Sources

How to Create and Manage Sources in the Console

A Source is the container for the data describing where and when your media ran. It is how a media plan, a set of ad play logs, or a fleet's waypoint history gets into Mira, and it is the object every measurement ultimately rests on: no Source, no exposure, and therefore no study.

Sources are deliberately separate from Campaigns. One Source can be measured by several Campaigns, and one Campaign can draw on several Sources - which matches how OOH is actually bought, where a single flight often spans multiple vendors and formats. You create and load a Source once, then point Campaigns at it.

For how exposure is computed from a Source once it is attached to a Campaign, see Exposure.

Source Types

A Source has a type, which tells Mira what shape the data is in and how to interpret its time dimension. The type is set at creation and cannot be changed afterwards, so a vendor delivering both static and digital inventory needs one Source for each.

TypeUseData requirements
StaticTraditional always-on inventory, as a table of unitsStatic
Static GeoJSONInventory whose exact footprint matters, supplied as polygonsStatic
DigitalRotating digital inventory, with ad play logsDigital
MovingInventory that travels, with waypoint logsMoving

Sources are Resources, so they carry a name and description and can be shared with other users in your account.

A Static Source can additionally be marked as a Network Source, which tells Mira the inventory is long-lived rather than tied to one campaign and makes it available for Plans.

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One Source Per Vendor and Format

A Source expects every file dropped into it to share one shape. The pattern that works is one Source per vendor-and-format combination - so "Lamar bulletins" and "Lamar digital" are two Sources, not one. It also keeps vendor-level cuts clean, because the Source boundary is a dimension you can report on.

Creating a Source

  • Navigate to the Source List Page
  • Click the + Create Source button.
  • Provide a name and an optional description, to help you identify this Source.
  • Select the Source type from the type dropdown.
    • Current options are Static, Static GeoJSON, Moving, and Digital.
  • Upload source files by clicking the Upload Files button in the Upload Source Files section.
    • Accepted file types include .csv and .geojson.
    • The file size must be less than or equal to 100mb.
  • Click the Create Source button at the bottom of the page to create the Source.

Check the file against Standard Schemas for OOH Data Onboarding before uploading. Most onboarding problems are schema problems, and they are far cheaper to catch before a campaign is live than after.

Editing a Source

  • Navigate to the Source view page or the Source List page to edit a Source.
  • The User can then edit the Sources name or description.
  • Click the Edit Source button at the bottom of the page to update the Source.

Add Files To Source

Additional Source files can be added to an existing Source.

  • Travel to the Source view page.
  • Upload source files by clicking the Upload Files button.
    • Accepted file types include .csv and .geojson.
    • The file size must be less than or equal to 100mb.
  • Click the Add Files button to add the selected files to the Source.

Adding a file part-way through a campaign backfills the exposure it implies for dates already covered, so a plan that arrives in stages does not need to be held back until it is complete.

How Source Data Is Processed

Mira checks for new work every fifteen minutes. Data reaches a Source one of two ways.

You upload it. A file uploaded through the Console or the API is picked up on the next cycle and normalised into Mira's internal format.

It arrives on a schedule. For vendors delivering continuously, Mira polls an agreed location and ingests each new file as it appears. These are managed Sources, configured by our team rather than in the Console. Because the arrangement is a standing one, a missed delivery raises an alarm rather than passing unnoticed - so a gap in a managed feed gets investigated instead of quietly producing an incomplete study.

Ingest alone does not compute exposure. That happens once the Source is attached to a Campaign, and only for the dates that Campaign covers. See Configuring Sources for Campaigns for attaching a Source and for the filters and labels applied at that point.