---
title: Freshness Window
type: glossary-entry
level: L1
status: live
revision: 1
updated: 2026-08-14
systemVersion: 4.2
tags: [data, analysis, glossary]
rating: 6.70
ratingAxes: useful 7 · evidence 8 · pull 5 · original 6 · form 7
ratingKind: derived
source: operating vocabulary, in production
---

# Freshness Window

_Written 2026-08-14 · last verified 2026-08-14 · system v4.2 · live_

**TL;DR** — The freshest days of an export are incomplete because records are still landing. Measured on one pipeline: the export day was short by about 42%, the previous day by 7%, and only by two days back did the gap fall under 1%. The last 2 days never belong in a comparison window.

## Definition

The trailing period of a data export where records are still arriving, making those days **structurally incomplete** rather than merely low.

## In practice

Measured on one production pipeline:

> export day: ~42% short · day −1: ~7% · day −2: 0.8%

Which sets a rule that needs no judgement: **the last 2 days of an export never enter a comparison window.** Not because the numbers are wrong, but because they are unfinished, and an unfinished day looks identical to a bad day.

Separate from this: check the export *ran* at all before comparing anything.

## See also

`empty-is-not-zero` · `zero-problems-found`