Find companies and retrieve entity info with optional recent filings. Entry point for most EDGAR workflows — resolves tickers, names, or CIKs to entity details, with accession numbers in the result feeding secedgar_get_filing for document content. When a date or form filter carries the scan past the recent submissions window, the full filtered filing history is also staged as df_<id> — inspect it with secedgar_dataframe_describe, then analyze it with secedgar_dataframe_query.

Compare 2-10 named companies across 1-8 XBRL concepts, aligned on calendar periods. This is the middle shape between secedgar_get_financials (one company, one concept, full history) and secedgar_fetch_frames (one concept, one period, every reporting company) — reach for it when the question names the companies. One companyfacts read per company, resolved through the same frame dedup and tag priority as secedgar_get_financials so the numbers agree. Balance-sheet and entity-info concepts are filed as point-in-time values and align on the calendar year (annual) or quarter (quarterly) their snapshot falls in, so they sit in the same matrix as income-statement lines. The inline matrix covers the most recent periods up to `periods`, trimmed further when companies x concepts x periods is too large to return in one response; the full aligned series is materialized as df_<id> for growth rates and spreads — inspect it with secedgar_dataframe_describe, then analyze it with secedgar_dataframe_query. A company that fails to resolve is reported in failed_companies and the comparison proceeds with the rest, and a company that does not report a concept is reported in gaps with the tags that were tried — never interpolated or zero-filled. Off-calendar filers and unit mismatches are surfaced in caveats rather than silently mixed.

List the dataframes (df_XXXXX_XXXXX) registered by the data-returning secedgar_* tools — any tool whose response carries a `dataset` handle stages its full result set here. Each entry surfaces source tool, query parameters, creation/expiry timestamps, row count, column schema, and whether the dataframe is truncated relative to the upstream source. Read the column schema here before writing SQL for secedgar_dataframe_query.

Drop a canvas dataframe by name. Idempotent — returns dropped=false when nothing matched. Use to free canvas resources ahead of the per-table TTL when an analysis is complete.

Run a single-statement SELECT against the canvas dataframes registered by the data-returning secedgar_* tools — any tool whose response carries a `dataset` handle. Inspect a dataframe with secedgar_dataframe_describe first; its column schema is what the SQL has to match. Read-only: writes, DDL, DROP, COPY, PRAGMA, ATTACH, and external-file table functions are rejected. System catalogs (information_schema, pg_catalog, sqlite_master, duckdb_*) are denied — list dataframes via secedgar_dataframe_describe. Optional register_as chains the result as a new dataframe with a fresh TTL.

Fetch SEC XBRL frames for one concept × one period across all reporting companies. Inline response returns a page of the ranked companies — start at the top or pass offset/next_offset to walk further down the ranking; the full frames response (all reporters) is materialized as df_<id> when a canvas is available — inspect it with secedgar_dataframe_describe, then analyze it with secedgar_dataframe_query. Accepts friendly names like "revenue" or "assets" (discover via secedgar_search_concepts) or raw XBRL tags. One call hits one XBRL tag — when a friendly name maps to multiple same-meaning tags, the response's `unqueried_tags` lists the others; call again per tag and UNION/COALESCE in SQL with an analysis-specific priority (e.g. SalesRevenueGoodsNet is goods-only). The response's `related_tags` separately flags alternate-DEFINITION tags a meaningful share of filers use as their primary line (e.g. cash incl. restricted cash, equity incl. noncontrolling interest) — a whole-universe screen on the base tag silently omits those filers; query them separately, but do not blindly union (the semantics differ). Response includes `value_distribution` and `period_end_range` to flag XBRL scale-factor anomalies and fiscal-year mixing.