- Added explanatory tooltips to all 9 column headers in Activity Monitor
- Added sortable Auth column showing NativeAuthenticator authorization status
- Green checkmark for authorized users, red X for not authorized
- Backend queries users_info table with graceful fallback
- Updated documentation with new column and API schema
- Activity tooltip shows "Not enough data (Nh of 24h collected)" until
sufficient samples collected (144 samples at 10-min intervals)
- Progress bar still renders to show emerging trend, tooltip clarifies
percentage not yet reliable
- Added activitymon_sample_interval to template_vars for frontend access
- Rewrote docs/activity-tracking-methodology.md as comprehensive
implementation specification covering data collection, scoring formulas,
UI components, API endpoints, and design rationale
Rewrote simulation section explaining why effective half-life differs
from configured half-life:
1. Decay is CONTINUOUS (24/7 in calendar time)
2. Work is SPARSE (only during work hours)
3. Decay during BREAKS (overnight with no new work)
Added single table showing effective half-life for work patterns
(12h, 10h, 8h, 6h, 4h, 2h) vs configured half-lives (24h, 48h, 72h).
Key insight: 72h configured = 18h effective for 8h/day worker.
Added detailed simulation results showing how calendar half-life
translates to effective working-time decay:
- 10h/day (intensive): 72h -> 28.5 work hours at 50%
- 8h/day (typical): 72h -> 22.8 work hours at 50%
- 4h/day (part-time): 72h -> 11.5 work hours at 50%
Key finding: 72h calendar half-life consistently yields ~2.9 work
days at the 50% point, regardless of daily work hours. Activity
scores correctly reflect work fraction (8h/24h = 33.3%).
Explains why 72h calendar half-life was chosen:
- Decay applies to wall-clock time, not working time
- Users work ~8h/day (1/3 of 24h period)
- 72h calendar = ~24h of working time = one full workday
- Prevents overnight breaks from penalizing scores
This calibrates decay to actual engagement patterns rather
than raw calendar time.
Changed JUPYTERHUB_ACTIVITYMON_HALF_LIFE default from 48h to 72h
for more stable activity scores. Activity from 3 days ago now has
50% weight, better suited for users with irregular schedules.
Updated: Dockerfile, custom_handlers.py, activity_sampler.py,
settings_dictionary.yml, README.md, docs/activity-tracking-methodology.md
Research document covering industry approaches for activity tracking:
- Exponential Moving Average (EMA) with half-life decay
- Hubstaff's hour-based approach
- Daily target method (8h=100%)
- GitHub contribution graph methodology
Validates current EMA implementation aligns with industry standards.
