Adventure news: fix posting gates, digest counts, and section gating

- Don't post adventure beats when posting.enabled=false (PostNow ignores the flag)
- Keep the adventure channel out of the round-robin rotation so it can't steal bulletins from the digest
- no_push now retires a fact against the digest, not just the live post
- Default a missing occurred_at to now instead of the Unix epoch
- Keep protocol-relative image URLs on the guarded thumbnailer
- Make digest_hour=0 (midnight UTC) settable
- Quote the true window total in the digest, not the truncated slice
- Hide the Adventure section entirely when it's disabled

internal/config/config.go

@@ -34,10 +34,23 @@ type AdventureConfig struct {
 	// PRIORITY adventure beats post to live. If it isn't a configured Matrix
 	// channel, adventure runs website-only (stories still appear on /adventure).
 	Channel string `toml:"channel"`
-	// DigestHour is the UTC hour [0,23] the daily bulletin digest posts. Default 17.
+	// DigestHour is the UTC hour [0,23] the daily bulletin digest posts. Default
-	DigestHour int `toml:"digest_hour"`
+	// 17. A pointer so digest_hour = 0 (midnight UTC) is distinguishable from
+	// "unset" and doesn't get silently rewritten to the default.
+	DigestHour *int `toml:"digest_hour"`
 }
 
+// DigestHourOrDefault is the UTC hour the daily digest posts, resolving the
+// unset case. Safe on a zero-value AdventureConfig.
+func (a AdventureConfig) DigestHourOrDefault() int {
+	if a.DigestHour == nil {
+		return defaultDigestHour
+	}
+	return *a.DigestHour
+}
+
+const defaultDigestHour = 17
+
 // WebConfig controls the read-only HTTP interface (news.parodia.dev style).
 type WebConfig struct {
 	Enabled    bool       `toml:"enabled"`
@@ -250,7 +263,7 @@ func (c *Config) validate() error {
 		if c.Adventure.IngestToken == "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("adventure.ingest_token is required when adventure is enabled (the bearer secret gogobee presents)")
 		}
-		if c.Adventure.DigestHour < 0 || c.Adventure.DigestHour > 23 {
+		if h := c.Adventure.DigestHourOrDefault(); h < 0 || h > 23 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("adventure.digest_hour must be 0-23")
 		}
 		if c.Adventure.Channel != "" {
@@ -332,9 +345,6 @@ func (c *Config) applyDefaults() {
 	if c.Web.Push.MinStories == 0 {
 		c.Web.Push.MinStories = 3
 	}
-	if c.Adventure.DigestHour == 0 {
-		c.Adventure.DigestHour = 17
-	}
 	for i := range c.Sources {
 		if c.Sources[i].PollIntervalMinutes == 0 {
 			c.Sources[i].PollIntervalMinutes = 20

internal/storage/queries.go

@@ -256,29 +256,37 @@ func GetNewestPostableStoryByChannel(channel string) (*Story, error) {
 // that have never been posted to Matrix (no post_log row). PRIORITY beats post
 // live and so carry a post_log row; the ones left are exactly the BULLETINs the
 // daily digest collects. Oldest first so the digest reads chronologically.
-func UnpostedAdventureSince(since int64, limit int) ([]Story, error) {
+//
-	rows, err := Get().Query(
+// At most `limit` rows come back, but total is how many match in all — the digest
-		`SELECT guid, headline, lede, article_url, seen_at
+// quotes it to readers, so it must count the window rather than the returned page.
-		 FROM stories
+func UnpostedAdventureSince(since int64, limit int) (stories []Story, total int, err error) {
-		 WHERE classified = 1
+	const where = `WHERE classified = 1
 		   AND channel = 'adventure'
 		   AND seen_at >= ?
-		   AND guid NOT IN (SELECT guid FROM post_log)
+		   AND guid NOT IN (SELECT guid FROM post_log)`
+
+	if err := Get().QueryRow(`SELECT COUNT(*) FROM stories `+where, since).Scan(&total); err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, err
+	}
+
+	rows, err := Get().Query(
+		`SELECT guid, headline, lede, article_url, seen_at
+		 FROM stories `+where+`
 		 ORDER BY seen_at ASC
 		 LIMIT ?`, since, limit)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, 0, err
 	}
 	defer rows.Close()
 	var out []Story
 	for rows.Next() {
 		var s Story
 		if err := rows.Scan(&s.GUID, &s.Headline, &s.Lede, &s.ArticleURL, &s.SeenAt); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
+			return nil, 0, err
 		}
 		out = append(out, s)
 	}
-	return out, rows.Err()
+	return out, total, rows.Err()
 }
 
