# Dates and versions

> How brand context APIs show how current a response is: read dates, cache ages, index dates and version IDs. For linear.app, the dates ran from September on.

We requested every response below on 11 November 2026. The data inside the responses dates from September to the same day. Only some endpoints give the date. Only the maintained ones, prepared from sources added for the brand, give a version that you can refer to later.

| Endpoint | Key | What it said about linear.app |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Brandfetch Brand Context API | `meta.resolved_at` | 16 October 2026, a cached copy |
| Brandfetch Brand API | none | No date for the data. The screenshot is from 25 September 2026 |
| Context.dev Brand | `cache_metadata` | A cache hit, about 5 hours old |
| Context.dev Styleguide | `cache_metadata` | A cache hit, about 66 hours old |
| Firecrawl branding | none | No date in the branding object. Firecrawl serves a cached copy up to 2 days old unless you set `maxAge` |
| Logo.dev Brand API | `data.indexed_at` | 21 September 2026 |
| Rainbrand Brief | `skill_id`, `created_at` | Prepared from Brand Skill version `e16b6239…`, at 00:00 UTC on 12 November |
| Rainbrand Brand Skill | `version_id` | Version `e16b6239…`, created on 11 November 2026, one of three versions |

`GET /v1/brand/retrieve` (Context.dev Brand)

```json
{
  "status": "ok",
  "code": 200,
  "cache_metadata": { "status": "hit", "age_ms": 19071504 }
}
```

1. `cache_metadata`: About 5 hours. The Styleguide copy was about 66 hours old.

## The gap that matters

The Brandfetch Brand Context API, read on 16 October, listed the Linear feature Loops with a price. Linear announced Loops on 20 July 2026. The Linear brand in Rainbrand, added from linear.app on 15 October, had no source that mentioned Loops. Its Brief said so, and it did not guess. On 11 November, we added the announcement to the brand, which made a new version, and the next Brief used it (see [Rules and claims](https://brandcontextapi.com/fields/rules-and-claims)). The Logo.dev description, indexed on 21 September, did not mention agents.

Neither date is wrong. Each response describes the brand on one day, and only some responses tell you which day.

## What to keep with each response

- The date when the source was read, not only the date when you called the API. A cached response can be weeks older than your request.
- A version ID, if there is one, so that you know which context a piece of work used. Rainbrand's Brief carries its Brand Skill version in `skill_id`.
- The time to ask again. The [caching recipe](https://brandcontextapi.com/recipes/cache-refresh-and-pin) gives a refresh rule for each endpoint.

---

Source: https://brandcontextapi.com/fields/dates-and-versions
Last updated: 2026-11-12
Published by The Brand Object. The Brand Object is run by Rainbrand, which makes two of the endpoints described here. Their pages follow the same rules as the others.