fix(notion-sync): keep expired-only jobs update-only (#666)

* fix(notion-sync): include expired entries in sync set as update-only (#597)

* changelog: place the #666 entry under [Unreleased]

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Mads Lorentzen <madslorentzen_17@hotmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.claude/commands/notion-sync.md

@@ -41,9 +41,10 @@ Validate the cheap, local precondition before creating anything external. A run
 1. Read `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` and `job_search_tracker.csv` (either may be missing).
 2. Select `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` entries with status `ranked` whose `rank_score` meets the threshold from Step 0. `--all` lifts the threshold entirely.
 3. Every tracker row joins the sync set (an applied-to job always syncs, ranked or not), matched to `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` entries case-insensitively on company + title where possible (the tracker's `role` column against the entry's `title` field — entries carry `title`, not `role`). Tracker rows with no `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` entry sync too - build their Key as `<company>_<role>` lowercased with underscores.
-4. **Status precedence:** the tracker wins. A job that is `ranked` in `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` but `interview` in the tracker syncs as `interview`. Jobs only in `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` keep their stored status. **Deadline precedence: the tracker wins too** - the tracker's `deadline` (written by `/apply` from the posting the application was actually built on) overrides the `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` value; jobs only in `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` keep the scraper's stored deadline. Omit the property when neither states one, and **never reconcile the two by picking the earlier or later date** - both were read from the posting at different times, and the safe-looking `min()` substitutes a date the user never applied against.
-5. **If the sync set is empty** (no ranked entries meet the threshold and there are no tracker rows), say "Nothing to sync - run `/scrape` and `/rank` first" (or, when jobs exist but all score below the threshold, say so and suggest `--min-score`/`--all`) and **stop**.
-6. State the counts before touching the destination: how many rows will be created or checked, and the threshold in effect.
+4. `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` entries with status `expired` join the sync set regardless of score as update-only candidates. An entry selected only because it is `expired` and has no matching tracker row can update an existing page, but never creates a page or writes a body. If a matching tracker row exists, it remains an ordinary sync item and tracker status precedence applies.
+5. **Status precedence:** the tracker wins. A job that is `ranked` in `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` but `interview` in the tracker syncs as `interview`. Jobs only in `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` keep their stored status. **Deadline precedence: the tracker wins too** - the tracker's `deadline` (written by `/apply` from the posting the application was actually built on) overrides the `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` value; jobs only in `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` keep the scraper's stored deadline. Omit the property when neither states one, and **never reconcile the two by picking the earlier or later date** - both were read from the posting at different times, and the safe-looking `min()` substitutes a date the user never applied against.
+6. **If the sync set is empty** (no ranked entries meet the threshold and there are no tracker rows), say "Nothing to sync - run `/scrape` and `/rank` first" (or, when jobs exist but all score below the threshold, say so and suggest `--min-score`/`--all`) and **stop**.
+7. State the counts before touching the destination: how many rows will be created or checked, and the threshold in effect.
 
 ---
 
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ Validate the cheap, local precondition before creating anything external. A run
    { "database_id": "...", "database_url": "...", "last_sync": "YYYY-MM-DD" }
    ```
 2. If it exists, verify the database id still resolves in Notion. If the database was deleted, treat this as a first run.
-3. **First run:** search the workspace for a database named "Job Search Pipeline". If none exists, ask the user where to create it (top-level page or an existing page they name), then create it with exactly these properties:
+3. **First run:** search the workspace for a database named "Job Search Pipeline". If none exists and the sync set contains only expired-only entries (`job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` entries with status `expired` and no matching tracker row), stop without asking where to create a database and without creating the database or writing `job_scraper/notion_sync.json`: there are no existing pages to update. Otherwise, if no database exists, ask the user where to create it (top-level page or an existing page they name), then create it with exactly these properties:
 
    | Property | Type | Values / notes |
    |----------|------|----------------|
@@ -86,9 +87,10 @@ Validate the cheap, local precondition before creating anything external. A run
 For each job in the sync set:
 
 1. Query the database for a page whose `Key` equals the job's key.
-2. **No match** → create the page with all properties from the Step 3 table, then write its body (Step 5).
-3. **Match** → update **properties only**: Status, Score, Verdict, Deadline, Ranked, Applied on, Channel, CV file, Cover letter. Properties are the always-current surface (bodies are write-once), so tracker updates recorded by `/outcome` reach the destination exclusively through them. Do not touch the page body - the user may have added their own notes there, and clobbering them breaks trust in the whole view. (`--rebuild` is the sole exception.)
-4. Never delete or archive pages, even for jobs that turned `expired` - set Status to `expired` instead. Rows the user added to the database by hand (no `Key` value) are invisible to this command.
+2. **No match** → if the job is an expired-only entry, skip it - do not create a page or write a body. Otherwise, create the page with all properties from the Step 3 table, then write its body (Step 5).
+3. **Match, expired-only entry** → update **Status only** to `expired`. Do not update other properties or touch the page body.
+4. **Match, any other effective status** → update **properties only**: Status, Score, Verdict, Deadline, Ranked, Applied on, Channel, CV file, Cover letter. Properties are the always-current surface (bodies are write-once), so tracker updates recorded by `/outcome` reach the destination exclusively through them. Do not touch the page body - the user may have added their own notes there, and clobbering them breaks trust in the whole view. (`--rebuild` is the sole exception for non-expired jobs.)
+5. Never delete or archive pages, even for jobs that turned `expired` - set Status to `expired` instead. Rows the user added to the database by hand (no `Key` value) are invisible to this command.
 
