Fastmod Audit and Backfill Step 1 Solution Assessment

Problem

Operators need to measure unscored historical content and its estimated Fastmod cost before deliberately deciding whether to backfill it.

Option A — Separate audit and backfill commands

  • Add a read-only audit command that reports historical candidate counts, existing states, and a cost range based on the configured model and observed Fastmod usage.

  • Add a separate, explicitly confirmed, bounded backfill command.

  • Pros: clear no-write preview; deliberate policy reversal; supports spend and volume limits.

  • Cons: two commands and associated operator documentation.

Option B — Extend the existing status and enqueue commands

  • Add historical auditing to status and an opt-in historical mode to the existing enqueue command.

  • Pros: fewer commands; familiar workflow.

  • Cons: blurs normal new-content processing with an exceptional corpus-wide action; makes accidental backfill easier.

Option C — Document manual SQLite queries and one-off queue writes

  • Keep the product unchanged and provide operator instructions only.

  • Pros: no feature work.

  • Cons: error-prone; no standardized estimate, guardrails, or audit trail.

Recommendation

Choose Option A. A read-only audit followed by a separately confirmed, bounded backfill preserves the current new-content-only default while making a historical run measurable, intentional, and recoverable.

Next

If this assessment is accepted, reply Approved Step 1. I will then create the Step 2 feature description.