ci: rebuild the status page hourly during the day

.github/workflows/status.yml

@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 name: status
 
 # Rebuilds the public status page on GitHub Pages from the live records in S3
-# and the monthly AWS Budget. It runs after the 10:15 deadline check and after
-# the 14:30 scoring run (Berlin; the cron times are UTC and land after both in
-# summer and winter time), and whenever the page code changes on main.
+# and the monthly AWS Budget, and whenever the page code changes on main.
+#
+# Hourly from 07:17 to 18:17 UTC. That covers the 09:00 forecast, the 10:15
+# deadline and the 14:30 scoring run (Berlin), including scoring's up to 3
+# hours of waiting for late prices, in summer and winter time. GitHub often
+# starts scheduled runs hours late, so with one run an hour a late start
+# costs about an hour of staleness instead of half a day. Minute 17 avoids
+# the busy top of the hour. Each build is a handful of S3 reads and a free
+# Budgets API call, and Actions minutes are free on a public repo.
+#
 # GitHub pauses scheduled workflows after 60 days without commits; a manual
 # run (workflow_dispatch) starts them again.
 
 on:
   schedule:
-    - cron: "30 9 * * *"
-    - cron: "15 14 * * *"
+    - cron: "17 7-18 * * *"
   push:
     branches: [main]
     paths:

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ misses a promise, and keeps the evidence behind every number it publishes.
 
 **[Live status page](https://dhamsey3.github.io/voltcast/)**: the latest forecast
 against the cleared price, the running error, what's deployed and the AWS bill.
-It's rebuilt twice a day from the service's own records, and the data behind it
+It's rebuilt hourly during the day from the service's own records, and the data behind it
 is at [`status.json`](https://dhamsey3.github.io/voltcast/status.json).
 
 ## Why this problem
@@ -149,8 +149,8 @@ Berlin.
 ## Operating it
 
 - [Status page](https://dhamsey3.github.io/voltcast/): rebuilt by the
-  [status workflow](.github/workflows/status.yml) after the 10:15 deadline check and after
-  scoring, with a read-only role that sees only published results ([ADR 6](docs/adr/0006-status-page.md))
+  [status workflow](.github/workflows/status.yml) hourly from 07:17 to 18:17 UTC, with a
+  read-only role that sees only published results ([ADR 6](docs/adr/0006-status-page.md))
 - [Runbook](docs/runbook.md): what each alarm means and what to do
 - [Incidents](docs/incidents/README.md): every missed promise, written up
 - [Decisions](docs/adr/): ADRs 1 to 6

docs/adr/0006-status-page.md

@@ -43,3 +43,12 @@ the whole service runs at about 1 USD a month.
   run starts them again.
 - Only live forecasts appear. The backfill replay stays in `voltcast report`
   and the README, so the live record is never mixed with hindsight.
+
+## Update, 2026-10-19: hourly rebuilds
+
+In the first days live, GitHub started the two scheduled runs 3 to 4 hours
+late (09:30 UTC ran at about 13:20, 14:15 at about 17:20). For most of each
+morning the page didn't show that day's forecast. The workflow now runs
+hourly from 07:17 to 18:17 UTC, so a late start costs about an hour. The
+extra runs are free: a handful of S3 reads, a free Budgets API call, and
+free Actions minutes on a public repo.

src/voltcast/page.py

@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ def render(status: dict) -> str:
   <h1>Tomorrow's German power prices, forecast and graded every day</h1>
   <p class="lede">Each morning voltcast publishes a price for every quarter-hour of tomorrow's {_e(status["region"])}
   day-ahead auction, before bidding closes at 12:00. That afternoon it scores itself against the prices that cleared.
-  This page is rebuilt from the service's own records twice a day.</p>
+  This page is rebuilt from the service's own records every hour during the day.</p>
   <p class="meta">Updated {_e(_when(status["generated_at"]))} · <a href="status.json">status.json</a> ·
   <a href="{REPO_URL}">Source and design</a></p>
 </header>