Point-in-time research

This guide focuses on using Arche in research and backtest pipelines where historical correctness matters more than present-day convenience.

Research goal

You want a dataset that answers:

• what was known on the rebalance date
• which filing's statement produced that answer
• whether the same request can be re-run later without drift

Dataset inputs

A reproducible research job should preserve at least:

• the company identifier, such as cik
• the query boundary, such as as_of=2024-03-31
• any fiscal filters or statement-type filters
• the returned accession_id values

Query pattern

Representative point-in-time request:

GET /v1/edgar/as-of/2024-03-31/financials/0000320193

Common pattern:

1. resolve or pre-store the company identifier
2. compute the research boundary for each decision date
3. request point-in-time financials at that boundary
4. persist both the returned data and the request inputs

Reading a few statements

To read only the statements you need, use the page route. It applies the same as-of rule as the full route and returns the same snapshot_hash:

GET /v1/edgar/as-of/2026-10-06/financials/0000320193/page?statement_type=INCOME_STATEMENT&fiscal_year_from=2023&fiscal_year_to=2023&fiscal_period=FY&limit=20

Each statement comes back with its filing and its figures in values, one decimal string per metric code. With detail=true it also carries its facts, where each figure came from and its quality block: completeness, reconciliation results, data quality and mapping. Page with limit and offset: matched_count says how many statements match the filters, and selected_count how many you can page through, which is one per statement type when latest_only=true. The reconciliation and data-quality summaries for the whole snapshot come only from the full route, with detail=true.

Choosing the boundary

A date includes every filing the SEC dated on or before it. A timestamp with an offset includes every filing the SEC accepted at or before that instant.

Apple's FY2023 10-K was accepted at 6:08 pm Eastern on 2023-11-02 and dated 2023-11-03. as-of/2023-11-02 excludes it and as-of/2023-11-03 includes it. To model a trade at the close, use as-of/2023-11-02T16:00:00-04:00.

GET /v1/edgar/as-of/2023-11-02T16:00:00-04:00/financials/0000320193

Reproducibility rules

• Prefer as_of routes over latest-state routes when generating historical features.
• Do not backfill later restated values into earlier model snapshots.
• Record exact request parameters together with your model run metadata.