Forge Solution
Forge Sunlight — evidence-ready lobbying disclosure data, packaged for teams that need verifiable sourcing.
Sunlight is a Forge solution built around public lobbying disclosure records from LDA.gov (Lobbying Disclosure Act). It turns raw filings into structured, exportable evidence packs with provenance links and integrity checksums — so legal and investigative workflows can move faster with less rework.
Why Sunlight
Sunlight makes public disclosure data easier to verify, cite, and share.
Evidence packs you can hand to someone else
Every filing can be exported as a self-contained bundle: filing payload, evidence payload (when available), raw source link, and hashes for integrity verification.
Less arguing about “where did this come from?”
Provenance is first-class. If a record has a raw/source reference, it’s included. That makes internal review and external publication safer and faster.
Built for careful teams, not hype
Sunlight is useful before “AI magic.” The product starts as rigorous data packaging and evidence workflow automation — then we layer private AI on top.
Private-by-design alignment with Forge
Sunlight is a Forge solution: the same owner-operated stack can run the pipelines, storage, and (later) retrieval/summarization behind your firewall.
What it does today
Structured intake → verified artifacts → exportable evidence.
Ingest + normalize
- • Collect filings from LDA.gov and normalize into stable JSON payloads.
- • Keep metadata (retrieved/parsed timestamps) where available.
- • Maintain pointers to raw/source references when present.
Index + browse
- • Search and browse filings by year/source.
- • Drill into a filing record for details and references.
- • Keep the UI thin and fast — the evidence is the product.
Export evidence
- • Download a ZIP evidence pack per filing.
- • manifest.json enumerates sizes + hashes for each file.
- • sha256sums.txt supports `sha256sum -c` verification.
How it fits Forge
Sunlight is a Forge solution: evidence workflow first, private AI next.
Forge Core (platform)
Owner-operated stack: storage, pipelines, retrieval, access control, and an API surface you can run on infra you control.
Forge Sunlight (solution)
Opinionated workflows for lobbying disclosure: ingest, normalize, browse, and export verifiable evidence packs.
AI layer (coming)
When you’re ready: private summarization, entity resolution, and “what changed?” diffing — all grounded in the same evidence artifacts.
Trust and provenance
Make verification the default, not an afterthought.
Integrity verification
Evidence packs include deterministic file listings and SHA256 checksums so teams can detect modification after download and preserve chain-of-custody.
Source attribution
Sunlight is built around public records from LDA.gov (Lobbying Disclosure Act). When a raw/source link is available, it’s bundled alongside the derived payloads.
This keeps internal review clean and helps your team cite what matters with less back and forth.
Use cases
Where Sunlight helps immediately
Legal review + diligence
Bundle relevant filings into evidence packs and attach them to review notes, matters, or internal knowledge bases.
Investigations + reporting
Speed up the “confirm → cite → publish” loop with provenance and integrity baked into exports.
Compliance + internal audit
Keep a verifiable record of what you relied on, when you downloaded it, and whether it has changed.
Roadmap
What we’re adding next (still evidence-first)
Entity resolution
Normalize org names, addresses, and registrant relationships across filings.
Change detection
Diff filings over time and highlight material updates with traceable inputs.
Private AI summaries
Summaries and extraction grounded in the evidence pack artifacts (no “black box” output).
Team workflows
Notes, assignments, and evidence trails for collaborative review.
Who it's for
Built for legal teams who need defensible sourcing.
In-house legal
Move faster on diligence and review without sacrificing rigor.
- • Package what you relied on (filing + provenance) into a single export.
- • Reduce back-and-forth with business stakeholders about sources.
- • Preserve a verifiable trail for later questions.
Outside counsel
Make collaboration cleaner with self-contained evidence artifacts.
- • Share one ZIP per filing with hashes for integrity.
- • Standardize how filings are referenced across teams.
- • Keep raw/source links attached when available.
Compliance + investigations
Support internal controls and investigations with repeatable evidence handling.
- • Treat evidence packs as case attachments.
- • Verify integrity after transfer using SHA256 checks.
- • Build AI features later without losing provenance.