 // MarkAdventureDigested records each bulletin guid as posted (in a shared digest

internal/web/adventure.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"log/slog"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -56,6 +57,11 @@ type PriorityPoster func(AdvPost)
 
 const advSource = "Pete"
 
+// advBackfillEvent is the synthetic post_log event id used to retire a no_push
+// (cold-start backfill) dispatch against the daily digest. It never went to
+// Matrix; the row exists only so the digest skips it.
+const advBackfillEvent = "adv-backfill"
+
 // handleAdventureIngest receives a game-event fact from gogobee, templates it
 // into a deterministic story, publishes it to the /adventure section, and posts
 // PRIORITY beats live to Matrix. Bearer-authed; idempotent on the fact GUID.
@@ -100,6 +106,14 @@ func (s *Server) handleAdventureIngest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	// A fact with no occurred_at would otherwise be stored at the Unix epoch:
+	// dated 1970 on the permalink, pinned to the bottom of the section, and
+	// outside every digest window. Treat "missing" as "now".
+	occurredAt := f.OccurredAt
+	if occurredAt <= 0 {
+		occurredAt = time.Now().Unix()
+	}
+
 	articleURL := s.advPermalink(f.GUID)
 	imageURL := advArtURL(f.EventType)
 	if err := storage.InsertStory(&storage.Story{
@@ -111,8 +125,8 @@ func (s *Server) handleAdventureIngest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		Source:      advSource,
 		Channel:     "adventure",
 		Classified:  true,
-		SeenAt:      f.OccurredAt,
+		SeenAt:      occurredAt,
-		PublishedAt: f.OccurredAt,
+		PublishedAt: occurredAt,
 	}); err != nil {
 		slog.Error("adventure ingest: insert failed", "guid", f.GUID, "err", err)
 		http.Error(w, "insert failed", http.StatusInternalServerError)
@@ -120,12 +134,21 @@ func (s *Server) handleAdventureIngest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 	slog.Info("adventure ingest: published", "guid", f.GUID, "event_type", f.EventType, "tier", f.Tier)
 
+	// NoPush (cold-start backfill) means "never goes to Matrix". Suppressing only
+	// the live post isn't enough: the digest collects adventure rows that carry no
+	// post_log entry, so a backfilled bulletin would still be swept into the next
+	// roundup — the back-catalogue dump NoPush exists to prevent. Retire the guid
+	// against the digest up front instead.
+	if f.NoPush {
+		storage.MarkAdventureDigested([]string{f.GUID}, advBackfillEvent)
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+		_, _ = w.Write([]byte("ok"))
+		return
+	}
+
 	// PRIORITY beats post live to Matrix; BULLETIN beats wait for the daily
 	// digest. Website section always gets the row above regardless of tier.
-	// NoPush (cold-start backfill) suppresses the live post so a launch doesn't
+	if f.Tier == "priority" && s.advPost != nil && s.adv.Channel != "" {
-	// dump the whole back-catalogue into the channel — the stories still land on
-	// the website with their backdated timestamps.
-	if f.Tier == "priority" && !f.NoPush && s.advPost != nil && s.adv.Channel != "" {
 		// No ImageURL: the emblem is an SVG (Matrix clients often block SVG
 		// media), and the link's og:image carries the preview instead.
 		s.advPost(AdvPost{
@@ -277,14 +300,18 @@ func (s *Server) bearerOK(r *http.Request) bool {
 	return subtle.ConstantTimeCompare([]byte(got), []byte(s.adv.IngestToken)) == 1
 }
 
