From 86422a74af97a367b8d3f8a0bbadd6f3355b8d0f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Matt Van Horn <mvanhorn@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2026 13:00:53 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] feat: Add honesty warning when results aren't from last 30
 days
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Adds ⚠️ LIMITED RECENT DATA warning when:
- Fewer than 5 items are confirmed from the date range
- Tells Claude to be transparent with user about data freshness

Example output for obscure topic (June Oven):
"Only 4 item(s) confirmed from 2025-12-26 to 2026-01-25.
Results below may include older/evergreen content."

Popular topics (clawdbot, nano banana) don't show the warning.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 scripts/lib/render.py | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+)

diff --git a/scripts/lib/render.py b/scripts/lib/render.py
index 611e199..c4bf83e 100644
--- a/scripts/lib/render.py
+++ b/scripts/lib/render.py
@@ -14,6 +14,26 @@ def ensure_output_dir():
     OUTPUT_DIR.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
 
+def _assess_data_freshness(report: schema.Report) -> dict:
+    """Assess how much data is actually from the last 30 days."""
+    reddit_recent = sum(1 for r in report.reddit if r.date and r.date >= report.range_from)
+    x_recent = sum(1 for x in report.x if x.date and x.date >= report.range_from)
+    web_recent = sum(1 for w in report.web if w.date and w.date >= report.range_from)
+
+    total_recent = reddit_recent + x_recent + web_recent
+    total_items = len(report.reddit) + len(report.x) + len(report.web)
+
+    return {
+        "reddit_recent": reddit_recent,
+        "x_recent": x_recent,
+        "web_recent": web_recent,
+        "total_recent": total_recent,
+        "total_items": total_items,
+        "is_sparse": total_recent < 5,
+        "mostly_evergreen": total_items > 0 and total_recent < total_items * 0.3,
+    }
+
+
 def render_compact(report: schema.Report, limit: int = 15, missing_keys: str = "none") -> str:
     """Render compact output for Claude to synthesize.
 
@@ -31,6 +51,14 @@ def render_compact(report: schema.Report, limit: int = 15, missing_keys: str = "
     lines.append(f"## Research Results: {report.topic}")
     lines.append("")
 
+    # Assess data freshness and add honesty warning if needed
+    freshness = _assess_data_freshness(report)
+    if freshness["is_sparse"]:
+        lines.append("**⚠️ LIMITED RECENT DATA** - Few discussions from the last 30 days.")
+        lines.append(f"Only {freshness['total_recent']} item(s) confirmed from {report.range_from} to {report.range_to}.")
+        lines.append("Results below may include older/evergreen content. Be transparent with the user about this.")
+        lines.append("")
+
     # Web-only mode banner (when no API keys)
     if report.mode == "web-only":
         lines.append("**🌐 WEB SEARCH MODE** - Claude will search blogs, docs & news")