feat(search): add recency marker to same_entity rows

src/aggregate.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
-import { entityKey, groupByEntity, type EntityRow } from "./aggregate.js";
+import { entityKey, groupByEntity, markRecency, type EntityRow } from "./aggregate.js";
 
 /**
  * Binding-independent unit tests for entity aggregation (node pool).
@@ -243,3 +243,32 @@ describe("duplicate rate regression (issue #189 measurements, 2026-08-01)", () =
     expect(entityKey(pool[2])).not.toBe(entityKey(pool[3])); // issue #1317 vs PR #1318
   });
 });
+
+describe("markRecency (issue #267)", () => {
+  it("marks older rows superseded and newest latest", () => {
+    const m = markRecency([
+      { id: "old", updatedAt: "2026-09-15T00:00:00Z" },
+      { id: "new", updatedAt: "2026-09-29T00:00:00Z" },
+      { id: "mid", updatedAt: "2026-09-23T00:00:00Z" },
+    ]);
+    expect(m.get("old")).toBe("superseded");
+    expect(m.get("mid")).toBe("superseded");
+    expect(m.get("new")).toBe("latest");
+  });
+  it("marks nothing for a single row or equal timestamps", () => {
+    expect(markRecency([{ id: "a", updatedAt: "2026-09-15T00:00:00Z" }]).size).toBe(0);
+    expect(markRecency([
+      { id: "a", updatedAt: "2026-09-15T00:00:00Z" },
+      { id: "b", updatedAt: "2026-09-15T00:00:00Z" },
+    ]).size).toBe(0);
+  });
+  it("leaves unparsable timestamps unmarked", () => {
+    const m = markRecency([
+      { id: "a", updatedAt: "" },
+      { id: "b", updatedAt: "2026-09-15T00:00:00Z" },
+      { id: "c", updatedAt: "2026-09-16T00:00:00Z" },
+    ]);
+    expect(m.has("a")).toBe(false);
+    expect(m.get("c")).toBe("latest");
+  });
+});

src/aggregate.ts

@@ -127,3 +127,24 @@ export function groupByEntity<T>(
   }
   return ordered;
 }
+
+/** Recency marker for one row of an entity group (issue #267). */
+export type Recency = "latest" | "superseded";
+
+/**
+ * Compare `updated_at` across the representative and its folded rows and
+ * mark each one: "superseded" when another row in the group is newer,
+ * "latest" for the newest. Returns an empty map when the group holds fewer
+ * than two distinct timestamps — the pool proves nothing about recency then.
+ * Rows with an unparsable timestamp are left unmarked.
+ */
+export function markRecency(rows: Array<{ id: string; updatedAt: string | null | undefined }>): Map<string, Recency> {
+  const out = new Map<string, Recency>();
+  const times = rows
+    .map((r) => ({ id: r.id, t: r.updatedAt ? Date.parse(r.updatedAt) : NaN }))
+    .filter((r) => !Number.isNaN(r.t));
+  if (new Set(times.map((r) => r.t)).size < 2) return out;
+  const max = Math.max(...times.map((r) => r.t));
+  for (const r of times) out.set(r.id, r.t === max ? "latest" : "superseded");
+  return out;
+}

src/mcp.ts

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ import {
   FETCH_CONTENT_MAX_CHARS,
   FETCH_MAX_VECTOR_IDS,
 } from "./fetch.js";
-import { entityKey, groupByEntity } from "./aggregate.js";
+import { entityKey, groupByEntity, markRecency } from "./aggregate.js";
 import { pathPrefixRange, validateDocPathPrefix } from "./path-prefix.js";
 
 const GITHUB_API = "https://api.github.com";
@@ -337,7 +337,10 @@ export function createRagMcpServer(env: Env): McpServer {
         "(Master's feedback, AI responses, self-review now/later/accepted classifications).\n" +
         "Results are aggregated per underlying entity: a file's doc row and its commit diffs are one result, " +
         "an issue or PR and its comments / reviews are one result. top_k therefore counts distinct entities, " +
-        "and a result that absorbed others carries same_entity { count, others[] } with links to them.\n" +
+        "and a result that absorbed others carries same_entity { count, others[] } with links to them. " +
+        "When those rows hold more than one distinct updated_at, the representative and each others entry carry recency: " +
+        "\"superseded\" = a newer row of the same entity is in the pool, \"latest\" = the newest row in the pool. " +
+        "Absent recency is not a claim of being latest, and recency never affects ranking or scores.\n" +
         "Every result row — and every same_entity.others entry — carries vector_id, the handle mode 4 takes. " +
         "It is a handle for reaching a row you just found, not a durable identifier: the id scheme has been " +
         "migrated before and may be again, so do not store one for later use.\n" +
@@ -917,8 +920,19 @@ export function createRagMcpServer(env: Env): McpServer {
             updated_at: string;
             score: number;
             commit_sha?: string;
+            /** See ResultItem.recency (issue #267). */
+            recency?: "latest" | "superseded";
           }>;
         };
+        /**
+         * Additive recency marker (issue #267), set only when the
+         * representative and its same_entity.others hold more than one
+         * distinct updated_at: "superseded" = a newer row of the same entity
+         * is in the pool, "latest" = newest row in the pool. Never affects
+         * ranking or scores. Absent = no newer version in the pool, which is
+         * not a claim of being latest.
+         */
+        recency?: "latest" | "superseded";
       };
 
       const items: ResultItem[] = filtered.map((f) => {
@@ -928,6 +942,10 @@ export function createRagMcpServer(env: Env): McpServer {
         // Rows folded into this representative. Kept as references (never
         // dropped) so the caller can still reach every version / comment.
         const folded = collapsedInto.get(f.vectorId) ?? [];
+        const recency = markRecency([
+          { id: f.vectorId, updatedAt: r.updatedAt },
+          ...folded.map((o) => ({ id: o.vectorId, updatedAt: resolveRow(payload.get(o.vectorId)).updatedAt })),
+        ]);
         const sameEntity =
           folded.length > 0
             ? {
@@ -942,6 +960,7 @@ export function createRagMcpServer(env: Env): McpServer {
                     updated_at: or.updatedAt,
                     score: o.fusedScore,
                     ...(or.type === "diff" ? { commit_sha: or.commitSha } : {}),
+                    ...(recency.has(o.vectorId) ? { recency: recency.get(o.vectorId) } : {}),
                   };
                 }),
               }
@@ -1008,6 +1027,7 @@ export function createRagMcpServer(env: Env): McpServer {
               }
             : {}),
           ...(sameEntity ? { same_entity: sameEntity } : {}),
+          ...(recency.has(f.vectorId) ? { recency: recency.get(f.vectorId) } : {}),
         };
       });