+// siteURL makes a root-relative path absolute against BaseURL. Links that go out
+// to Matrix need the absolute form to survive safeHref; when BaseURL isn't
+// configured the relative form is all we have, and it's still fine on-site.
+func (s *Server) siteURL(path string) string {
+	return strings.TrimRight(s.cfg.BaseURL, "/") + path
+}
+
 // advPermalink builds the per-story Pete permalink used as article_url (the card
-// link + Matrix link). Absolute when BaseURL is configured (required for the
+// link + Matrix link). The guid is path-escaped: it's ingest-supplied, and a
-// Matrix link to survive safeHref); relative otherwise (fine on-site).
+// stray "/" or "?" would otherwise produce a link that routes somewhere else.
 func (s *Server) advPermalink(guid string) string {
-	if base := strings.TrimRight(s.cfg.BaseURL, "/"); base != "" {
+	return s.siteURL("/adventure/" + url.PathEscape(guid))
-		return base + "/adventure/" + guid
-	}
-	return "/adventure/" + guid
 }
 
 // factGuard verifies every player-name field we might render is present in the

internal/web/adventure_digest.go

@@ -44,9 +44,10 @@ func (s *Server) StartAdventureDigest(ctx context.Context) {
 // 24h. Sleeping to a wall-clock hour (not a fixed ticker from boot) keeps the
 // digest at a predictable time of day across restarts.
 func (s *Server) runAdventureDigest(ctx context.Context) {
-	slog.Info("web: adventure digest scheduler started", "digest_hour_utc", s.adv.DigestHour, "channel", s.adv.Channel)
+	hour := s.adv.DigestHourOrDefault()
+	slog.Info("web: adventure digest scheduler started", "digest_hour_utc", hour, "channel", s.adv.Channel)
 	for {
-		wait := durUntilNextHour(time.Now().UTC(), s.adv.DigestHour)
+		wait := durUntilNextHour(time.Now().UTC(), hour)
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ func durUntilNextHour(now time.Time, hour int) time.Duration {
 // a dormant realm should stay quiet, not ship an empty digest.
 func (s *Server) postDailyDigest(now time.Time) {
 	since := now.Add(-digestWindow).Unix()
-	bulletins, err := storage.UnpostedAdventureSince(since, digestCap+1)
+	bulletins, total, err := storage.UnpostedAdventureSince(since, digestCap)
 	if err != nil {
 		slog.Error("adventure digest: query failed", "err", err)
 		return
@@ -80,16 +81,13 @@ func (s *Server) postDailyDigest(now time.Time) {
 	if len(bulletins) == 0 {
 		return
 	}
-	truncated := false
+	if total > len(bulletins) {
-	if len(bulletins) > digestCap {
+		slog.Warn("adventure digest: window exceeded cap, truncating", "cap", digestCap, "total", total)
-		bulletins = bulletins[:digestCap]
-		truncated = true
-		slog.Warn("adventure digest: window exceeded cap, truncating", "cap", digestCap)
 	}
 
 	date := now.Format("2006-01-02")
 	eventID := "adv-digest:" + date
-	headline, lede := buildDigest(bulletins, truncated)
+	headline, lede := buildDigest(bulletins, total)
 
 	s.advPost(AdvPost{
 		GUID:       eventID,
@@ -109,15 +107,16 @@ func (s *Server) postDailyDigest(now time.Time) {
 }
 
