# Swift — Event Ticket Queues & Price Tracking

> *Part of the Circuit Forge LLC "AI for the tasks you hate most" suite.*

**Status:** Backlog — not yet started. Peregrine must prove the model first.

## What it does

Swift manages the full event ticket lifecycle: joining queues at the right moment, monitoring resale prices against face value, tracking algorithmic price surges, filing FTC/DOJ/state AG complaints about anti-competitive practices, and flagging when fees are added deceptively at checkout.

Swifts spend almost their entire lives airborne — they sleep, eat, and mate in flight. They never land unless they have to. Speed is everything. That's what getting tickets requires.

The Taylor Swift / Ticketmaster Eras Tour fiasco in 2022 was the public inflection point that brought Congressional attention to Live Nation's monopoly. The name is intentional.

## Why it's hard

The ticket market is deliberately hostile:
- Presale codes are distributed unevenly and expire without notice
- Queue systems are opaque — you can wait 2 hours and be dropped without recourse
- Dynamic pricing (Ticketmaster "Platinum") can 3–10× face value within minutes of sale opening
- Fees (facility, service, order processing) are hidden until the final checkout screen
- Secondary market is dominated by bots and scalpers with API access
- DOJ antitrust investigation into Live Nation is ongoing but slow

## Core pipeline

```
Configure target event (artist, venue, date, max price + fees)
→ Monitor presale / onsale announcement dates → Alert with countdown
→ Queue entry timing optimization (enter queue N minutes before open)
→ Price monitoring: face value vs. resale vs. dynamic pricing over time
→ Checkout fee tracker: capture final all-in price at checkout
→ Complaint drafting: FTC, DOJ, state AG (NY, CA), CFPB for fee deception
```

## Price tracking & complaint triggers

- **Platinum / dynamic pricing surge > X%** above face value → flag + log evidence
- **Fees > Y% of ticket price** at checkout → flag as potentially deceptive (FTC Sec. 5)
- **Queue drop without notification** → log with timestamp + draft complaint
- **Presale code not honored** despite correct entry → log + escalation path

## Regulatory angle

| Issue | Relevant body | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Algorithmic price gouging | FTC | Section 5 unfair/deceptive practices |
| Monopoly / anti-competitive bundling | DOJ Antitrust | Sherman Act (ongoing investigation) |
| Hidden fees at checkout | FTC, state AGs | Junk fee rule, consumer protection laws |
| Bot-assisted scalping | FTC, state AGs | BOTS Act (2016), state-level anti-scalping |
| Venue exclusivity contracts | DOJ | Vertical restraints investigation |

## Product code (license key)

`CFG-SWFT-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX`

## Tech notes

- Shared `circuitforge-core` scaffold
- Queue timing: Playwright automation for queue entry at optimal moment
- Price history tracking: scrape Ticketmaster, AXS, SeatGeek, StubHub over time
- Checkout fee capture: Playwright session recorder for fee breakdown at checkout
- Complaint generation: FTC complaint portal (ftc.gov/complaint), state AG formats
- DOJ complaint: antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov structured complaint template
- Fee database: track which venues / promoters use which fee structures