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+# Data Cache Reuse Design
+
+**Date:** 2025-10-30
+**Status:** Approved
+
+## Problem Statement
+
+Docker containers currently fetch all 103 NASDAQ 100 tickers from Alpha Vantage on every startup, even when price data is volume-mounted and already cached in `./data`. This causes:
+- Slow startup times (103 API calls)
+- Unnecessary API quota consumption
+- Rate limit risks during frequent development iterations
+
+## Solution Overview
+
+Implement staleness-based data refresh with configurable age threshold. Container checks all `daily_prices_*.json` files and only refetches if any file is missing or older than `MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS`.
+
+## Design Decisions
+
+### Architecture Choice
+**Selected:** Check all `daily_prices_*.json` files individually
+**Rationale:** Ensures data integrity by detecting partial/missing files, not just stale merged data
+
+### Implementation Location
+**Selected:** Bash wrapper logic in `entrypoint.sh`
+**Rationale:** Keeps data fetching scripts unchanged, adds orchestration at container startup layer
+
+### Staleness Threshold
+**Selected:** Configurable via `MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS` environment variable (default: 7 days)
+**Rationale:** Balances freshness with API usage; flexible for different use cases (development vs production)
+
+## Technical Design
+
+### Components
+
+#### 1. Staleness Check Function
+Location: `entrypoint.sh` (after environment validation, before data fetch)
+
+```bash
+should_refresh_data() {
+    MAX_AGE=${MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS:-7}
+
+    # Check if at least one price file exists
+    if ! ls /app/data/daily_prices_*.json >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "📭 No price data found"
+        return 0  # Need refresh
+    fi
+
+    # Find any files older than MAX_AGE days
+    STALE_COUNT=$(find /app/data -name "daily_prices_*.json" -mtime +$MAX_AGE | wc -l)
+    TOTAL_COUNT=$(ls /app/data/daily_prices_*.json 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
+
+    if [ $STALE_COUNT -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo "📅 Found $STALE_COUNT stale files (>$MAX_AGE days old)"
+        return 0  # Need refresh
+    fi
+
+    echo "✅ All $TOTAL_COUNT price files are fresh (<$MAX_AGE days old)"
+    return 1  # Skip refresh
+}
+```
+
+**Logic:**
+- Uses `find -mtime +N` to detect files modified more than N days ago
+- Returns shell exit codes: 0 (refresh needed), 1 (skip refresh)
+- Logs informative messages for debugging
+
+#### 2. Conditional Data Fetch
+Location: `entrypoint.sh` lines 40-46 (replace existing unconditional fetch)
+
+```bash
+# Step 1: Data preparation (conditional)
+echo "📊 Checking price data freshness..."
+
+if should_refresh_data; then
+    echo "🔄 Fetching and merging price data..."
+    cd /app/data
+    python /app/scripts/get_daily_price.py
+    python /app/scripts/merge_jsonl.py
+    cd /app
+else
+    echo "⏭️  Skipping data fetch (using cached data)"
+fi
+```
+
+#### 3. Environment Configuration
+**docker-compose.yml:**
+```yaml
+environment:
+  - MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS=${MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS:-7}
+```
+
+**.env.example:**
+```bash
+# Data Refresh Configuration
+MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS=7  # Refresh price data older than N days (0=always refresh)
+```
+
+### Data Flow
+
+1. **Container Startup** → entrypoint.sh begins execution
+2. **Environment Validation** → Check required API keys (existing logic)
+3. **Staleness Check** → `should_refresh_data()` scans `/app/data/daily_prices_*.json`
+   - No files found → Return 0 (refresh)
+   - Any file older than `MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS` → Return 0 (refresh)
+   - All files fresh → Return 1 (skip)
+4. **Conditional Fetch** → Run get_daily_price.py only if refresh needed
+5. **Merge Data** → Always run merge_jsonl.py (handles missing merged.jsonl)
+6. **MCP Services** → Start services (existing logic)
+7. **Trading Agent** → Begin trading (existing logic)
+
+### Edge Cases
+
+| Scenario | Behavior |
+|----------|----------|
+| **First run (no data)** | Detects no files → triggers full fetch |
+| **Restart within 7 days** | All files fresh → skips fetch (fast startup) |
+| **Restart after 7 days** | Files stale → refreshes all data |
+| **Partial data (some files missing)** | Missing files treated as infinitely old → triggers refresh |
+| **Corrupt merged.jsonl but fresh price files** | Skips fetch, re-runs merge to rebuild merged.jsonl |
+| **MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS=0** | Always refresh (useful for testing/production) |
+| **MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS unset** | Defaults to 7 days |
+| **Alpha Vantage rate limit** | get_daily_price.py handles with warning (existing behavior) |
+
+## Configuration Options
+
+| Variable | Default | Purpose |
+|----------|---------|---------|
+| `MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS` | 7 | Days before price data considered stale |
+
+**Special Values:**
+- `0` → Always refresh (force fresh data)
+- `999` → Never refresh (use cached data indefinitely)
+
+## User Experience
+
+### Scenario 1: Fresh Container
+```
+🚀 Starting AI-Trader...
+🔍 Validating environment variables...
+✅ Environment variables validated
+📊 Checking price data freshness...
+📭 No price data found
+🔄 Fetching and merging price data...
+✓ Fetched NVDA
+✓ Fetched MSFT
+...
+```
+
+### Scenario 2: Restart Within 7 Days
+```
+🚀 Starting AI-Trader...
+🔍 Validating environment variables...
+✅ Environment variables validated
+📊 Checking price data freshness...
+✅ All 103 price files are fresh (<7 days old)
+⏭️  Skipping data fetch (using cached data)
+🔧 Starting MCP services...
+```
+
+### Scenario 3: Restart After 7 Days
+```
+🚀 Starting AI-Trader...
+🔍 Validating environment variables...
+✅ Environment variables validated
+📊 Checking price data freshness...
+📅 Found 103 stale files (>7 days old)
+🔄 Fetching and merging price data...
+✓ Fetched NVDA
+✓ Fetched MSFT
+...
+```
+
+## Testing Plan
+
+1. **Test fresh container:** Delete `./data/daily_prices_*.json`, start container → should fetch all
+2. **Test cached data:** Restart immediately → should skip fetch
+3. **Test staleness:** `touch -d "8 days ago" ./data/daily_prices_AAPL.json`, restart → should refresh
+4. **Test partial data:** Delete 10 random price files → should refresh all
+5. **Test MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS=0:** Restart with env var set → should always fetch
+6. **Test MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS=30:** Restart with 8-day-old data → should skip
+
+## Documentation Updates
+
+Files requiring updates:
+- `entrypoint.sh` → Add function and conditional logic
+- `docker-compose.yml` → Add MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS environment variable
+- `.env.example` → Document MAX_DATA_AGE_DAYS with default value
+- `CLAUDE.md` → Update "Docker Deployment" section with new env var
+- `docs/DOCKER.md` (if exists) → Explain data caching behavior
+
+## Benefits
+
+- **Development:** Instant container restarts during iteration
+- **API Quota:** ~103 fewer API calls per restart
+- **Reliability:** No rate limit risks during frequent testing
+- **Flexibility:** Configurable threshold for different use cases
+- **Consistency:** Checks all files to ensure complete data