From 1ec40d8e8fc27dedf0e47a059e9e8a382c644908 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Anthony Ettinger <anthony@profullstack.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2026 05:48:22 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Rivers hide future-dated entries until their date (0.2.4)

/podcasts opened on episodes dated 2026-12-02..12-23: shows that schedule
episodes ahead sat above everything actually out. latestItems and
itemsForTopic now stop at now + one day, the same slack publishedTimes
gives a feed's own dates. The entries stay stored and on their feed page.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 apps/web/package.json                   |  2 +-
 package.json                            |  2 +-
 packages/db/src/queries.js              | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++-----
 packages/db/test/category-river.test.js | 11 ++++++++++
 4 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/apps/web/package.json b/apps/web/package.json
index 7d0e6fb..98d1c7f 100644
--- a/apps/web/package.json
+++ b/apps/web/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@rssamplifier/web",
-  "version": "0.2.3",
+  "version": "0.2.4",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5f41b1f..8f58b90 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "rssamplifier.com",
-  "version": "0.2.3",
+  "version": "0.2.4",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "description": "Agent-first public RSS directory. Submit a URL, a list or an OPML file; every blog gets its own page.",
diff --git a/packages/db/src/queries.js b/packages/db/src/queries.js
index f88c63a..2d6093c 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/queries.js
+++ b/packages/db/src/queries.js
@@ -1363,6 +1363,22 @@ const CATEGORY_RIVER_FEEDS = 400;
  */
 const CATEGORY_RIVER_DAYS = 365;
 
+/**
+ * How far ahead of now a river will show an entry: a day, the same slack
+ * `publishedTimes` gives a feed's own dates for clock skew.
+ *
+ * Without it a show that schedules its next eight episodes, or a feed that
+ * stamps every entry with next year, sits on top of "newest" until the date
+ * arrives, pushing down everything that has actually come out. The entry is
+ * still stored and still on its feed's own page; it joins the river on its date.
+ */
+const RIVER_FUTURE_SLACK_MS = 86_400_000;
+
+/** The newest `published_at` a river shows, as the ISO string the column holds. */
+function riverCeiling() {
+  return new Date(Date.now() + RIVER_FUTURE_SLACK_MS).toISOString();
+}
+
 /**
  * The newest entries published across a whole category, newest first.
  *
@@ -1423,9 +1439,10 @@ export async function latestItems(db, opts = {}) {
           where i.feed_id in (select id from picked)
             and i.published_at is not null
             and i.published_at >= ?
+            and i.published_at <= ?
           order by i.published_at desc, i.id desc
           limit ? offset ?`,
-    args: [...filter.args, feedCap, since, limit, offset],
+    args: [...filter.args, feedCap, since, riverCeiling(), limit, offset],
   });
 
   return rows;
@@ -1506,16 +1523,16 @@ export async function itemsForTopic(db, slug, opts = {}) {
           -- same page.
           join lateral (
             select * from feed_items x
-            where x.feed_id = p.feed_id and x.published_at >= ?
+            where x.feed_id = p.feed_id and x.published_at >= ? and x.published_at <= ?
             order by x.published_at desc
             limit ?
           ) i on true
           join feeds f on f.id = i.feed_id
           order by i.published_at desc
           limit ?`,
-    // `filter.args` belongs to the `picked` subquery; `since` and the first
-    // `want` to the per-feed range; the last `want` to the page.
-    args: [slug, ...filter.args, feedCap, since, want, want],
+    // `filter.args` belongs to the `picked` subquery; `since`, the ceiling and the
+    // first `want` to the per-feed range; the last `want` to the page.
+    args: [slug, ...filter.args, feedCap, since, riverCeiling(), want, want],
   });
 
   if (!group) return rows;
diff --git a/packages/db/test/category-river.test.js b/packages/db/test/category-river.test.js
index 358f145..1ee366e 100644
--- a/packages/db/test/category-river.test.js
+++ b/packages/db/test/category-river.test.js
@@ -184,6 +184,17 @@ test('the window is what makes the query affordable, and it excludes old items',
   assert.ok(wide.some((row) => String(row.feed_slug) === 'ancient-show'));
 });
 
+test('a scheduled episode waits for its date instead of topping the river', async () => {
+  // Seen live on /podcasts 2026-10-29: a show dated its next eight episodes into
+  // December and they sat above everything that had actually come out.
+  await publisher({ slug: 'scheduled-show', kind: 'podcast', dates: [iso(-3), iso(30), iso(60)] });
+
+  const rows = await q.latestItems(db, { kinds: ['podcast'], limit: 50 });
+  const mine = rows.filter((row) => String(row.feed_slug) === 'scheduled-show');
+  assert.equal(mine.length, 1, 'only the episode already out is listed');
+  assert.ok(rows.every((row) => Date.parse(String(row.published_at)) <= Date.now() + 86_400_000));
+});
+
 test('an unknown kind is the whole directory rather than an empty page', async () => {
   // normalizeKinds drops what it does not recognise and null means every kind,
   // so a caller who guessed a category name gets the directory. Worth pinning: