Lesson 2 of 12 · ~8 min

Read a brief — severity & signals

You'll learn: Decode the severity scale, understand what each of the 4 pillars covers, and drill into a signal tile.

Before you start

Run at least one scan from Lesson 1 so you have a real brief to look at.

01The severity scale

Every scan and every signal carries one of five severity levels:

  • Critical — credible imminent threat. Treat as a paging-level event.
  • High — elevated activity that warrants operator attention now.
  • Medium — noticeable signal, worth a periodic glance.
  • Low — background baseline. Nothing actionable.
  • Clear / Unknown — no signal returned, or feed was unavailable.

The overall severity pill on a brief is the worst single signal severity, not an average. One critical Telegram thread elevates an otherwise quiet brief to Critical.

Brief header with a red Critical pill, "1 critical · 3 high · 5 medium · 8 low" breakdown below.
Brief header with a red Critical pill, "1 critical · 3 high · 5 medium · 8 low" breakdown below.

02The four signal pillars

SignalGuard's 50+ signals are grouped into four pillars by what they measure:

Chatter (10)

What people are saying — X, Reddit, Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, Telegram, TikTok, news, dark web.

Environment (5)

Physical hazards — weather, air quality, severe storms, wildfires, earthquakes.

Movement (6)

Ground + air — traffic incidents, ADS-B aircraft, TFRs, FAA NOTAMs, police scanners, cellular density.

Context (5)

Standing posture — NTAS advisory, FBI crime baseline, FEMA disasters, Ticketmaster activity, nearby POI density.

Brief with signal tiles grouped into 4 color-coded columns matching the pillar swatches.
Brief with signal tiles grouped into 4 color-coded columns matching the pillar swatches.

03Drill into a signal tile

Click any signal tile to expand its full detail card. Chatter tiles open the top posts with text, author, source, and engagement metrics. Environment tiles show forecast detail, alert text, magnitude/distance. Movement tiles list incidents with coordinates. Context tiles show the underlying advisory or baseline data.

Expanded Telegram signal card showing 4 message threads with tier badges, channel names, and post text.
Expanded Telegram signal card showing 4 message threads with tier badges, channel names, and post text.

04Use citations to verify

The AI synthesis and actions include bracketed citations like [signal:weather] or [brief:synthesis]. Every claim is grounded — if a citation references a signal, that signal's card carries the source data. Don't trust an action that lacks a citation.

An action item with [signal:traffic] highlighted, with an arrow pointing down to the Traffic signal card.
An action item with [signal:traffic] highlighted, with an arrow pointing down to the Traffic signal card.

Tips