated and permit/contractor counts have changed significantly. See the Important Changes section below.
### β¨ New
**π Fully Shovels-Owned Pipeline**
100% Shovels-Owned Data β faster iteration, better enrichment, consistent data provenance. All third-party provider data has been removed, giving us full control over data quality and enrichment without vendor dependencies.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**Net-New Permits Added**
* **+11.6M** Permits β expanded coverage: NY (+4.0M), TX (+3.5M), FL (+1.9M)
* Total permits in this release: **129.9M**
* Permits retained with original IDs: **118.3M**
* Permits filed in March 2026: **352K**
**New Field: `description_derived`**
* Available on **81M** permits β **62.4%** coverage
* Plain-English summary of each permit's raw description
**π Permit Data Quality**
* Subtype coverage: **75.7%** (+18%)
* Final date coverage: **70.5%** (+16%)
* Fees coverage: **65.0%** (+11%)
* Job value coverage: **62.6%** (+10%)
* Issue date coverage: **80.5%** (+9%)
* File date coverage: **90.5%** (+4%)
### π· Contractor Intelligence
* Contractor license coverage: **63.5%** (+20%)
* Phone number coverage: **57.7%** (+7%)
* Email address coverage: **30.2%** (+6%)
* **3** new state licensing boards: Massachusetts plumbing, North Carolina plumbing & electrical, Iowa plumbing
* CSL dataset: **3.14M** records (+4%)
### β οΈ Important Changes
**Contractor IDs have been regenerated** β if you've stored contractor IDs, they will need to be updated. We've prepared a contractor ID changelog mapping old IDs to new ones β **81.8%** of new contractors are mapped. Download below:
* API customers: [CSV](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3kSW5FHHjf6v6tpbW674fRP1R2lLwW1Rn6tN73dcMDW4GsQDQ98SGw3N6vy4lVm4CsvN11-T7bshGFSW6CbHSq3wj5yLW49845J4_sVl9MmY8YFQXg22W4RD6pS4cllXZW4xwn771mwZRWW3tzSlD91mj6HW45VSRj2QqJTMW3h7rtP4sXfpgW4crt1r6vxFBCN907w1gr-_69N707N7PXDYptF2LGBT36Tw3W3w6kF292m2v5W4cdT7k5NRPcvW6Ql9YM86tWgQW4gPSWW6WVzG_W7JS4vG5Kwn7jW11-7yc1SY66qf2ffJC404) Β· [Parquet](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3pjN8v7d4B7P-fHVsFdnZ1WF_ZrVTqSB76Jnk4dW2N8t4gh4lZW4G1s3Q2N3K35W3X-HKF4Dm42QW7YQ5cn8tjyFSW97DzMJ4KHs3vW53jsbw6wfWLyW1_zx9h1mrW0-N7h_CsCMqPDyW1YLhR48HFFgfMc4wrVJx0N3W35l5Pn717L0RW8fxL3m5vHVLnW3vKBhH2T5W55W1Lzy8-8PW-YnW8W0FX-7lJ_6sW8FNLc73wwRRnW2K1l9V285Bm3W64Hrtb4mbTjMW2hLgLH8gkxbgW3grbJt8t-9WGVGjYY22fn7nSf3BSfSK04)
* EDL customers: [CSV](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3nBW8F6Xd224xD1sW3LkhRt3m9crmW3sWkzn2hTQh7N25zvBSZrqkgW1mZy1523Qt3PW39vzvW3cfbGBW19ggrC6TVx_TW6P_try6HvLbJVCq5Kd8qD83bW7jDWPD68H_ZtW6CSqZY4NzgjgW5D8SRM1X_85lW7D3D0826xqsNW24v1751FDK98W6xV5987WGwQKW4y0QjJ2yF0HJW8PLLCq4w7bWNW2BJHJt5j1j1PW7vsg4w51QmjsW8Ynw7j2nC04yW5t1Q4-8XjvXBW6DNRWb6Q1bL2W6zkKY58PJ0dzVNzwPD7JsqV9f662NQv04) Β· [Parquet](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3lKW7drhVs6TTxHyW80CqX97hWX2tW5PtSbj86S_8VW5XJdRG2VT9MsW8WHTs88r9lvfN6Sk5FG95t6lW1-G_9p1z_jxdW1H599x3CJGLbW6H5WJn5tpGg0W5P2lBq8zRQK5W3Wk8Gz75KCltW19md2K1q6F_jW7W84R6587TJ2W8P6-Dp1fS3SvW2BJ1v48RD2jgW6YVqRt2nLlkFW6Nwx3677NKpMW16RzXG75_gx6N3WC5g6CsC5YW1hLxv59dZJ3_W4hMkc_7wFPBbN1pdJDcbxYL0W2RMp4F9g6NcFN2p4Yd1W6XXgf4q396j04)
For background on how contractor IDs work, see [Why Contractor IDs Can Change](https://docs.shovels.ai/docs/knowledge-base/data/contractors/id-changes#why-contractor-ids-can-change).
**Permit count decreased** β from 216M to **130M**. **98M** older third-party permits removed. The **118.3M** permits that remain kept their original IDs.
**Contractor count decreased** β from 3.9M to **2.5M**, reflecting removal of duplicates and low-quality third-party records.
**Some jurisdictions have reduced coverage** β DC dropped entirely. VT, RI, MA, CT, DE, WI, and NM lost >80% of permits.
**Field coverage changes** β geocoding: 72% β **67%**, inspection data: 15% β **3%**, address ID: 78% β **74%** (improving in upcoming releases).
