fix(notifications): rest a channel that had nobody to send to

A send with no browser subscribed, no iPhone paired or a transport the
operator has not set up no longer counts as a failure, but nothing else
replaced it. The mood reminder and the daily briefing retry every
minute until delivered, so such a channel wrote a skipped row each
minute, for good; the dispatch still counted as an attempt, so the
watchdog and status alerts took it as announced; and the status screen
said "active" with no hint why nothing arrived.

The channel now rests for an hour after such a send, with the reason on
its status, and the send does not count as an attempt. Subscribing a
browser or pairing an iPhone ends the rest at once.

src/lib/notifications/__tests__/dispatcher.test.ts

@@ -211,13 +211,15 @@ describe("dispatchNotification — nobody to send to", () => {
   // Turning push off on the last browser deletes its subscription and leaves
   // the channel on. Counted as failures, the next five reminders switched the
   // channel off for good, and subscribing again later did not bring it back.
+  // Not counted either, the jobs that retry until delivered asked again every
+  // minute, and a watchdog read the attempt as an announced alert.
   it.each([
     ["WEB_PUSH", "web_push_no_subscriptions"],
     ["WEB_PUSH", "web_push_vapid_not_configured"],
     ["APNS", "apns_no_devices"],
     ["APNS", "apns_not_configured"],
   ] as const)(
-    "%s answering %s leaves the channel state alone",
+    "%s answering %s rests the channel without counting a failure or an attempt",
     async (type, reason) => {
       vi.mocked(prisma.notificationChannel.findMany).mockResolvedValueOnce([
         {
@@ -241,8 +243,25 @@ describe("dispatchNotification — nobody to send to", () => {
       });
 
       expect(sender).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
-      expect(outcome.dispatched).toBe(false);
-      expect(prisma.notificationChannel.update).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(outcome).toEqual({
+        dispatched: false,
+        channelsAttempted: 0,
+        channelsSucceeded: 0,
+      });
+      expect(prisma.notificationChannel.update).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+      const { data } = vi.mocked(prisma.notificationChannel.update).mock
+        .calls[0][0] as { data: Record<string, unknown> };
+      // The reason for the status screen and an hour's rest; the counter and
+      // the switch stay as they were.
+      expect(data).toEqual({
+        lastFailureAt: expect.any(Date),
+        lastFailureReason: reason,
+        nextRetryAt: expect.any(Date),
+      });
+      expect(
+        (data.nextRetryAt as Date).getTime() -
+          (data.lastFailureAt as Date).getTime(),
+      ).toBe(60 * 60 * 1000);
       expect(auditLog).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     },
   );

src/lib/notifications/channel-state.ts

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import { prisma } from "@/lib/db";
 import { auditLog } from "@/lib/auth/audit";
 import {
+  NO_RECIPIENT_COOLDOWN_MS,
   nextRetryAt,
   shouldAutoDisableAfterTransient,
   type SendOutcome,
@@ -129,6 +130,26 @@ export async function recordChannelTransientFailure(
   return { autoDisabled: false, nextRetryAt: retryAt };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Record a send that had nobody to go to. Not a failure: the counter stays
+ * where it is. The reason is kept, so the status screen says why nothing
+ * arrives, and the channel rests for `NO_RECIPIENT_COOLDOWN_MS`.
+ */
+export async function recordChannelNoRecipient(
+  channel: ChannelRef,
+  reason: string,
+  now: Date = new Date(),
+): Promise<void> {
+  await prisma.notificationChannel.update({
+    where: { id: channel.id },
+    data: {
+      lastFailureAt: now,
+      lastFailureReason: reason,
+      nextRetryAt: new Date(now.getTime() + NO_RECIPIENT_COOLDOWN_MS),
+    },
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * Re-enable a channel that was previously auto-disabled. Clears the
  * disabled-reason + counter and the cooldown so the next dispatch

src/lib/notifications/dispatcher.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import type { SendOutcome } from "@/lib/notifications/retry-policy";
 import {
   isChannelInCooldown,
   recordChannelHardReject,
+  recordChannelNoRecipient,
   recordChannelSuccess,
   recordChannelTransientFailure,
 } from "@/lib/notifications/channel-state";
@@ -49,7 +50,8 @@ import {
  * not set up. The sender writes a `skipped` ledger row. The channel has not
  * failed, so these leave its failure counter alone; counted as failures,
  * turning push off on the last device would switch the channel off for good
- * after five reminders.
+ * after five reminders. The channel rests for a while instead
+ * (`recordChannelNoRecipient`), and the send does not count as an attempt.
  */
 const NO_RECIPIENT_REASONS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
   "web_push_no_subscriptions",
@@ -74,8 +76,8 @@ const NO_RECIPIENT_REASONS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
  *  6. Call the appropriate sender — which now returns a `SendOutcome` so
  *     the dispatcher can classify hard rejects (410, blocked-by-user) vs
  *     soft errors (5xx, 429, network) and update channel state accordingly.
- *     A send that had nobody to go to (`NO_RECIPIENT_REASONS`) changes no
- *     channel state.
+ *     A send that had nobody to go to (`NO_RECIPIENT_REASONS`) pauses the
+ *     channel without counting a failure.
  *
  * Also handles legacy Telegram config stored on the User model by
  * auto-migrating it to a NotificationChannel record on first dispatch.
@@ -432,6 +434,10 @@ export async function dispatchNotification(
         }
 
         if (outcome.reason && NO_RECIPIENT_REASONS.has(outcome.reason)) {
+          // Nothing went anywhere: a caller that reads an attempt as "the
+          // alert was announced" must not read this one so.
+          channelsAttempted -= 1;
+          await recordChannelNoRecipient(ref, outcome.reason, now);
           getEvent()?.addMeta(
             `notification_skip_${channel.type.toLowerCase()}_no_recipient`,
             outcome.reason,

src/lib/notifications/retry-policy.ts

@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ export const BACKOFF_SCHEDULE_MS: readonly number[] = Object.freeze([
 
 export const MAX_CONSECUTIVE_FAILURES = 5;
 
+/**
+ * How long a channel rests after a send that had nobody to go to (no
+ * browser subscribed, no iPhone paired, a transport the operator has not set
+ * up). The jobs that retry until delivered would otherwise ask again every
+ * minute. Subscribing or pairing ends the rest at once.
+ */
+export const NO_RECIPIENT_COOLDOWN_MS = 60 * 60 * 1_000;
+
 /**
  * Given the new `consecutiveFailures` value (1, 2, …) AFTER incrementing,
  * return the wall-clock time when a retry is allowed. Returns null once the

src/lib/openapi/routes/notifications.ts

@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ const channelDeliveryStatus = z
     state: z
       .enum(["active", "auto_disabled", "manually_disabled", "sending_paused"])
       .describe(
-        "Server-derived. `auto_disabled` — the dispatcher turned it off after repeated hard rejects (`disabledReason` says why). `manually_disabled` — the user turned it off. `sending_paused` — still enabled but inside a retry cooldown until `nextRetryAt`. `active` — enabled and sending.",
+        "Server-derived. `auto_disabled` — the dispatcher turned it off after repeated hard rejects (`disabledReason` says why). `manually_disabled` — the user turned it off. `sending_paused` — still enabled but inside a retry cooldown until `nextRetryAt`, after a transient failure or after a send that had nobody to go to (no browser subscribed, no iPhone paired, a transport the operator has not set up; `lastFailureReason` names it, `consecutiveFailures` is not raised). `active` — enabled and sending.",
       ),
     disabledReason: z
       .string()