backend/api/payloads.py

@@ -73,6 +73,30 @@ def history_token(history) -> str:
     return f"{PAYLOAD_VER}:{hist_end(history)}"
 
 
+# The content-shape version for the SEO content pages (/climate/<city>[/month|
+# /records]). Kept separate from PAYLOAD_VER so a content-only shape change need
+# not orphan every other kind's cache, and vice-versa. Bump on change.
+CONTENT_VER = "c1"
+
+
+def content_token(cell_id: str) -> str:
+    """Validity for the SEO content-page payloads — cheap AND stable.
+
+    Unlike history_token, this never loads the ~45-year archive: it keys on the
+    cell's newest archived DATE (climate.history_max_date — an indexed
+    ``MAX(date)`` on Postgres, a single-column read on the parquet backend), so it
+    survives the hourly tail top-ups (which only refresh intra-day freshness) and
+    turns over only when the archive's last day genuinely advances (≈1×/day). That
+    keeps content pages ≤1 day stale — acceptable for SEO — while sparing every
+    request the full-history load the old token forced even on a cache hit.
+    Fail-soft: a store/DB error yields a 'none' bucket rather than raising."""
+    try:
+        max_date = climate.history_max_date(cell_id)
+    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 - token computation must never fail a request
+        max_date = None
+    return f"{PAYLOAD_VER}:{CONTENT_VER}:{max_date or 'none'}"
+
+
 def recent_token(history, cell_id: str) -> str:
     """Validity for payloads that also grade the hourly recent/forecast bundle."""
     return f"{history_token(history)}:{climate.recent_stamp(cell_id)}"

backend/data/climate.py

@@ -862,6 +862,30 @@ def recent_stamp(cell_id: str) -> int:
         return 0
 
 
+def history_max_date(cell_id: str) -> "str | None":
+    """ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD) of the cell's newest cached archived day, or None when
+    nothing is cached — read WITHOUT loading the full multi-decade history.
+
+    Backs the content-page cache token (api/payloads.content_token). On Postgres
+    it's an indexed ``MAX(date)`` over climate_history; on the parquet backend it's
+    the max of the cached file's date column (a single columnar read via
+    ``scan_parquet``, not a full frame load). Fail-soft: any error reads as None."""
+    if climate_store.is_postgres():
+        return climate_store.history_max_date(cell_id)
+    path = _cache_path(cell_id)
+    if not os.path.exists(path):
+        return None
+    try:
+        val = pl.scan_parquet(path).select(pl.col("date").max()).collect().item()
+        if val is None:
+            return None
+        if isinstance(val, datetime.datetime):  # older files stored date as Datetime
+            val = val.date()
+        return val.isoformat()
+    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 - a corrupt/absent cache reads as no max date
+        return None
+
+
 def get_recent_forecast(cell: dict) -> pl.DataFrame:
     """Recent observations + forward forecast, with humidity as absolute humidity
     (g/m³). Thin wrapper over the raw loader (see below)."""

backend/data/climate_store.py

@@ -188,6 +188,29 @@ def recent_synced_at(cell_id: str) -> float:
         return 0.0
 
 
+def history_max_date(cell_id: str) -> "str | None":
+    """The ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD) of the cell's newest archived day, or None when
+    there is no cached history (or Postgres is off/unreachable).
+
+    Backs the content-page cache token (api/payloads.content_token), so it must be
+    CHEAP — an indexed ``MAX(date)`` over the ``(cell_id, date)`` primary key (see
+    the 0002 migration), never a full-history load. Fail-soft: any error reads as
+    None, so the caller falls back to a 'none' bucket rather than raising."""
+    try:
+        with _conn() as conn:
+            if conn is None:
+                return None
+            row = conn.execute(
+                "SELECT MAX(date) FROM climate_history WHERE cell_id = %s",
+                (cell_id,),
+            ).fetchone()
+            if not row or row[0] is None:
+                return None
+            return row[0].isoformat()
+    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
+        return None
+
+
 def cols_version(cell_id: str) -> int:
     """The stored schema version for a cell's history; 0 if absent."""
     try:

backend/tests/api/test_payloads.py

@@ -39,6 +39,34 @@ def test_cache_identity_formats_are_pinned(history):
     assert payloads.history_token(history) == f"{payloads.PAYLOAD_VER}:{payloads.hist_end(history)}"
 