**`first_seen_date` has been reset** β all values now fall between 2025-05-19 and 2026-03-28.
### Introduction
This release transitions Shovels to a fully owned data pipeline, with richer field coverage, a new `description_derived` field on 81M permits, and improved contractor intelligence. Please review the Important Changes section for breaking changes.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**Net-New Permits Added**
* **+11.6M** Permits β NY (+4.0M), TX (+3.5M), FL (+1.9M)
* Total permits in this release: **129.9M**
* Permits retained with original IDs: **118.3M**
* Permits filed in March 2026: **352K**
**New Field: `description_derived`**
* **81M** Permits β **62.4%** coverage
* Plain-English summaries of permit raw descriptions
**π Permit Data Quality**
* Subtype coverage: **75.7%** (+18%)
* Final date coverage: **70.5%** (+16%)
* Fees coverage: **65.0%** (+11%)
* Job value coverage: **62.6%** (+10%)
* Issue date coverage: **80.5%** (+9%)
* File date coverage: **90.5%** (+4%)
### π· Contractor Intelligence
* Contractor license coverage: **63.5%** (+20%)
* Phone number coverage: **57.7%** (+7%)
* Email address coverage: **30.2%** (+6%)
* **3** new state licensing boards added
* CSL dataset: **3.14M** records (+4%)
### β οΈ Important Changes
**Contractor IDs have been regenerated** β if you've stored contractor IDs, they will need to be updated. We've prepared a contractor ID changelog mapping old IDs to new ones β **81.8%** of new contractors are mapped. Download below:
* API customers: [CSV](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3kSW5FHHjf6v6tpbW674fRP1R2lLwW1Rn6tN73dcMDW4GsQDQ98SGw3N6vy4lVm4CsvN11-T7bshGFSW6CbHSq3wj5yLW49845J4_sVl9MmY8YFQXg22W4RD6pS4cllXZW4xwn771mwZRWW3tzSlD91mj6HW45VSRj2QqJTMW3h7rtP4sXfpgW4crt1r6vxFBCN907w1gr-_69N707N7PXDYptF2LGBT36Tw3W3w6kF292m2v5W4cdT7k5NRPcvW6Ql9YM86tWgQW4gPSWW6WVzG_W7JS4vG5Kwn7jW11-7yc1SY66qf2ffJC404) Β· [Parquet](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3pjN8v7d4B7P-fHVsFdnZ1WF_ZrVTqSB76Jnk4dW2N8t4gh4lZW4G1s3Q2N3K35W3X-HKF4Dm42QW7YQ5cn8tjyFSW97DzMJ4KHs3vW53jsbw6wfWLyW1_zx9h1mrW0-N7h_CsCMqPDyW1YLhR48HFFgfMc4wrVJx0N3W35l5Pn717L0RW8fxL3m5vHVLnW3vKBhH2T5W55W1Lzy8-8PW-YnW8W0FX-7lJ_6sW8FNLc73wwRRnW2K1l9V285Bm3W64Hrtb4mbTjMW2hLgLH8gkxbgW3grbJt8t-9WGVGjYY22fn7nSf3BSfSK04)
* EDL customers: [CSV](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3nBW8F6Xd224xD1sW3LkhRt3m9crmW3sWkzn2hTQh7N25zvBSZrqkgW1mZy1523Qt3PW39vzvW3cfbGBW19ggrC6TVx_TW6P_try6HvLbJVCq5Kd8qD83bW7jDWPD68H_ZtW6CSqZY4NzgjgW5D8SRM1X_85lW7D3D0826xqsNW24v1751FDK98W6xV5987WGwQKW4y0QjJ2yF0HJW8PLLCq4w7bWNW2BJHJt5j1j1PW7vsg4w51QmjsW8Ynw7j2nC04yW5t1Q4-8XjvXBW6DNRWb6Q1bL2W6zkKY58PJ0dzVNzwPD7JsqV9f662NQv04) Β· [Parquet](https://email.shovels.ai/e3t/Ctc/2Q+113/d5GN6904/VWDNN14TlTsMW62Df9z7NFx6dW7FnbcL5Mn68SN6hnppx3l5QzW7lCdLW6lZ3lKW7drhVs6TTxHyW80CqX97hWX2tW5PtSbj86S_8VW5XJdRG2VT9MsW8WHTs88r9lvfN6Sk5FG95t6lW1-G_9p1z_jxdW1H599x3CJGLbW6H5WJn5tpGg0W5P2lBq8zRQK5W3Wk8Gz75KCltW19md2K1q6F_jW7W84R6587TJ2W8P6-Dp1fS3SvW2BJ1v48RD2jgW6YVqRt2nLlkFW6Nwx3677NKpMW16RzXG75_gx6N3WC5g6CsC5YW1hLxv59dZJ3_W4hMkc_7wFPBbN1pdJDcbxYL0W2RMp4F9g6NcFN2p4Yd1W6XXgf4q396j04)
For background on how contractor IDs work, see [Why Contractor IDs Can Change](https://docs.shovels.ai/docs/knowledge-base/data/contractors/id-changes#why-contractor-ids-can-change).
**Permit count decreased** β from 216M to **130M**. **98M** older third-party permits removed. The **118.3M** permits that remain kept their original IDs.
**Contractor count decreased** β from 3.9M to **2.5M**, reflecting removal of duplicates and low-quality records.
**Some jurisdictions have reduced coverage** β DC dropped entirely. VT, RI, MA, CT, DE, WI, and NM lost >80% of permits.
**Field coverage changes** β geocoding: 72% β **67%**, inspection data: 15% β **3%**, address ID: 78% β **74%** (improving in upcoming releases).
**`first_seen_date` has been reset** β all values now fall between 2025-05-19 and 2026-03-28.
**Employee and resident records reduced** β Employees: 38.1M β **12.8M**. Residents: 45.9M β **27.6M**.
### Introduction
Big month. We're launching Shovels CLI β a new way to query permits, contractors, and addresses from the command line (or let your AI agent do it). On the data side, we added 1.8M new permits and geocoded another 1.4M records. Let's get into it.
### β¨ New
**>\_ Introducing Shovels CLI**
Your AI agent's gateway to U.S. construction data
One binary. Zero config. Pure JSON.
Search permits, query contractors, resolve addresses β all from your terminal
**Install in seconds**
```bash theme={null}
curl -LsSf https://shovels.ai/install.sh | sh
```
**Built for automation**
* JSON-only output to stdout, errors to stderr
* Auto-pagination with `--limit all`
* Auto-retry with backoff on rate limits
* Help text optimized for LLM comprehension
Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Learn more at [shovels.ai/cli](https://shovels.ai/cli)
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Discovered**
* **1.8M** Records
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in February 2026: **156K**
* Permits filed year-to-date (2026): **462K**
**𧱠Permit Activity by Category**
* Electrical Permits: **+388K** - Largest category growth this release
* New construction permits: **+203K**
* HVAC permits: **+136K**
* Remodel permits: **+136K**
* Roofing permits: **+91K**
* Plumbing permits: **+71K**
* Solar permits: **+23K**
* Demolition permits: **+19K**
* ADU permits: **+12K**
* EV charger permits: **+2.2K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
**Additional Permits Geocoded**
* **+1.4M** Records
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates for spatial analysis
### Introduction
Big month. We're launching Shovels CLI β a new way to query permits, contractors, and addresses from the command line (or let your AI agent do it). The API gained result counts on every paginated endpoint, an improved usage dashboard, and more accurate contractor metrics. On the data side, we added 1.8M new permits and geocoded another 1.4M records.
### β¨ New
**>\_ Introducing Shovels CLI**
Your AI agent's gateway to U.S. construction data
One binary. Zero config. Pure JSON.
