feedback check existing data before refetch 20260715T231520

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name: Check for already-fetched data before assuming an expensive re-backfill is needed description: Corrected 2026-07-15: defaulted to 'must re-run the full API backfill' (quoted multi-hour IG rate limit) without checking that the data was already sitting in a dev slot DB, copyable in seconds. type: feedback

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Justin caught that a claimed 'multi-hour' IG/FB/TikTok backfill was unnecessary, the data (2,098 videos, 175 cross-post links) was already fully pulled and sitting in a dev warm-slot database; a filtered SQL copy took seconds.

Why: Habit defaulted to 're-run the proper backfill from source API' as the safe/correct path without first checking whether equivalent data already existed somewhere cheaper to copy from (dev slots, prior runs, caches). This overstated cost and would have wasted hours re-hitting a rate-limited API for no reason.

How to apply: Before quoting a long-running re-fetch/backfill/re-computation as necessary, check whether the target data already exists in a dev slot, prior export, cache, or other environment first. If it does, a scoped copy (with correct column/ID mapping, see [[creatortrack_migration_order_column_drift]]) is almost always faster and lower-risk than re-deriving from the original source.

[auto-memory session 60d132de-4659-485c-8044-427af0ccce7f, confidence 0.65, mode staged]