 // buildDigest renders the roundup headline + lede in Pete's warm reporter voice.
-// Headlines come from stored, fact-guarded rows, so no player-controlled text is
+// total is how many bulletins the window actually holds, which is larger than
-// introduced here.
+// len(bulletins) when the cap truncated the fetch — the counts quoted to readers
-func buildDigest(bulletins []storage.Story, truncated bool) (headline, lede string) {
+// have to describe the realm, not the slice. Headlines come from stored,
-	n := len(bulletins)
+// fact-guarded rows, so no player-controlled text is introduced here.
-	if n == 1 {
+func buildDigest(bulletins []storage.Story, total int) (headline, lede string) {
+	if total == 1 {
 		return "Today in the realm: one dispatch.",
 			fmt.Sprintf("Quiet day out there, but one worth noting — %s Full story on the board.", trimHeadline(bulletins[0].Headline))
 	}
-	headline = fmt.Sprintf("Today in the realm: %d dispatches.", n)
+	headline = fmt.Sprintf("Today in the realm: %d dispatches.", total)
 
 	shown := bulletins
 	if len(shown) > digestPreview {
@@ -129,8 +128,8 @@ func buildDigest(bulletins []storage.Story, truncated bool) (headline, lede stri
 	}
 	list := strings.Join(parts, " ")
 	more := ""
-	if n > len(shown) || truncated {
+	if total > len(shown) {
-		more = fmt.Sprintf(" …and %d more.", n-len(shown))
+		more = fmt.Sprintf(" …and %d more.", total-len(shown))
 	}
 	return headline, fmt.Sprintf("Here's what came across the wire today. %s%s The full board's on the site.", list, more)
 }
@@ -152,6 +151,5 @@ func trimHeadline(h string) string {
 // canonical-URL dedup treats each day's digest as distinct (it strips only
 // tracking params, keeping ?digest=).
 func (s *Server) digestURL(date string) string {
-	base := strings.TrimRight(s.cfg.BaseURL, "/")
+	return s.siteURL("/adventure?digest=" + date)
-	return base + "/adventure?digest=" + date
 }

internal/web/handlers.go

@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ func (s *Server) base(r *http.Request) pageData {
 	}
 	d := pageData{
 		SiteTitle:      s.cfg.SiteTitle,
-		Channels:       channels,
+		Channels:       s.channels,
 		Weather:        currentWeather(time.Now()),
 		AllSources:     jsForScript(srcJSON),
 		AuthEnabled:    s.auth != nil,
@@ -217,8 +217,8 @@ func (s *Server) handleIndex(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	dayStart := time.Now().Add(-24 * time.Hour).Unix()
-	stats := make([]channelStat, 0, len(channels))
+	stats := make([]channelStat, 0, len(s.channels))
-	for _, ch := range channels {
+	for _, ch := range s.channels {
 		total, _ := storage.CountClassifiedByChannel(ch.Slug)
 		lastTs := storage.GetLastPostTime(ch.Slug)
 		stat := channelStat{

internal/web/server.go

@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ type Channel struct {
 }
 
 // channels in display order. Add a new entry here to add a section.
+//
+// This is the full catalogue, used to resolve a story's channel slug to its
+// display metadata. It is NOT the list of live sections: an entry can be gated
+// off (adventure), so route registration and the nav read s.channels instead.
 var channels = []Channel{
 	{Slug: "gaming", Title: "Gaming", Theme: "gaming", Emoji: "🎮", Blurb: "Releases, platforms, and the people making the games."},
 	{Slug: "tech", Title: "Tech", Theme: "tech", Emoji: "💻", Blurb: "Industry, products, and the wires that hold it all together."},
@@ -64,6 +68,7 @@ type Server struct {
 	pushHTTP       *http.Client                  // SSRF-guarded client for Web Push delivery; built lazily by pushClient()
 	adv            config.AdventureConfig        // gogobee adventure-news seam
 	advPost        PriorityPoster                // posts priority adventure beats to Matrix; nil = web-only
+	channels       []Channel                     // live sections: the catalogue minus anything gated off (adventure)
 
