Changelog

The Atlas screen in the mobile app now includes active disaster alerts, World Health Organization disease outbreak news and UCDP conflict events for any destination, the same sources Atlas on the web already uses.

The destination list can now also grow automatically as real conflict data crosses our threshold, not only by hand. Iran and Russia are the first two added this way.

Reports are grounded in UCDP conflict-event data alongside GDELT, for a fuller picture. When a data source can't be reached, the report now says so directly instead of leaving a gap unexplained.

Defensive reports were running out of time before they could finish. They now complete in about a minute, and the destination list has grown from four countries to seventeen: the original four (Lebanon, Iraq, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) plus Ukraine, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Burma, Libya, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan. When a data source can't be reached, a report now says it is unavailable instead of showing a misleading zero.

A change on the data provider's side stopped our humanitarian-report requests from working, so Atlas, Evacuation Preparedness and Defensive Intelligence were quietly getting none. They are getting them again.

Found a bug or have an idea? There's now a Feedback button in the footer of the website and a Send Feedback option on the Account screen of the mobile app. Tell us what's broken or what would make Groundwork better and it goes straight to the people building it. Leave an email address on the website if you'd like a reply.

The Atlas and Defensive pages now show a real example, using real data for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, instead of a mock-up, so you can see exactly what you would get.

Active disaster alerts now appear on the Atlas globe, colored by alert level. Defensive Intelligence reports also now draw on disaster alerts and World Health Organization disease outbreak news.

The sanctions and humanitarian-report sections of Atlas were coming back empty for every destination. Both are working again.

Destinations whose names sit inside another country's name could pull in that country's results instead. For example, Niger could show Nigeria's outbreak news and Mali could show Somalia's disaster alerts. Matching is now stricter, so results come from the right country.

A brief shared from a free account could show Pro-only sections to anyone with the link. Shared links now show only what the sharer's plan includes.

Trip dates written like March 3rd to March 10th are now read correctly, which keeps the weather forecast window right. Family briefs no longer lose their children's hospital when a trauma center is closer. Ukrainian passport holders no longer see the UK government's advisory labeled as their own. And visa requirements for Liechtenstein passports can now be found.

Atlas now shows active natural disaster alerts and World Health Organization disease outbreak news for a destination, alongside the advisories and other sources it already pulls together.

Save a destination to your watchlist and Atlas re-checks its sources every day, emailing you if something material changed. You can also export any destination's Atlas view as a PDF dossier.

The on-demand crisis guidance tool now includes curated embassy details for Russia, Venezuela, and Nigeria, bringing it to seven countries.

Pulse Digest is a short email, sent Tuesdays and Fridays, rounding up travel disruptions worth knowing about, such as transport strikes, airport closures, and protests. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Pulse used to check only the weather. It now also looks for nearby unrest, transport strikes, and airport closures when you check a location.

If a full Pulse check timed out or failed partway through, it could still count against your monthly limit. Failed checks are now refunded, and slower destinations get more time before they time out.

Your account page now has a Manage subscription button that opens a secure billing page where you can cancel or change your subscription. Checkout also now prevents accidentally subscribing twice.

Organization accounts now bill per seat, and every member of a team gets Pro and Defensive access through their organization.

Type in any place and get a quick read on the weather and disruption risk there. The free preview needs no account, and signing in unlocks the full 7-day picture.

Not ready for Pro? You can now unlock the full version of one brief with a one-time purchase instead of subscribing.

A new tier above Pro for people heading into contested environments: a synthesized, confidence-tagged assessment for a small set of vetted destinations, with a history of past reports and email alerts when a country's assessment changes.

Atlas now has an interactive globe view alongside the list, so you can see where things are happening.

Generate a public link for any brief and send it to a travel companion, family member, or colleague, no account required to view it. If they have Groundwork installed, opening the link takes them straight into the app.

A new toggle on the brief form surfaces family-specific guidance throughout your brief: pediatric-aware hospital selection for US destinations, family-room and crib availability at recommended hotels, and practical dining guidance for kids (no invented restaurant names, just real cultural norms).

The app icon on iOS was showing a visible frame/border around the logo instead of filling the icon cleanly. Fixed on both iOS and Android.

Pro subscribers could see the full brief on web but hit an incorrect "Unlock Pro" prompt on iOS and Android, along with PDF export and brief history sometimes failing to load even with an active subscription. Fixed for all Pro accounts on mobile.

Some brief generations on iOS and Android could hang or cause the app to close unexpectedly, particularly on slower connections. Generation is now faster and more resilient: if part of a brief can't be generated in time, the rest still comes through instead of the whole request failing.

Have a flight or hotel confirmation email? Paste it into the new field on the brief form and Groundwork extracts your destination and dates automatically, no more retyping what's already in your inbox.

Groundwork now watches your saved trips: a pre-departure reminder as your trip approaches, and a push alert if the government advisory level for your destination changes before or during your trip. Enable notifications from your device settings to receive them.

Export a brief to PDF from the mobile app for the first time: share it, AirDrop it, save it to Files. Enterprise orgs can also have their own firm branding on exported PDFs instead of the Groundwork mark.

Share your referral link or enter one you were given, right from the mobile Account screen, 30 days of Pro for both sides, matching what's been available on web.

