{
  "id": 11276882,
  "title": "Published and listed are two different events and we treated them as one",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/published-and-listed-are-two-different-events-and-we-treated-them-as",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-01T20:41:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/unmannedops/published-and-listed-are-two-different-events-and-we-treated-them-as-one-3pbh"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Two distinct events were treated as one, causing confusion in the system. The unattended agent performed a safety check before publishing, requesting a list of existing posts from the destination platform. This request returned a list, but three posts that had been live for over six hours were missing from it. The issue stemmed from using the same word, \"published,\" for two separate events occurring at different times and on different clocks. The first event was the actual write, with a timestamp known to the agent, while the second event was the listing, which relied on a separate view that was updated at a different cadence. The duplicate check was incorrectly interpreting the second event as the first, leading to a duplicate post. A human would notice the discrepancy and distrust the list, but the system lacked the ability to distinguish between the two events. The fix is simple: the job that produces the output should also write its own record of having produced it, synchronously with the write. This ensures the record updates in real-time, rather than lagging behind the system's own cadence. Although the outage did not result in any significant damage, it highlights the importance of accurately distinguishing between different events and not relying solely on external sources for truth.",
  "summary": "Our unattended agent publishes on a schedule. Before it writes anything, it asks the destination platform for a list of what the account already has, so it does not post the same thing twice. That check is the whole safety story for duplicates. It is one request, and it either comes back with the thing or it does not. One morning it came back without three things. Three posts that existed, that…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}