 	// Daily-rotated salt for the privacy-preserving unique-visitor estimate.
 	// Guarded by metricsMu; never persisted (see metrics.go).
@@ -102,7 +107,18 @@ func New(cfg config.WebConfig, sources []config.SourceConfig, postingEnabled boo
 			adminSubs[sub] = true
 		}
 	}
-	s := &Server{cfg: cfg, sources: infos, postingEnabled: postingEnabled, tpls: tpls, adminSubs: adminSubs, adv: adv, advPost: advPost}
+	// The adventure section only exists when it's enabled: with the seam off,
+	// there's no nav tab, no /adventure page and no /adventure feed, rather than
+	// an empty section nobody can fill.
+	live := make([]Channel, 0, len(channels))
+	for _, ch := range channels {
+		if ch.Slug == "adventure" && !adv.Enabled {
+			continue
+		}
+		live = append(live, ch)
+	}
+
+	s := &Server{cfg: cfg, sources: infos, postingEnabled: postingEnabled, tpls: tpls, adminSubs: adminSubs, adv: adv, advPost: advPost, channels: live}
 
 	// Optional OIDC sign-in (Authentik). Discovery is a network call; if the
 	// provider is unreachable at boot we log and serve anonymously rather than
@@ -150,7 +166,7 @@ func New(cfg config.WebConfig, sources []config.SourceConfig, postingEnabled boo
 	mux.HandleFunc("GET /api/related", s.handleRelated)
 	mux.HandleFunc("GET /feed.xml", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { s.handleFeedXML(w, r, "") })
 	mux.HandleFunc("GET /feed.json", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) { s.handleFeedJSON(w, r, "") })
-	for _, ch := range channels {
+	for _, ch := range s.channels {
 		ch := ch
 		mux.HandleFunc("GET /"+ch.Slug, func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			s.handleChannel(w, r, ch)

internal/web/thumbs.go

@@ -69,8 +69,10 @@ func thumbURL(src string) string {
 	}
 	// Root-relative sources are our own local assets (e.g. the adventure
 	// emblems) — serve them directly; the thumbnailer only handles remote
-	// http(s) images and would 404 a local path.
+	// http(s) images and would 404 a local path. "//host/x.jpg" is NOT local:
-	if strings.HasPrefix(src, "/") {
+	// it's a protocol-relative remote image, and it has to keep going through
+	// the guarded thumbnailer like any other third-party URL.
+	if strings.HasPrefix(src, "/") && !strings.HasPrefix(src, "//") {
 		return src
 	}
 	return "/img/" + thumbKey(src) + ".avif?u=" + url.QueryEscape(src)

main.go

@@ -248,6 +248,13 @@ func main() {
 	if postingEnabled && roundRobinMode {
 		channelNames := make([]string, 0, len(cfg.Matrix.Channels))
 		for name := range cfg.Matrix.Channels {
+			// The adventure channel drives its own posting: priority beats go
+			// live at ingest, bulletins wait for the daily digest. Leaving it in
+			// the rotation would let the scheduler post bulletins one-by-one
+			// (they're "classified, not yet posted") and steal them from the digest.
+			if cfg.Adventure.Enabled && name == cfg.Adventure.Channel {
+				continue
+			}
 			channelNames = append(channelNames, name)
 		}
 		rr := scheduler.New(channelNames, cfg.Posting.RoundRobin.IntervalHours, queue)
@@ -260,7 +267,12 @@ func main() {
 
 	// Adapter: the web ingest handler posts priority adventure beats live to
 	// Matrix through the same queue everything else uses (bypasses pacing).
-	advPost := func(p web.AdvPost) {
+	// PostNow doesn't consult posting.enabled, so gate here: with posting off,
+	// adventure stays website-only like every other channel (nil poster also
+	// keeps the digest loop from starting).
+	var advPost web.PriorityPoster
+	if postingEnabled {
+		advPost = func(p web.AdvPost) {
 			queue.PostNow(poster.QueueItem{
 				GUID:       p.GUID,
 				Headline:   p.Headline,
@@ -271,6 +283,7 @@ func main() {
 				Channel:    p.Channel,
 			})
 		}
+	}
 
 	// Start the read-only web UI alongside the Matrix bot.
 	if cfg.Web.Enabled {