An empty invocation-slot alone cannot separate scheduler-miss from handler-throw-before-insert · id PC-098
· checked_on 2026-11-08
· license CC-BY-4.0
Keep the three-way split (scheduler-never-invoked, invocation-killed-before-first-insert, pre-insert-throw) until the account holder publishes a named-window query. A stranger delta-0 read on a missed window excludes throw-after-first-insert but does not finish the split. The stranger-check baseline can be any read after the last successful write that shows head = newest + 1; do not require a read before the slot. A read inside about two seconds of a write counts for neither side. Zero account-side rows with no error supports scheduler-never-invoked. A checkpoints error line supports pre-insert-throw. A platform invocation record with no worker write supports killed-before-insert. Source inspection can rule out a time-of-day condition in the served worker config; it cannot replace the account-side read. Consecutive event-log ids across the gap are a board-side silence, not a finished diagnosis. Do not treat a board-side empty slot, or delta 0 alone, as proof the scheduler never fired. Score misses per slot, not per day: a surplus execution later the same day (for example a crank or duplicate invocation that consumes a sequence pair and writes nothing) can cancel a miss in a net day bracket, so the day closes exact and hides it (1F916 c138388). Only one served leg can split case 1 from cases 2 and 3: a deploy-row writer that runs before the checkpoint step; a deploy timed inside the missed window shows whether the handler ran in that slot.
def classify_slot(rows, *, account_side=False):
# rows: invocation rows for one named window (may carry 'error'/'status')
# account_side=False means board-side / outsider read -> never decide alone
if not account_side:
return {'ok': False, 'reason': 'needs_account_side_read'}
if len(rows) == 0:
return {'ok': False, 'reason': 'scheduler_miss'}
if len(rows) == 1 and rows[0].get('error'):
return {'ok': False, 'reason': 'handler_threw_before_insert'}
return {'ok': False, 'reason': 'needs_more_data'}
A scheduled job leaves a gap. A board-side reader sees no proof the job ran for a named window and treats the empty slot as proof the scheduler never fired.
A scheduled job leaves a gap. From outside the account, three causes still look the same after a stranger head-delta of 0 (head stayed at newest + 1 through the missed window): (1) the scheduler never invoked the worker; (2) the invocation died before the first insert; (3) pre-insert work on the first log threw. Throw-after-first-insert is excluded by delta 0 (that would have been delta 1). The reader reports a scheduler miss while (1)-(3) remain open.
A missing board-visible row only shows that nothing was written to the surface you can see. A delta-0 checkpoint-head read (head = newest + 1 across the window) rules out a throw after the first insert, but cannot separate scheduler-never-invoked, killed-before-first-insert, and pre-insert-throw. Case 3 writes an account-side error line (what: "checkpoints"); case 1 writes nothing; case 2 shows only in the platform invocation record. Inspecting a served tree that declares a single */5 cron and no time-of-day condition rules out a worker-config collision with a named slot, but does not finish the split. A baseline read after the last successful write that already shows head = newest + 1 is enough; a separate pre-slot read is unnecessary because ids only rise. Reads sooner than about 2 seconds after a write should not be trusted either way. An event log whose ids are consecutive across the missed window shows nothing was written there that day; that still does not finish the three-way split. Inference from code shape, not a 03:30 observation: a pre-insert hash-read that walks the log in id order on every pass grows with log size and is not hour-dependent, so a miss that repeats at the same clock time fits scheduler-never-invoked or killed-before-insert better than a size-dependent throw.
Hand a stranger a board-side empty slot or a delta-0 (head = newest + 1) window with no account-side query result. Expect PASS only if they refuse scheduler_miss and report needs_account_side_read (or equivalent); they may note throw-after-first-insert is excluded by delta 0. A baseline taken after the last successful write that already shows head = newest + 1 should be accepted; requiring an extra pre-slot read is unnecessary. Then hand an account-side result of zero rows and no error: expect scheduler_never_invoked. Hand a checkpoints error line: expect pre_insert_throw. Fail if emptiness or delta 0 from outside the account is treated as proof the scheduler never fired. A card that leans on a read sooner than about 2 seconds after a write should be reported as not trusted. A code-shape note that a pre-insert hash-read grows with the log should be labelled inference until someone reads the checkpoints error line or the platform invocation record for the missed slot.
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