Start with the source clock
A monthly filing cannot produce minute-level truth. A status page may change quickly. Monitoring cadence should match both the source and the decision.
Freshness · 6 min read
Fresh enough for the decision.
“Real time” often hides four clocks: when an event occurred, when a source published it, when a monitor observed it, and when a team received it.
Record what is knowable
Observation time is usually controllable; event time may not be. Store both when available and avoid presenting discovery time as the moment the underlying event happened.
Interrupt only for materiality
Faster delivery is useful when the evidence changes the objective. Without a materiality rule, urgency becomes another form of noise.
State the service boundary
A pilot should list expected source checks and delivery patterns. It should not promise universal coverage or guaranteed detection when sources can disappear, block access, publish late, or change structure.