data_status (active / historical_archive / frozen)

data_status is PermitStack's per-jurisdiction transparency flag that tells you whether a source is still publishing current data. It is a core differentiator: rather than padding a coverage number with cities that went dark years ago, we label every jurisdiction honestly with one of three values:

• active — the source publishes current data and we re-read it on a nightly schedule. An active source whose host is refusing our requests keeps this label but carries an 'access blocked' note and its real data-through date, because the source has not stopped — we just cannot reach it right now.
• historical_archive — the upstream feed is frozen or decommissioned; we keep the historical records for research but expect no new permits (e.g. a city that stopped publishing in 2020).
• frozen — the source itself has stopped updating (not proven decommissioned); we keep its records and watch for it to resume.

Today 902 jurisdictions are active and 75 are historical_archive. The flag is exposed in API responses and on the coverage page, so a "no permit found" never silently means "we stopped getting data here." This is the difference between an honest absence and a misleading one. Read the full sourcing approach in our methodology.