A twelfth brief module: name an event you're attending (CES, Davos, an F1 weekend, any named conference or festival), and get crowd, transport, and hotel-pressure intelligence keyed to it, not just the destination city. Only populates when the event can be identified with reasonable confidence; never fabricates dates or venue details.

An eleventh brief module: whether a medevac/security-evacuation membership is actually warranted for this specific trip, calibrated to the destination's real risk and healthcare infrastructure, not generic "travel insurance is always a good idea" text. Leads with Specialized Coordinated Solutions (SCS) for a direct, tailored response, alongside Global Rescue, International SOS, and Medjet.

A tenth brief module: VPN legality for the destination (and practical guidance given that status), what to expect from border/customs device searches, and profile-gated device-hygiene advice, including an explicit clean/burner-device recommendation for Executive-tier travelers where the destination's digital-security risk warrants it.

On-demand guidance for when something is already happening. Tell it where you are and what's going on and it gives one clear recommendation, leave now, shelter in place, or monitor and prepare, with action steps, exit routes, and embassy contacts. Available for a small set of vetted high-risk countries.

The UK government's advisory level was being read incorrectly and showed the wrong level on almost every destination. It now reads correctly.

A live intelligence view of any destination for security professionals: government advisories and other public sources pulled into one operator-grade view, for people who want the raw picture instead of a summary.

Operators and EP teams can now manage a client roster, generate briefs on behalf of any managed traveler, and deliver the brief directly to the client's inbox via email. Brief history is retained per client. Access is gated to your organization: your clients cannot see or access the operator console.

Client profiles now support preferred vehicle (Sedan, SUV, Escalade, Armored), security posture (Low Profile through Armed Escort), public figure flag, dietary restrictions, languages spoken, preferred hotel brands, blood type, allergies, medications, and two emergency contacts. Vehicle, posture, dietary, hotel brand, and language preferences are injected directly into brief recommendations. Medical, emergency, and security notes are operator-only and never sent to the model.

Briefs for European and other international destinations were sometimes surfacing US hospitals: caused by Open-Meteo's geocoder silently resolving ambiguous city names (e.g. 'Holland') to a US location. Fixed. Hospital data is now gated on confirmed US coordinates from the geocoder.

Hotel names, hospital addresses, embassy addresses, and consulate addresses in your brief are now tappable links. Tap any address to open it directly in Google Maps.

A bug caused some briefs to show a Level 4 advisory for destinations that are perfectly safe: Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo. Happened when government feeds couldn't match the destination name and the AI guessed worst-case. Fixed. Briefs now default to a realistic level and flag when you should verify manually.

Briefs for domestic US destinations left the government advisory section blank. Fixed. Domestic briefs now show "No government travel advisory, domestic US destination" in both the web brief and PDF.

The airport section now includes nearest Fixed Base Operator recommendations for private jet and charter arrivals: Signature Aviation, Jet Aviation, Sheltair, Atlantic Aviation, and others. Shows ICAO code, phone, and notes on fuel, customs, and preferred operators. Toggle on or off in your profile under Brief preferences.

Hospital recommendations for US destinations now come from a curated dataset of 5,565 open US hospitals (sourced from the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data public dataset), not the AI's memory. Every US brief surfaces actual nearest emergency facilities, including the nearest Level I/II trauma center by distance.

A geocoding bug caused some US cities to pull weather from a foreign city with the same name. Fixed. Lookups now properly disambiguate by state and country.

The app moved to its permanent home. Non-www redirects automatically.

30 briefs/hr for anonymous users, 60/hr for free accounts, 200/hr for Pro. Keeps the service fast for everyone.

Live at /privacy and /terms. Monthly plans cancel anytime. Annual plans are non-refundable.

Seven high-traffic destinations now have hand-curated embassy data: UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, and Mexico. Real addresses, switchboard numbers, after-hours emergency lines, and American Citizen Services contacts. More countries being added.

The Health section now includes three nearby hospitals with trauma center designation, 24-hour emergency phone, and distance from city center.

Hotel picks calibrated to your traveler profile. Standard: reliable chains. Business: upper-upscale 4–5 star. Executive: Aman, Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Bulgari, St. Regis, leading independents. Holds your hotel loyalty status and surfaces your chain's flagship property when it fits your tier.

Top lounges at your departure and arrival airports with terminal location and access method. Covers Priority Pass, airline programs, and major club networks.

The weather section now flags when your travel dates fall in a significant weather pattern for the destination: monsoon season, hurricane season, extreme heat, harsh winters, wildfire risk.

Your loyalty programs and travel status now shape your brief. Set your premium cards, trusted traveler programs (Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, NEXUS, CLEAR), and airline/hotel elite status in your profile.

Pro access available via beta invite code for early testers. Enter your code from the upgrade screen.

Advisory, Security, Weather, Airport, Health, Accommodation, Practical & Cultural, Embassy, and a concise Summary, all in a single brief for any destination worldwide.

Live feeds from US State Department, UK FCDO, and Canada Global Affairs. Advisory level, risk categories, and full text per source. Australian Smartraveller linked directly.

Current conditions and daily high/low with precipitation. Real data, not AI-generated.

Advisory and Weather free for all users. Airport, Health, Accommodation, Practical, Embassy, and full PDF export unlocked on Pro ($9.99/mo or $99/yr).

Download your complete brief as a formatted PDF. Pro only.