Federal Reserve Data Download Program

The Federal Reserve Data Download Program is the Board's bulk-download builder for its statistical releases. It spans roughly 18 releases, H.8, Z.1, H.6, H.4.1, H.15, G.19 and charge-off rates among them, and assembles custom CSV and XML packages from the series a user selects.

Two defaults matter for anyone wiring it into a pipeline. Packages include full history unless from/to dates are supplied, so an unparameterized request pulls everything. And the releases behind it are large in their own right: H.8 alone carries hundreds of series, while Z.1 ships 286 CSV tables per quarter, about 8 MB zipped.

• Full-history defaults inflate first pulls. Because packages default to complete history, an unbounded Z.1 request pulls 286 quarterly CSV tables, about 8 MB zipped, whether or not you need them.

• Package scope is your schema. The builder ships only selected series, so two teams downloading from the same DDP can hold different datasets and call both 'the Fed data'.

• Format choice affects parsing cost. CSV and XML are both offered, and the XML package carries release metadata that CSV flattens away.

1. Set from/to dates explicitly. Packages default to full history, so date-bounding every request is the difference between a targeted pull and an archive download.

1. Count the releases you actually need. Roughly 18 are available, and H.8 alone carries hundreds of series, so enumerate series before downloading.

1. Budget for Z.1's size. 286 CSV tables per quarter, about 8 MB zipped, is the largest single release in the set.

1. Confirm the license. DDP output is US government public-domain work, so redistribution is unrestricted provided the release citation is kept.

These entries cover the builder, the releases it packages and the license that governs them:

custom package builder names the builder pattern itself, series selection assembled into one CSV or XML package per request.

fed statistical release identifies the publications being packaged, from H.8's hundreds of series to Z.1's 286 quarterly CSV tables.

US government commercial delivery terms is the license status of DDP output, which makes redistribution a citation requirement rather than a fee.

The packaged series feed the catalog's asset-management-custody-banks data page.