RESERVE enforces data usage permissions for all FRED series to ensure compliance with upstream copyright and licensing requirements.
FRED aggregates more than 800,000 data series from over 100 public and private sources. Because of this, usage rights vary by series, and applications consuming this data are responsible for handling those differences correctly.
RESERVE automates this responsibility.
Supported Permission Types
RESERVE checks and enforces the following FRED permission categories:
1. permission_required
(FRED: “Copyrighted: Pre-approval required”)
- The data is owned by a third party
- Commercial use is not allowed without explicit permission from the copyright holder
- Consumption is limited to personal or educational use unless permission is obtained
RESERVE behavior:
- Blocks usage in restricted contexts (e.g., commercial mode)
- Flags the series as requiring explicit approval before use
2. citation_required
(FRED: “Copyrighted: Citation required”)
- This data may be used with proper attribution
- Commercial use is allowed if attribution requirements are met
RESERVE behavior:
- Allows usage
- Automatically attaches or surfaces required citation metadata
- Ensures attribution can be included in ALL output formats
3. citation_requested
(FRED: “Public Domain: Citation requested”)
- Data may be used freely
- Citation is recommended but not strictly required
RESERVE behavior:
- Allows unrestricted usage
- Surfaces citation metadata when available for best practice compliance
How RESERVE Handles Compliance
RESERVE is designed to be default-safe:
- Retrieves copyright tags programmatically via the FRED API
- Associates permission metadata with each series
- Prevents use of restricted data where appropriate
- Ensures citation requirements are not missed
- Surfaces source attribution for downstream use (CLI, exports, reports)
- Instructs LLMs not to modify permission settings automatically
RESERVE is designed to reduce the need for users to manually inspect each series before use, but relies on upstream metadata for accuracy1.
# Permission required
reserve obs get BAMLC0A0CM
NOTICE: Series BAMLC0A0CM is blocked for student use.
Reason: this series requires prior permission before use.
Help: https://reservecli.dev/documentation/permissions/
## Citation required
reserve obs get MORTGAGE30US --start 2026-01-01 --end 2026-01-15
+--------------+------------+-------+
| SERIES | DATE | VALUE |
+--------------+------------+-------+
| MORTGAGE30US | 2026-01-08 | 6.16 |
| MORTGAGE30US | 2026-01-15 | 6.06 |
+--------------+------------+-------+
Source: Freddie Mac via FRED
# Citation requested
reserve obs get GDP --start 2025-01-01 --end 2025-12-31
+--------+------------+-----------+
| SERIES | DATE | VALUE |
+--------+------------+-----------+
| GDP | 2025-01-01 | 30042.113 |
| GDP | 2025-04-01 | 30485.729 |
| GDP | 2025-07-01 | 31098.027 |
| GDP | 2025-10-01 | 31442.483 |
+--------+------------+-----------+
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED
# Format JSON includes
"public domain: citation requested"Summary
RESERVE aims to:
- Prevent improper use of restricted data
- Preserve required citations
- Handle public domain data appropriately
References
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal
- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/legal#prohibitions
- https://fredhelp.stlouisfed.org/fred/data/understanding-the-data/information-about-data/
1 Copyright compliance and verification of upstream data sources remain the responsibility of the end user.
.