Background refresh

Poll subscribed repos on a schedule; Check now and GitHub rate limits

Purpose

The timeline does not have to stay open. Starcat checks subscribed repos for new Releases on an interval. Use Check now when a cut just landed and confirmation is needed immediately.

Timeline Check now plus a spinning sync icon during a poll

Screenshot TODO · images/screenshots/release/background-refresh.webp

How it works (user-facing)

A macOS background task polls on an interval (on the order of hours, with jitter; follow the current build). Conditional requests / ETags keep GitHub API use down. Only still-associated targets (starred or ingested) are polled.

Free accounts cap at 5 subscriptions. See Subscriptions.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Try
No notifications for a long time	Timeline → Check now; confirm the subscription is still valid
Rate limit	Wait for reset; stop hammering Check now
OS killed background work	Allow background activity; open the app and check once
No banner	Notification settings plus system permission

Related

• FAQ · Sync