Search permits, query contractors, resolve addresses β all from your terminal
**Install in seconds**
```bash theme={null}
curl -LsSf https://shovels.ai/install.sh | sh
```
**Built for automation**
* JSON-only output to stdout, errors to stderr
* Auto-pagination with `--limit all`
* Auto-retry with backoff on rate limits
* Help text optimized for LLM comprehension
Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Learn more at [shovels.ai/cli](https://shovels.ai/cli)
### β‘ API Enhancements
**Result Counts on All Paginated Endpoints**
* **7** Endpoints Β· `include_count=true`
* Get total result counts before paginating
* Returns `{value, relation}` shape β exact count or "10,000+" for large sets
Supported on:
* `/v2/permits/search`
* `/v2/contractors/search`
* `/v2/contractors/{id}/permits`
* All **4** `geo_permits` endpoints
**Enhanced Usage Dashboard**
`GET /v2/usage` now includes:
* Daily breakdown
* `is_over_limit` flag
* `available_at` projection so you always know your credit status
* Over-limit users can still access usage data
**Improved Contractor Metrics Accuracy**
Fixed `permit_count` and `total_job_value` inflation for `tag=all` queries. Average metrics now use permit-count-weighted calculations for mathematical precision.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Discovered**
* **1.8M** Records
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in February 2026: **156K**
* Permits filed year-to-date (2026): **462K**
**𧱠Permit Activity by Category**
* Electrical Permits: **+388K** - Largest category growth this release
* New construction permits: **+203K**
* HVAC permits: **+136K**
* Remodel permits: **+136K**
* Roofing permits: **+91K**
* Plumbing permits: **+71K**
* Solar permits: **+23K**
* Demolition permits: **+19K**
* ADU permits: **+12K**
* EV charger permits: **+2.2K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
**Additional Permits Geocoded**
* **+1.4M** Records
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates for spatial analysis
β
**No breaking changes.** All existing integrations continue to work unchanged.
### Introduction
We added 1.8M new permits and geocoded another 1.4M records this month. Here's the full breakdown.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Discovered**
* **1.8M** Records
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in February 2026: **156K**
* Permits filed year-to-date (2026): **462K**
**𧱠Permit Activity by Category**
* Electrical Permits: **+388K** - Largest category growth this release
* New construction permits: **+203K**
* HVAC permits: **+136K**
* Remodel permits: **+136K**
* Roofing permits: **+91K**
* Plumbing permits: **+71K**
* Solar permits: **+23K**
* Demolition permits: **+19K**
* ADU permits: **+12K**
* EV charger permits: **+2.2K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
**Additional Permits Geocoded**
* **+1.4M** Records
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates for spatial analysis
### Introduction
We're kicking off February with 6.1M new permits, 142K new contractors, and 5.2M additional geocoded records. Here's the full breakdown.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
New Permits Scraped
* **6.1M** records
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in January 2026: **197K**
𧱠Permit Activity by Category
* Electrical Permits: **+911K** - Largest category growth this release
* New construction permits: **+803K**
* HVAC permits: **+620K**
* Remodel permits: **+549K**
* Plumbing permits: **+447K**
* Roofing permits: **+268K**
* Solar permits: **+234K**
* Demolition permits: **+120K**
* ADU permits: **+100K**
* EV charger permits: **+9K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
Additional Permits Geocoded
* **+5.2M** records
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates
### π· Contractor Intelligence
New Contractors Added
* **+142K** records
* Expanding the contractor database
### β οΈ ID Updates
**5M** IDs Updated
IDs were updated to correct issues arising from data collected across multiple platforms, as well as changes in administrative jurisdictions.
* Most affected areas: Oregon, Douglas County, Omaha
For any missing IDs, you can still match using permit number or address fields. Or reach out for assistance.
### π€ Charlie - Your AI Research Agent
What is Charlie?
Charlie is your AI research agent for building permits and contractors. Ask questions in plain Englishβno SQL, no filtersβand get answers instantly.
January 2026 Updates:
* Automatic error recovery β Charlie now automatically reconnects when the backend restarts. No more persistent errors requiring page refreshes.
* Clickable profile links β When Charlie returns contractor or permit results, you now get direct links to their profile pages.
* Improved county queries β Fixed an issue where county-based queries were failing due to formatting mismatches.
Try it out β Visit [charlie.shovels.ai](https://charlie.shovels.ai) to start asking questions.
### Introduction
We're kicking off February with 6.1M new permits, 142K new contractors, and 5.2M additional geocoded records. Here's the full breakdown.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
New Permits Scraped
* **6.1M** records
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in January 2026: **197K**
𧱠Permit Activity by Category
* Electrical Permits: **+911K** - Largest category growth this release
* New construction permits: **+803K**
* HVAC permits: **+620K**
* Remodel permits: **+549K**
* Plumbing permits: **+447K**
* Roofing permits: **+268K**
* Solar permits: **+234K**
* Demolition permits: **+120K**
* ADU permits: **+100K**
* EV charger permits: **+9K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
Additional Permits Geocoded
* **+5.2M** records
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates
### π· Contractor Intelligence
New Contractors Added
* **+142K** records
* Expanding the contractor database
### β οΈ ID Updates
**5M** IDs Updated
IDs were updated to correct issues arising from data collected across multiple platforms, as well as changes in administrative jurisdictions.
* Most affected areas: Oregon, Douglas County, Omaha
For any missing IDs, you can still match using permit number or address fields. Or reach out for assistance.
β
**No breaking changes.** All existing integrations continue to work unchanged.
### Introduction
We're kicking off February with 6.1M new permits, 142K new contractors, and 5.2M additional geocoded records. Here's the full breakdown.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
New Permits Scraped
* **6.1M** records
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in January 2026: **197K**
𧱠Permit Activity by Category
* Electrical Permits: **+911K** - Largest category growth this release
* New construction permits: **+803K**
* HVAC permits: **+620K**
* Remodel permits: **+549K**
* Plumbing permits: **+447K**
* Roofing permits: **+268K**
* Solar permits: **+234K**
* Demolition permits: **+120K**
* ADU permits: **+100K**
* EV charger permits: **+9K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
Additional Permits Geocoded
* **+5.2M** records
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates
### π· Contractor Intelligence
New Contractors Added
* **+142K** records
* Expanding the contractor database
### β οΈ ID Updates
**5M** IDs Updated
IDs were updated to correct issues arising from data collected across multiple platforms, as well as changes in administrative jurisdictions.
* Most affected areas: Oregon, Douglas County, Omaha
For any missing IDs, you can still match using permit number or address fields. Or reach out for assistance.
### Introduction
Happy New Year! We're starting 2026 with 5.5M new permits, 4.7M additional geocoded records, and 171K new contractors. On the API side, we've added negative query filters and dynamic tallies, plus performance improvements for contractor and text search. Here's everything new this month.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Added**
* **5.5M Records**
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in December 2025: **295K**
**𧱠Permit Activity by Category**
* **Electrical Permits:** **+1.3M** - Largest category growth this release
* Plumbing permits: **+803K**
* HVAC permits: **+569K**
* New construction permits: **+460K**
* Remodel permits: **+351K**
* Roofing permits: **+267K**
* Solar permits: **+131K**
* ADU permits: **+82K**
* Demolition permits: **+65K**
* EV charger permits: **+18K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
Additional Permits Geocoded
* **+4.7M Records**
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates
* Total geocoded permits: **143.9M**
This release significantly improves spatial completeness for downstream mapping and location-based analysis.
