Freshness Window
The number of recent days in a data export that are still arriving, and therefore unusable for comparison.
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
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[Freshness Window](https://stillvalid.dev/start/term-freshness-window) — stillvalid, SV-2239 (glossary-entry, verified 2026-08-14)