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Give the link check a longer timeout and retries - #52

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sbryngelson merged 1 commit into
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linkcheck-tuning
Aug 22, 2026
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Give the link check a longer timeout and retries#52
sbryngelson merged 1 commit into
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linkcheck-tuning

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Master is red on lijunsun.github.io/files/ScientificWritingV39.pdf. That link returns 200 from a normal network on three consecutive attempts, and the host resolves to GitHub Pages, so it is not dead. It is a large PDF, which points at the default 10s timeout rather than an IP block.

Adds timeout: 20s, retryCount: 3, retryOn429, and a fallback delay. That covers slow responses without adding another host to the ignore list.

Context

Since 0 was removed from aliveStatusCodes, the check has flagged four links that are all actually alive:

Host Cause Handling
ted.com blocks datacenter IPs ignorePatterns
catb.org blocks datacenter IPs ignorePatterns
annaclemens.com blocks datacenter IPs ignorePatterns
lijunsun.github.io large PDF, likely timeout timeout + retries (this PR)

Worth being honest that this is upkeep. The strict setting earned its keep once by catching three genuinely dead links, including an NXDOMAIN host that the old config reported as healthy. Whether it keeps earning it depends on how often false positives show up from here.

If they keep coming, the alternative is restoring 0 to aliveStatusCodes — CI goes quiet and stable, but a disappearing domain will no longer be caught, and periodic manual sweeps become the way to find them.

Master went red on lijunsun.github.io/files/ScientificWritingV39.pdf,
which returns 200 from a normal network and resolves to GitHub Pages.
It is a large PDF, so the default 10s timeout is the likely cause rather
than a block. Raising the timeout to 20s with three retries covers that
class of failure without another blanket exemption.
@sbryngelson
sbryngelson merged commit a70833c into master Aug 22, 2026
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@sbryngelson
sbryngelson deleted the linkcheck-tuning branch August 22, 2026 01:25
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