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**New Contractors Added**
* **+171K Records**
* Total now: **3.6M contractors** in our database
* Additional contractor licenses captured: **+256K**
* Additional primary phone numbers available: **+69K**
* Additional primary email addresses available: **+40K**
### Introduction
Happy New Year! We're starting 2026 with 5.5M new permits, 4.7M additional geocoded records, and 171K new contractors. On the API side, we've added negative query filters and dynamic tallies, plus performance improvements for contractor and text search. Here's everything new this month.
### π What's New
### β‘ API: New Features
**Negative Query Filters**
Exclude specific tags and classifications using a dash prefix:
```
# Exclude HVAC permits
permit_tags=-hvac
# Mixed: solar permits excluding roofing
permit_tags=solar&permit_tags=-roofing
```
**Note:** Pure negative queries at state-level are limited to 365 days. Add a positive filter or use a more specific geo\_id to expand the range.
**Dynamic Tallies in Contractor Search**
Use `include_tallies=true` to get `tag_tally` and `status_tally` per contractor. Tallies are scoped to your search filters (date range, geo, tags).
**Clarified Contractor Search Semantics**
Filters work independently: `permit_tags` for capability/expertise, `permit_from/to` for activity period, and `tag_tally` for work breakdown within that period.
### π§ API: Performance & Bug Fixes
**Performance improvements**
* Contractor search and full-text search (`permit_q`) are now significantly faster, especially for broad geo queries
* Text search also supports English stemming, so "installing" matches "install"
**Invalid date range handling**
* Now returns 422 with a clear message instead of 500 Internal Server Error
**Contractor search pagination**
* Fixed an issue where pagination could prematurely signal end of results
β
**No breaking changes.** All existing integrations continue to work unchanged.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Added**
* **5.5M Records**
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* **Permits filed in December 2025:** **295K**
**𧱠Permit Activity by Category**
* **Electrical Permits:** **+1.3M** - Largest category growth this release
* **Plumbing permits:** **+803K**
* **HVAC permits:** **+569K**
* **New construction permits:** **+460K**
* **Remodel permits:** **+351K**
* **Roofing permits:** **+267K**
* **Solar permits:** **+131K**
* **ADU permits:** **+82K**
* **Demolition permits:** **+65K**
* **EV charger permits:** **+18K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
**Additional Permits Geocoded**
* **+4.7M Records**
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates
* **Total geocoded permits:** **143.9M**
This release significantly improves spatial completeness for downstream mapping and location-based analysis.
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**New Contractors Added**
* **+171K Records**
* **Total now:** **3.6M contractors** in our database
* **Additional contractor licenses captured:** **+256K**
* **Additional primary phone numbers available:** **+69K**
* **Additional primary email addresses available:** **+40K**
### Introduction
Happy New Year! We're starting 2026 with 5.5M new permits, 4.7M additional geocoded records, and 171K new contractors. On the API side, we've added negative query filters and dynamic tallies, plus performance improvements for contractor and text search. Here's everything new this month.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**New Permits Added**
* **5.5M Records**
* Expanding historical and current coverage across all jurisdictions
* **Permits filed in December 2025:** **295K**
**𧱠Permit Activity by Category**
* **Electrical Permits:** **+1.3M** - Largest category growth this release
* **Plumbing permits:** **+803K**
* **HVAC permits:** **+569K**
* **New construction permits:** **+460K**
* **Remodel permits:** **+351K**
* **Roofing permits:** **+267K**
* **Solar permits:** **+131K**
* **ADU permits:** **+82K**
* **Demolition permits:** **+65K**
* **EV charger permits:** **+18K**
### π Geocoding Improvements
**Additional Permits Geocoded**
* **+4.7M Records**
* Now with latitude and longitude coordinates
* **Total geocoded permits:** **143.9M**
This release significantly improves spatial completeness for downstream mapping and location-based analysis.
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**New Contractors Added**
* **+171K Records**
* **Total now:** **3.6M contractors** in our database
* **Additional contractor licenses captured:** **+256K**
* **Additional primary phone numbers available:** **+69K**
* **Additional primary email addresses available:** **+40K**
### Introduction
This month brings substantial improvements across data quality, coverage, and enrichment. We've significantly expanded our permits dataset with better field coverage, added 160 new jurisdictions, and continued strengthening our contractor intelligence with enhanced parsing and enrichment.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**Historical Permits Added**
* **6.6M** records
* Expanding historical coverage across all jurisdictions
* Permits filed in November 2025: **222K**
**β¨ Data Quality Enhancements**
**Fee Information Expanded**
* **14M** more records
* Better financial insights for market analysis
* Additional permits with job values: **10M**
* Additional records with issue dates: **13M**
* Improved description, type, and subtype coverage
* Enhanced permit classification and categorization across the dataset
### π Coverage Expansion
**New Jurisdictions Added**
* **160** jurisdictions
* Expanding our nationwide coverage footprint
* APN (Assessor's Parcel Number) field added to **40M** permits
* Enabling better property linkage and parcel-level analysis
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Dataset Expansion**
* **63K** new contractors - expanding your universe of potential partners
* Additional addresses parsed: **50K**
* Additional phone numbers available: **40K**
* Additional license issue dates captured: **7K**
* Enhanced geographic coverage
* Expanded city, street, and ZIP code coverage across all states
### Introduction
This month brings substantial improvements across data quality, coverage, and enrichment. We've significantly expanded our permits dataset with better field coverage, added 160 new jurisdictions, and continued strengthening our contractor intelligence with enhanced parsing and enrichment.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**Historical Permits Added**
* **6.6M Records**
* Expanding historical coverage across all jurisdictions
* **Permits filed in November 2025:** **222K**
**β¨ Data Quality Enhancements**
**Fee Information Expanded**
* **14M More Records**
* Better financial insights for market analysis
* **Additional permits with job values:** **10M**
* **Additional records with issue dates:** **13M**
* Improved description, type, and subtype coverage
* Enhanced permit classification and categorization across the dataset
### π Coverage Expansion
**New Jurisdictions Added**
* **160 Jurisdictions**
* Expanding our nationwide coverage footprint
* **APN (Assessor's Parcel Number) field added to 40M permits**
* Enabling better property linkage and parcel-level analysis
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Dataset Expansion**
* **63K New Contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners
* **Additional addresses parsed:** **50K**
* **Additional phone numbers available:** **40K**
* **Additional license issue dates captured:** **7K**
* **Enhanced geographic coverage**
* Expanded city, street, and ZIP code coverage across all states
### Introduction
This month brings substantial improvements across data quality, coverage, and enrichment. We've significantly expanded our permits dataset with better field coverage, added 160 new jurisdictions, and continued strengthening our contractor intelligence with enhanced parsing and enrichment.