 **Normalise the Status value before writing.** The tracker may hold legacy space spellings (`no response`, `offer declined`) from before the canonical forms were locked. Map them to `no_response` / `offer_declined` per the **Tracker status vocabulary** in `/outcome` before setting Status on create or update - never push a space form to Notion, which would auto-create a separate select option per unique string. Pre-existing space-form options in an existing database simply go unused; Notion never auto-removes select options.
 
@@ -100,9 +102,10 @@ Batch politely: if the MCP server rate-limits, back off and continue; report any
 
 The page body is what makes a row worth clicking. Build it **only from stored data and actually fetched content**:
 
-1. **Fit summary** - a short section from `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` fields: score, verdict, quick-fit level, first-seen and ranked dates. If the job is in the tracker, add the application timeline (date applied, channel, current status, dated notes from the `notes` column) and name the submitted documents from `cv_file`/`cover_letter_file` (filenames only - the documents themselves never sync). **When the status is `drafted`, write "drafted YYYY-MM-DD, not yet submitted" instead of a date applied, and call the files drafts rather than submitted documents** (page bodies are write-once - Step 4.3).
-2. **The posting** - WebFetch the job URL and write a readable digest: what the role is, key requirements, practical details (location, deadline, salary if stated). Retry a 403 with browser headers per `.claude/skills/job-application-assistant/09-web-research.md` first. If the fetch still fails or redirects to a listing page, write "Posting no longer available (checked YYYY-MM-DD)" - **never reconstruct a posting from memory**.
-3. **Links** - the posting URL; derive `<company>_<role>` by the **Subfolder naming** rule in `documents/README.md`, and if that archive exists locally, name its path (plain text - the destination cannot link into the filesystem).
+1. Never write or rebuild a body for an expired-only entry, including when `--rebuild` is set. Step 4 skips an expired-only entry when no matching page exists.
+2. **Fit summary** - a short section from `job_scraper/seen_jobs.json` fields: score, verdict, quick-fit level, first-seen and ranked dates. If the job is in the tracker, add the application timeline (date applied, channel, current status, dated notes from the `notes` column) and name the submitted documents from `cv_file`/`cover_letter_file` (filenames only - the documents themselves never sync). **When the status is `drafted`, write "drafted YYYY-MM-DD, not yet submitted" instead of a date applied, and call the files drafts rather than submitted documents** (page bodies are write-once - Step 4.4).
+3. **The posting** - WebFetch the job URL and write a readable digest: what the role is, key requirements, practical details (location, deadline, salary if stated). Retry a 403 with browser headers per `.claude/skills/job-application-assistant/09-web-research.md` first. If the fetch still fails or redirects to a listing page, write "Posting no longer available (checked YYYY-MM-DD)" - **never reconstruct a posting from memory**.
+4. **Links** - the posting URL; derive `<company>_<role>` by the **Subfolder naming** rule in `documents/README.md`, and if that archive exists locally, name its path (plain text - the destination cannot link into the filesystem).
 
 Keep the page under ~40 blocks; this is a briefing, not a mirror of the posting.
 

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -179,6 +179,14 @@ per-file diff commands.
   Poppler installed. It now probes each distinct `pdftotext` on PATH with `-h`, runs the first that
   lists `-bbox` by its full path, and keeps the `skipped:` exit 2 for when none does.
 
+- **`/notion-sync` can set a page's Status to `expired`** (#666, fixes #597) (`.claude/commands/notion-sync.md` Steps 2-5,
+  `tests/test_notion_sync_command.py`) - Step 2 built the sync set from `ranked` entries and tracker rows only, so a job
+  synced while ranked and later retired by `/rank`'s sweep never re-entered the set and its page stayed `ranked`, although
+  Step 4 says to set Status to `expired`. `expired` entries now join the sync set as update-only candidates: a matching page
+  gets Status `expired` and nothing else, a Key with no page is skipped rather than created, no body is written for them even
+  under `--rebuild`, and a first run with only such entries stops before creating the database. An expired posting with a
+  tracker row still syncs as an ordinary row.
+
 ## [1.7.3] - 2026-10-19
 
 ### Added

tests/test_notion_sync_command.py

@@ -63,6 +63,23 @@ class NotionSyncCommandSpec(unittest.TestCase):
             "spec lost the rule that CV/cover-letter content never syncs to Notion",
         )
 
+    def test_expired_jobs_are_update_only_and_never_create_or_rebuild_pages(self):
+        text = COMMAND.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        step2 = text.split("## Step 2:", 1)[1].split("## Step 3:", 1)[0]
+        step3 = text.split("## Step 3:", 1)[1].split("## Step 4:", 1)[0]
+        step4 = text.split("## Step 4:", 1)[1].split("## Step 5:", 1)[0]
+        step5 = text.split("## Step 5:", 1)[1].split("## Step 6:", 1)[0]
+
+        self.assertIn("entries with status `expired` join the sync set regardless of score as update-only candidates", step2)
+        self.assertIn("An entry selected only because it is `expired` and has no matching tracker row", step2)
+        self.assertIn("If a matching tracker row exists, it remains an ordinary sync item and tracker status precedence applies.", step2)
+        self.assertIn("sync set contains only expired-only entries", step3)
+        self.assertIn("stop without asking where to create a database", step3)
+        self.assertIn("without creating the database or writing `job_scraper/notion_sync.json`", step3)
+        self.assertIn("if the job is an expired-only entry, skip it - do not create a page or write a body", step4)
+        self.assertIn("Match, expired-only entry** → update **Status only** to `expired`", step4)
+        self.assertIn("Never write or rebuild a body for an expired-only entry, including when `--rebuild` is set.", step5)
+
     @unittest.skipUnless(
         _HAVE_YAML,
         "PyYAML not installed (the CI Python-test job omits it; the lint job runs lint_skills.py directly)",