Townbrief Desk
Research the public record of every Massachusetts town: how your neighbors handled the same question, what was said at the meeting, and the page of the packet where it is written down.
Compare towns
Ask about an issue and see, town by town, whether it was discussed, proposed, recommended, voted, adopted or rejected, with the meeting, the vote and a quote. Towns with no record say so.
Evidence with every answer
Each finding opens to the transcript passage, the meeting video at that second, and the agenda, packet or minutes page it comes from.
Export and publish
Export to a spreadsheet, Markdown or a printable page, with the credit line “Research: Townbrief” and the link to the evidence ready to print. The paid Desk plan, $99 a month per newsroom, adds white label and higher limits: 150 calls and 30 comparisons a day, for up to 5 people, and more people at $20 a month for each person over 5.
Your own tools
Personal keys connect the same research to your newsroom's AI assistant or scripts. Fair use: 75 calls and 15 comparisons a day for the newsroom, for up to 5 people.
What a newsroom does with Desk
| The task | How it is done today | With Desk |
|---|---|---|
| Your select board votes next week on an accessory-dwelling bylaw. How did the towns around you handle it? | Call town clerks, search each town's website and read minutes PDFs. A day or more. | One comparison: town by town, whether it was discussed, proposed, voted, adopted or rejected, with the meeting, the vote and a quote. |
| A board member said something about the budget at a meeting in September. | Scrub through a three-hour meeting video. | Search the transcripts, then open the video at that second and the packet page behind it. |
| Nobody could cover Tuesday's planning board. | Wait weeks for the approved minutes. | Once the town posts the recording, read the transcript passages for each vote, with the video link. |
| A print sidebar: how nearby towns handled their trash contracts. | Build a spreadsheet by hand. | Export the comparison to a spreadsheet or a printable page, with the credit line and the link to the evidence. |
| Your newsroom uses an AI assistant. | General assistants answer from the web, and most town meetings are not on the web as text. | Connect a personal key: the assistant answers from the same record, with citations. |
Free and paid
| Free | Paid, $99 a month per newsroom | |
|---|---|---|
| Search, compare towns, and the evidence behind each answer | Yes | Yes |
| Export to a spreadsheet, Markdown or a printable page | Yes, with the credit line “Research: Townbrief” | Yes, white label: your newsroom's name, no credit line |
| Daily limit for the whole newsroom | 75 calls and 15 comparisons | 150 calls and 30 comparisons |
| People | Up to 5 | Up to 5, then $20 a month for each person over 5 |
| Personal keys for your own AI assistant or scripts | 3 | 3 |
| Publish what you find, including commercially | Yes | Yes |
Most small newsrooms never need the paid plan. Pay only when you want your own name on the research, or need more than 75 calls a day. White label starts once your newsroom signs the white-label agreement.