### π What's New
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
**Historical Permits Added**
* **6.6M Records**
* Expanding historical coverage across all jurisdictions
* **Permits filed in November 2025:** **222K**
**β¨ Data Quality Enhancements**
**Fee Information Expanded**
* **14M More Records**
* Better financial insights for market analysis
* **Additional permits with job values:** **10M**
* **Additional records with issue dates:** **13M**
* Improved description, type, and subtype coverage
* Enhanced permit classification and categorization across the dataset
### π Coverage Expansion
**New Jurisdictions Added**
* **160 Jurisdictions**
* Expanding our nationwide coverage footprint
* **APN (Assessor's Parcel Number) field added to 40M permits**
* Enabling better property linkage and parcel-level analysis
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Dataset Expansion**
* **63K New Contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners
* **Additional addresses parsed:** **50K**
* **Additional phone numbers available:** **40K**
* **Additional license issue dates captured:** **7K**
* **Enhanced geographic coverage**
* Expanded city, street, and ZIP code coverage across all states
### Introduction
This month's release brings significant intelligence improvements across our platform. We've enhanced our data classification capabilities, expanded geographic coverage, and continued growing both our permits and contractor datasets with better enrichment quality.
### π What's New
**π§ Data Intelligence Breakthrough**
**Property Type Classification Enhanced**
* **20M+ Permits Reclassified**
* **4M additional addresses** now correctly labeled as commercial or residential
Our enhanced data pipeline now analyzes permit descriptionsβthe most reliable source of regulatory contextβto automatically infer property types. This means more accurate market segmentation and better targeting capabilities for your use cases.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
* **Permits filed in October 2025:** **180K**
* **Historical permits added to the database:** **3.4M**
### πΊοΈ Geographic Intelligence
* Enhanced FIPS code coverage across all permits
* Simplifying geographic analysis and enabling more accurate county-level aggregation for your research and targeting needs
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Dataset Expansion**
* **66K New Contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners with cleaner, better-deduplicated data
* **Phone number coverage increased:** +3.6%
* **Email address coverage increased:** +4.5%
* **License field coverage increased:** +10.6%
### Introduction
This month's release brings significant intelligence improvements across our platform. We've enhanced our data classification capabilities, expanded geographic coverage, and continued growing both our permits and contractor datasets with better enrichment quality.
### π What's New
**π API Improvements**
**New Contractor Classification Parameter**
* `contractor_classification_derived` - Human-readable categories with nationwide coverage
We've introduced a new query parameter that replaces state-specific license codes with standardized, human-readable categories like "electrical", "hvac", and "plumbing". This works consistently across all states, making it easier to filter and discover contractors without domain expertise.
### β οΈ Deprecation Notice
**Legacy `contractor_classifications` parameter status:** **Deprecated**
The old parameter continues to work for backward compatibility, but we recommend migrating to the new standardized taxonomy for better user experience and broader coverage.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
* **Permits filed in October 2025:** **180K**
* **Historical permits added to the database:** **3.4M**
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Dataset Expansion**
* **66K New Contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners with cleaner, better-deduplicated data
* **Phone number coverage increased:** +3.6%
* **Email address coverage increased:** +4.5%
* **License field coverage increased:** +10.6%
### Introduction
This month's release brings significant intelligence improvements across our platform. We've enhanced our data classification capabilities, expanded geographic coverage, and continued growing both our permits and contractor datasets with better enrichment quality.
### π What's New
**π§ Data Intelligence Breakthrough**
**Property Type Classification Enhanced**
* **20M+ Permits Reclassified**
* **4M additional addresses** now correctly labeled as commercial or residential
Our enhanced data pipeline now analyzes permit descriptionsβthe most reliable source of regulatory contextβto automatically infer property types. This means more accurate market segmentation and better targeting capabilities for your use cases.
### ποΈ Permits Dataset
* **Permits filed in October 2025:** **180K**
* **Historical permits added to the database:** **3.4M**
### πΊοΈ Geographic Intelligence
* Enhanced FIPS code coverage across all permits
* Simplifying geographic analysis and enabling more accurate county-level aggregation for your research and targeting needs
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**Dataset Expansion**
* **66K New Contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners with cleaner, better-deduplicated data
* **Phone number coverage increased:** +3.6%
* **Email address coverage increased:** +4.5%
* **License field coverage increased:** +10.6%
### Introduction
This month marks a pivotal moment in our mission: we've begun bridging the gap between online and offline permit data. For the first time, we're bringing dark data into the light, accessing jurisdictions that have never made their records digitally available. Combined with significant growth across our platform, October's release represents our most comprehensive coverage to date.
### π What's New
**Bridging the Digital Divide: Offline Jurisdictions Brought Online**
* **500K+ Records**
* First-ever offline permit acquisition from **Cook County, IL** and **Oak Ridge North, TX**
Many jurisdictions still operate without public-facing digital portals. We're now bringing this offline data online, giving you comprehensive coverage without the manual work. This is just the beginning of connecting America's fragmented permit landscape into one unified, accessible platform.
### π Data Growth
**Total Records**
* **185M** (+10M new permit records added - historical and newly filed)
* **Permits filed in September:** 80K
* **Permits filed in 2025 year-to-date:** 4.5M
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**New contractors added to our database**
* **190K contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners and competitors
* **New license records:** 70K
* **New contractor phone numbers:** 200K+
* **New contractor email addresses:** 100K+
### Introduction
This month marks a pivotal moment in our mission: we've begun bridging the gap between online and offline permit data. For the first time, we're bringing dark data into the light, accessing jurisdictions that have never made their records digitally available. Combined with significant growth across our platform, October's release represents our most comprehensive coverage to date.
### π What's New
**Bridging the Digital Divide: Offline Jurisdictions Brought Online**
* **500K+ Records**
* First-ever offline permit acquisition from **Cook County, IL** and **Oak Ridge North, TX**
Many jurisdictions still operate without public-facing digital portals. We're now bringing this offline data online, giving you comprehensive coverage without the manual work. This is just the beginning of connecting America's fragmented permit landscape into one unified, accessible platform.
### π Data Growth
**Total Records**
* **185M** (+10M new permit records added - historical and newly filed)
* **Permits filed in September:** 80K
* **Permits filed in 2025 year-to-date:** 4.5M
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**New contractors added to our database**
* **190K contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners and competitors
* **New license records:** 70K
* **New contractor phone numbers:** 200K+
* **New contractor email addresses:** 100K+
### Introduction
This month marks a pivotal moment in our mission: we've begun bridging the gap between online and offline permit data. For the first time, we're bringing dark data into the light, accessing jurisdictions that have never made their records digitally available. Combined with significant growth across our platform, October's release represents our most comprehensive coverage to date.
### π What's New
**Bridging the Digital Divide: Offline Jurisdictions Brought Online**
* **500K+ Records**
* First-ever offline permit acquisition from **Cook County, IL** and **Oak Ridge North, TX**
Many jurisdictions still operate without public-facing digital portals. We're now bringing this offline data online, giving you comprehensive coverage without the manual work. This is just the beginning of connecting America's fragmented permit landscape into one unified, accessible platform.