 
+def test_content_token_is_stable_across_tail_topups(monkeypatch):
+    """The content token keys on the archive's newest DATE, not its row count/mtime,
+    so hourly tail top-ups that don't change the max date leave it unchanged — while
+    a genuinely-advanced last day turns it over."""
+    date_box = {"v": "2026-06-15"}
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "history_max_date", lambda cid: date_box["v"])
+    first = payloads.content_token("1_2")
+    assert first == f"{payloads.PAYLOAD_VER}:{payloads.CONTENT_VER}:2026-06-15"
+    # Simulated hourly top-ups: same max date -> identical token every time.
+    assert payloads.content_token("1_2") == first
+    assert payloads.content_token("1_2") == first
+    # The archive's last day advances -> the token turns over.
+    date_box["v"] = "2026-06-16"
+    assert payloads.content_token("1_2") != first
+    assert payloads.content_token("1_2") == f"{payloads.PAYLOAD_VER}:{payloads.CONTENT_VER}:2026-06-16"
+
+
+def test_content_token_fail_soft_buckets_to_none(monkeypatch):
+    """A store/DB error (or an uncached cell) never raises — it buckets to 'none'."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "history_max_date", lambda cid: None)
+    assert payloads.content_token("1_2") == f"{payloads.PAYLOAD_VER}:{payloads.CONTENT_VER}:none"
+
+    def boom(cid):
+        raise RuntimeError("store down")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "history_max_date", boom)
+    assert payloads.content_token("1_2") == f"{payloads.PAYLOAD_VER}:{payloads.CONTENT_VER}:none"
+
+
 def test_recent_token_composes_history_and_stamp(history, monkeypatch):
     monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "recent_stamp", lambda cid: "stamp")
     assert payloads.recent_token(history, "1_2") == f"{payloads.history_token(history)}:stamp"

backend/tests/data/test_climate_store.py

@@ -69,6 +69,17 @@ def test_recent_backend_roundtrips_through_parquet(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     assert hit is not None and hit[0].height == 3
 
 
+def test_history_max_date_reads_parquet_tail_without_full_load(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "CACHE_DIR", str(tmp_path))
+    cell_id = "9_10"
+    assert climate.history_max_date(cell_id) is None            # nothing cached -> None
+    climate._write_history_backed(cell_id, _hist_frame(n=5))     # dates 1995-01-01..05
+    assert climate.history_max_date(cell_id) == "1995-01-05"
+    # A tail top-up that appends a newer day advances the max date.
+    climate._write_history_backed(cell_id, _hist_frame(n=7))
+    assert climate.history_max_date(cell_id) == "1995-01-07"
+
+
 # --- gated Postgres integration ---------------------------------------------
 
 @pytest.fixture
@@ -140,6 +151,15 @@ def test_pg_recent_stamp_advances_only_on_write(pg_store):
     assert pg_store.history_synced_at("1_2") == 6000.0
 
 
+def test_pg_history_max_date(pg_store):
+    assert pg_store.history_max_date("1_2") is None            # no rows -> None
+    pg_store.write_history("1_2", _hist_frame(n=5), 1000.0)    # dates 1995-01-01..05
+    assert pg_store.history_max_date("1_2") == "1995-01-05"
+    # Another cell's rows must not leak into this cell's max.
+    pg_store.write_history("3_4", _hist_frame(n=9), 1000.0)
+    assert pg_store.history_max_date("1_2") == "1995-01-05"
+
+
 def test_pg_cols_version_gate(pg_store):
     pg_store.write_history("1_2", _hist_frame(n=2), 1000.0)
     assert pg_store.read_history("1_2") is not None