### π Data Growth
**Total Records**
* **185M** (+10M new permit records added - historical and newly filed)
* **Permits filed in September:** 80K
* **Permits filed in 2025 year-to-date:** 4.5M
### π· Contractor Intelligence
**New contractors added to our database**
* **190K contractors** - Expanding your universe of potential partners and competitors
* **New license records:** 70K
* **New contractor phone numbers:** 200K+
* **New contractor email addresses:** 100K+
### β¨ New
* **Total Records:** **174 million** (+700K from last month)
* **New Permits from August:** **162,281** - Our biggest monthly addition to date!
* **Permits Transitioned to Finalized Status:** **560K**
* **New Address Points:** **450K** with precise geo-coordinate mapping
* **New Jurisdictions in Coverage:** **119**
### π Upgrades
* **Enhanced Data Collection Methods:** Improved fill rates across all data points
* **Job Value Entries:** **2.3M+ new entries** added across permits for better cost estimation
* **New Construction Permits:** **55,000**
* **New HVAC Permits:** **124,000**
### π· Contractor Data Enhancements
* **New Contractors Added:** **13,000**
* **New License Records:** **70,000**
* **New Phone Numbers:** **8,000**
* **New Email Addresses:** **30,000**
### β¨ New
* **Total Records:** **174 million** (+700K from last month)
* **New Permits from August:** **162,281** - Our biggest monthly addition to date!
* **Permits Transitioned to Finalized Status:** **560K**
* **New Address Points:** **450K** with precise geo-coordinate mapping
* **New Jurisdictions in Coverage:** **119**
### π Upgrades
* **Enhanced Data Collection Methods:** Improved fill rates across all data points
* **Job Value Entries:** **2.3M+ new entries** added across permits for better cost estimation
* **New Construction Permits:** **55,000**
* **New HVAC Permits:** **124,000**
### π· Contractor Data Enhancements
* **New Contractors Added:** **13,000**
* **New License Records:** **70,000**
* **New Phone Numbers:** **8,000**
* **New Email Addresses:** **30,000**
### β¨ New Permit Records
* **Total Records:** **174 million** (+700K from last month)
* **New Permits from August:** **162,281** - Our biggest monthly addition to date!
* **Permits Transitioned to Finalized Status:** **560K**
* **New Address Points:** **450K** with precise geo-coordinate mapping
### π Expanded Jurisdiction Coverage
* **New Jurisdictions Added:** **119** new jurisdictions in our coverage
### π Data Quality Improvements
* **Enhanced Data Collection Methods:** Improved fill rates across all data points
* **Job Value Entries:** **2.3M+ new entries** added across permits for better cost estimation
* **New Construction Permits:** **55,000**
* **New HVAC Permits:** **124,000**
### π· Contractor Data Enhancements
* **New Contractors Added:** **13,000**
* **New License Records:** **70,000**
* **New Phone Numbers:** **8,000** added to `contractors.phone_primary`
* **New Email Addresses:** **30,000**
### β¨ New
* **Total new permits added:** Over **3 million** across all U.S. states.
* **California:** 2 million of these permits were added, making it our largest single-state update.
* **2025 permit count-to-date:** 2.9 million (through July 15, 2025).
* **Permits filed since June 1:** Over 250,000, with **22,000 filed in July** so far.
* **Construction:** 130,000
* **Solar:** 125,000
* **EV chargers:** 10,000
* **New contractor phone numbers:** Over **35,000** new primary phone numbers have been added.
### π Upgrades
* Continued improving contractor classification standardization. As a result, more contractors now have a Shovels-standard classification assigned to the `license_class` field.
### β¨ New
* **Total new permits added:** Over **3 million** across all U.S. states.
* **California:** 2 million of these permits were added, making it our largest single-state update.
* **2025 permit count-to-date:** 2.9 million (through July 15, 2025).
* **Permits filed since June 1:** Over 250,000, with **22,000 filed in July** so far.
* **Construction:** 130,000
* **Solar:** 125,000
* **EV chargers:** 10,000
* **New contractor phone numbers:** Over **35,000** new primary phone numbers have been added.
### π Upgrades
* Continued improving contractor classification standardization. As a result, more contractors now have a Shovels-standard classification assigned to the `license_class` field.
### βΌοΈ Action Required
**Token-based pagination is fully live.** Page-based pagination **will be removed on August 1, 2025**. Update any calls that still rely on the deprecated `page` parameter.
### β¨ New
* **Total new permits added:** Over **3 million** across all U.S. states.
* **California:** 2 million of these permits were added, making it our largest single-state update.
* **2025 permit count-to-date:** 2.9 million (through July 15, 2025).
* **Permits filed since June 1:** Over 250,000, with **22,000 filed in July** so far.
* **Construction:** 130,000
* **Solar:** 125,000
* **EV chargers:** 10,000
* **New contractor phone numbers:** Over **35,000** new primary phone numbers have been added to `contractors.phone_primary`.
### π Upgrades
* Continued improving contractor classification standardization. As a result, more contractors now have a Shovels-standard classification assigned to the `license_class` field.
### π Upgrades:
* Minor improvements to the UX and ongoing speed enhancements.
### π Bug Fixes:
* Bug fixes
### β οΈ Final Reminder:
Token-based pagination has been operational for the past two months. **Since page-based pagination will be discontinued at the start of August, this is your final month to update your integrations.**
### β¨ New Permit Records:
* **Total permit records:** 171,752,486
*That's up from 170,626,720, a jump of over **1.1 million**!*
* **June additions:** Over **25,000 new records** from June alone.
* **New construction permits:**
* **150,000+** new construction records
* **50,000** of which are **solar projects**
### π Expanded Jurisdiction Coverage:
We've added **dozens of new jurisdictions,** some of which are:
* **Livingston Parish, LA** β 6,951 new permits
* **Rapides Parish, LA** β 4,454 new permits
* **Dallas County, TX** β 706 new permits
* **Tequesta, FL** β 320 new permits
### π§πΌβπ§ Contractor Data Enhancements:
* **14,000** new contractor records added
* Nearly **20,000** new primary phone numbers
* Over **20,000** new primary email addresses
### π Upgrades:
* Faster pagination, especially for deeper pages.
* More jurisdiction coverage.
### β¨ Reminder:
* Added cursor-based pagination for **all** endpoints, which substantially improves deep search pagination.
This replaces the former `page` parameter for pagination. This old method will be supported for an additional three months, at which point it will be deprecated.
### β¨ New:
* Added **1.2 million permits**, including **248,000 from May** alone, significantly boosted by our new infrastructure.
* **300 new jurisdictions** are now online, increasing our nationwide coverage.
* **70,000 new contractors** added, bringing the total to **2.96 million**.
* Enhanced deduplication logic eliminated duplicate contractor records, improving data quality.
* **40,000 additional contact details** (phone numbers, emails, addresses) were linked, thanks to infrastructure enhancements.
β οΈ **Breaking Changes & Compatibility Notes**
### βΌοΈ Permit ID Updates:
* Approximately **2 million duplicate permits** from legacy system migrations were removed. The most affected states are **Florida and Texas.**
* **\~6% of permits now have new IDs.** Attributes such as `permit_number` and address remain unchanged.
If you query by cached `id` and encounter missing results (404), use `permit_number`, address, or other metadata to re-fetch the permit. If you still encounter issues, reach outβweβll help map old IDs to new ones.
### βΌοΈ Contractor ID Updates
* **\~170,000 contractors have new IDs** that have been regenerated based on improved data quality.
* All contractors remain searchable by:
* Areas of work
* Permit projects
* Business names
If you cache contractor IDs on your end and you encounter not-found responses, use other record attributes to update IDs on your end. If ID changes affect your workflow in a more substantial way, contact us directly and weβll assist.
### π Upgrades:
* Improved the **Permit Search** logic to always order resulting permits by newest first.
### β¨ New:
* Added cursor-based pagination for **all** endpoints, which substantially improves deep search pagination.
This replaces the former `page` parameter for pagination. This old method will be supported for an additional three months, at which point it will be deprecated.
### π Upgrades:
* Improved the response ordering logic to always order results in chronological order, descending.
### β¨ New:
* Added a new `apn` column to the `addresses` table
* Added two new columns `status` and `status_detailed` to the `csl` and `contractors` tables
* Status codes for all states are mapped against the following schema:
* `active`: License is active and in good standing with no restrictions.
* `active_conditional`: License is active but subject to specific conditions, limitations, or temporary provisions.
* `expired`: License has lapsed due to non-renewal; typically eligible for renewal.
* `retired`: License has been voluntarily placed in an inactive state, often due to the holder retiring or the business closing.
* `suspended`: License is temporarily invalid, usually due to disciplinary actions or unresolved administrative issues.
* `revoked`: License has been permanently terminated, typically due to serious violations or disciplinary reasons.
* `pending`: License application, renewal, or reinstatement is currently under review or being processed.
* `inactive`: License is currently not valid, often due to administrative issues or other undefined reasons not captured by the categories above.
### π Upgrades:
* Expanded `csl` table coverage by adding 11 new states: `CT`, `GA`, `IL`, `MD`, `MO`, `OK`, `NY`, `OR`, `SC`, `TN`, `UT`.
### π Bugfix:
* Fixed an address parsing issue that was affecting `csl` table contractors in `NV`.
### β¨ New:
* General speed improvements
* New and improved onboarding flow
### πͺ² Bug Fixes:
* Fixed bug that didn't change the geo on the download list button
* Fixed bug preventing some filters from being "sticky" in between searches
* Fixed bug preventing geography profile filters from updating charts
No API changes this month!
### ποΈ Permits:
* Total permits: The dataset now contains 171M permits β an increase of 2M compared to the previous batch. With 8 new jurisdictions.
* `first_seen_date` coverage: \~150M permits have a first\_seen\_date
### π§πΌβπ§ Contractors:
* We now have over 3 million contractors in the dataset, with \~50K new records added this month
* License linkage: An additional 80K contractors have been linked to state license files.
### π Classification coverage:
* All contractors with a license now have the `classification_derived` field as well. This field maps state-specific classifications into standardized categories.
* If a contractor has multiple license classifications, they are concatenated using the pipe ("|") character.
### ποΈ License Files:
* A new table, CSL, is added to our production database. It contains data from 26 states files, and has a total of 1.8 M contractors.
* Around 200K contractors are linked to our Contractors table while the others are new. As part of this new dataset, we have around 700K new contractors phone numbers and 200K new emails.
There were in total almost 3000 different classifications categories across different state files. We standardized this to the following categories:
`concrete_and_paving`, `demolition_and_excavation`, `electrical`, `fencing_and_glazing`, `framing_and_carpentry`, `general_building_contractor`, `general_engineering_contractor`, `hvac`, `landscaping_and_outdoor_work`, `plumbing`, `roofing`, `specialty_trades`
### β¨ New:
* Added **Website Search** filter options to **Contractor Filters**
* Added tooltips to the UI to better explain functionality
### π Upgrades:
* Added Search filter auto-caching to improve UX between page reloads and sessions
* Added new **New User** onboarding experience
* Adjusted datepicker widget for date range selection to *monthly*, which will improve usability
### β¨ New:
* Added new fields to the `/contractors/` endpoint group:
* `first_seen_date`: Date when the contractor was first recorded in the Shovels platform and given an id.
* `license_act_date`: Date when the contractor's license became active.
* `license_inact_date`: Date when the contractor's license became inactive.
* `review_count`: Number of reviews the contractor has received.
* `rating`: Rating of the contractor based on reviews.
* `dba`: "Doing Business As" name for the contractor.
* `sic`: Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code of the contractor.
* `naics`: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of the contractor.
* `linkedin_url`: LinkedIn URL of the contractor.
* `revenue`: Annual revenue of the contractor's business.
* `employee_count`: Number of employees working for the contractor.
* `primary_industry`: Primary industry in which the contractor operates.
* Implemented new API rate limits: **1M requests/month**, or **\~33k requests/day**.
### β¨ New:
* Added `first_seen_date` to the `permits` table
* this represents the date when the the permit itself was first retrieved for the Shovels platform
This is different than the `first_seen_date` column in the `contractors` table, which by contrast represents the date the contractor was first seen in our platform and assigned an `id`.
FINAL WARNING: As previously announced, the V1 of the Shovels API is **now deprecated**.
### β¨ New:
* Added **Address Profiles**
* Added **Free Forever** plan in place of a Free Trial.
### π Bugfix:
* Fixed issue where **Geography Profiles** (`City`, `Jurisdiction`, `County`, etc) filters for **Property Type** and **Permit Category** weren't updating counts correctly.
### β¨ New:
* Added new `/v2/{geography}/{geo_id}/metrics/monthly` endpoint.
* Added new `/v2/{geography}/{geo_id}/metrics/current` endpoint.
### π₯ Breaking:
* Removed `/v2/{geography}/{geo_id}/metrics` endpoint.
* Changed **monetary value** data types from `decimal` `integer` (eg, `dollars` `cents`). This will affect the following parameters:
* `property_assess_market_value`
* `job_value`
* `fees`
* `avg_job_value`
* `total_job_value`
* `avg_job_value`
* `total_job_value`
* `total_job_value`
* Changed **percentage** data types from `decimal` `integer` (eg, `0.75` `75`). This will affect the following parameters:
* `inspection_pass_rate`
* `avg_inspection_pass_rate`
* `avg_inspection_pass_rate`
* `avg_inspection_pass_rate`
### π Bugfix:
* Fixed issue where `address` object's latitude and longitude coordinates were occasionally reversed, and built in anomaly detection and correction for future processing.
* This fix continues downstream to **API** and **Online** records.
***
In order to ensure smooth transitions between updates, we've settled on a few short term policies.
1. We will do our best to give as much advance warning on breaking changes as possible.
* Some recent breaking changes are delayed updates to the schema that should have been part of the V2 launch. **We do not plan on making breaking changes this often.**
2. Where sensible and possible, we will provide backward compatibility for new endpoints, parameters, and schemas.
As described under **EDL** changes above, we found that there were rare cases where the latitude and longitude coordinates were reversed. Affected records have been corrected.
We've also beefed up our address-geospatial processing to find and fix these errors going forward.
* **Online**: Monday, February 03, 2025.
* **API**: Monday, February 10, 2025.
* **EDL**: Wednesday, February 6, 2025.
### β¨ New:
* Added `employees` to **Contractor Profiles**.
* Added links to **Jurisdiction Profiles** for all permits.
* Added links to **City Profiles** and **County Profiles** for all geo-related profiles.
### π Bugfixes:
* Fixed password reset bug.
### β¨ New:
* Added new `/v2/contractors/{id}/employees` endpoint.
* Added new `/v2/addresses/{id}/metrics` endpoint.
### β οΈ End of Life:
* We will **DEPRECATE** the **API V1** by the end of January 2025.
Please update all endpoints using the old schema **before January 31, 2025** to ensure continued usage.
### π Bugfixes:
* Fixed metrics calculation algorithm on all endpoints.
### π₯ Breaking:
* `contractors` table:
* `first_seen_at` **renamed** `first_seen_date`.
* Data type **changed** `DATE`.
* `reviews` **renamed** `review_count`.
* `residents` table:
* Foreign key **changed** from `permit_id` `address_id`.
* **Please note**: The `address_id` field is also the foreign key for the `permits` table, allowing easier joins between `residents` and `permits` tables.
Please ensure that any existing queries or automation using `first_seen_at`, `reviews`, or `permit_id` are updated accordingly.
***
These new permits will be available across the entire platform.
### β¨ New:
* +6M permits nationwide.
* +9 permit jurisdictions.
### β¨ New:
* Added +2M permits in `Texas`.
* Added metric visualizations to **Contractor Profiles**.
### π Bugfixes:
* Corrected issue where `Contractor Profiles` wouldn't load properly.
β¨ **New**:
* `residents` endpoint.
### π Upgrades:
* Improved address validation for all geography-related fields, in line with US Census data.
### π₯ Breaking:
* Casing standardizations (please update accordingly if your logic is **case-sensitive**):
* `property_type` values are now **lower case**, eg `residential`.
### β¨ New:
* `first_seen_at` column in the `contractor` table.
* `employees` table, linked to `contractors` table:
* Includes a wide range of firmographic data for individual employees.
* See "Schema Updates" below for the full list of columns.
### π Upgrades:
* additional columns in the `residents` table. See "Schema Updates" below for the full list.
### π₯ Breaking:
* Casing standardizations (in addition to the changes outlined in the API Section previously).
* `property_owner_type` values are now **snake\_case**, eg `individual` or `company_owned`.
* `owner_name`, `owner_street`, `owner_city` values are now **upper case**, eg `JANE DOE`, `MAIN ST`, or `AGAWAM`.
* `applicant_name`, `applicant_street`, `applicant_city` values are now **upper case**, just like `owner_$` above.
* (PLANNED) Replacement of `permits_ids` with `address_id` in the `residents` table (please update your pipelines that use this foreign key value.)
* This change will go into effect **January 2025**.
***
We made a number of additions to our datasets, including new columns. For breaking changes to casing, see "API" above.
* `personal_emails_validation_status` (string): The validation status of the associated personal email. 'Valid' indicates a validated email; null means unknown.
* `personal_emails_last_seen` (date): The date of the last validation or verification attempt for the personal email. Null if unknown.
* `business_email` (string): The primary business email observed for this person.
* `business_email_validation_status` (string): Validation status of the business email. 'Valid' means the email was validated; null means unknown. May contain values like 'Valid-ESP' (validated by email service provider) or 'Valid-Digital' (validated by cookie/digital tag).
* `business_email_last_seen` (date): The date of the last known validation or verification attempt of the business email. Null if unknown.
* `linkedin_url` (string): URL of the personβs LinkedIn profile.
* `homeowner` (string): Reports if the person in this record is a homeowner. Y and N are observed values, P represents that they are likely a homeowner, based on probabilistic modeling, and null values represent 'unknown'.
* `gender` (string): The personβs gender.
* `age_range` (string): The personβs age mapped to standard demographic ranges.
* `is_married` (boolean): Indicates if the person is married.
* `has_children` (boolean): Indicates if the person has children.
* `income_range` (string): The personβs income range.
* `net_worth` (string): The personβs net worth, mapped to standard demographic ranges. Null if unknown.
* `job_title` (string): The personβs job title.
* `seniority_level` (string): The seniority level of the personβs role.
* `department` (string): The department in which the person works.
* `job_title_last_updated` (date): The last date the personβs job title was updated.
* `last_updated` (date): The last date any value in this record was updated.
* `work_history` (string, JSON): A JSON-formatted history of the personβs work experiences (e.g., company name, \* position, duration, start/end time, job description, location, social\_url).
* `education_history` (string): The personβs education background.
* `social_connections` (string): The number of social media connections the person has, provided in ranges (e.g., 1-9, 10-49, etc.).
* `company_name` (string): The name of the company where the person works.
* `company_domain` (string): The companyβs domain.
* `company_phone` (string): The companyβs contact phone number.
* `company_sic` (string): The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code(s) of the company, separated by semicolons if multiple.
* `company_street_no` (string): The street number of the companyβs address.
* `company_street` (string): The street name of the companyβs address.
* `company_city` (string): The city in which the company is located.
* `company_zip` (string): The companyβs 5-digit ZIP code.
* `company_state` (string): The uppercase state abbreviation for the companyβs address.
* `company_linkedin_url` (string): The URL of the companyβs LinkedIn profile.
* `company_revenue` (string): The companyβs revenue, expressed in standard ranges.
* `company_employee_count` (string): The number of observed US enterprise employees at the company, provided in \* standard firmographic ranges.
* `company_primary_industry` (string): The primary industry in which the company operates.
* `company_description` (string): A description of the companyβs business activities.
* `company_naics` (string): The companyβs North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code(s).
* `contractor_id` (string)
* `person_id` (string)
* `name` (string)
* `street_no` (string)
* `street` (string)
* `city` (string)
* `zipcode` (string)
* `zipcode_ext` (string)
* `state` (string)
* `phone` (string)
* `email` (string)
* `email_validation_status` (string)
* `email_last_seen` (date)
* `business_email` (string)
* `business_email_validation_status` (string)
* `business_email_last_seen` (date)
* `linkedin_url` (string)
* `homeowner` (string)
* `gender` (string)
* `age_range` (string)
* `is_married` (boolean)
* `has_children` (boolean)
* `income_range` (string)
* `net_worth` (string)
* `job_title` (string)
* `seniority_level` (string)
* `department` (string)
* `job_title_last_updated` (date)
* `work_history` (string, JSON formatted)
* `education_history` (string)