fix: compute mock activity timestamps at call time, not module load

src/app/dashboard/contributor/ContributorDashboardClient.tsx

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import { apiRequest, fetchBounties } from "@/lib/api";
 import {
   mockReputationProfiles,
   mockBounties,
-  recentActivity,
+  getRecentActivity,
   contributorEarningsHistory,
   contributorSparkline,
 } from "@/lib/mock-data";
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ export default function ContributorDashboardClient() {
             {isLive && <SampleDataChip />}
           </div>
           <div className="mt-4">
-            <ActivityList events={recentActivity.slice(0, 4)} />
+            <ActivityList events={getRecentActivity().slice(0, 4)} />
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>

src/app/dashboard/maintainer/page.tsx

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import Link from "next/link";
 import { Layers, Clock, Coins, FolderGit2, CheckCircle2 } from "lucide-react";
 import { fetchBounties } from "@/lib/api";
-import { mockBounties, recentActivity, bountiesCompletedSparkline } from "@/lib/mock-data";
+import { mockBounties, getRecentActivity, bountiesCompletedSparkline } from "@/lib/mock-data";
 import { DashboardShell } from "@/components/dashboard/DashboardShell";
 import { ActivityList } from "@/components/dashboard/ActivityList";
 import { StatCard } from "@/components/ui/StatCard";
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ export default async function MaintainerDashboardPage() {
             {source === "mock" && <SampleDataChip />}
           </div>
           <div className="mt-4">
-            <ActivityList events={recentActivity.slice(0, 5)} />
+            <ActivityList events={getRecentActivity().slice(0, 5)} />
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>

src/app/dashboard/sponsor/SponsorDashboardClient.tsx

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ import { adaptBounty, type RawBounty, type RawMilestone } from "@/lib/adapters";
 import {
   mockSponsorSummary,
   mockBounties,
-  recentActivity,
+  getRecentActivity,
   sponsorSpendHistory,
   sponsorSpendByRepo,
   budgetSparkline,
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ export default function SponsorDashboardClient() {
         {isLive && <SampleDataChip />}
       </div>
       <div className="mt-4">
-        <ActivityList events={recentActivity.slice(0, 5)} />
+        <ActivityList events={getRecentActivity().slice(0, 5)} />
       </div>
 
       {/* Dev-only: visual kitchen sink — renders all four StatCard states

src/app/page.tsx

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import {
   platformStats,
   trustedOrgs,
   topContributors,
-  recentActivity,
+  getRecentActivity,
   faqs,
 } from "@/lib/mock-data";
 import { formatCurrency, formatInteger } from "@/lib/utils";
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ export default function HomePage() {
             </h2>
           </div>
           <div className="mt-6">
-            <ActivityList events={recentActivity} />
+            <ActivityList events={getRecentActivity()} />
           </div>
         </section>
 

src/lib/mock-data.test.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import {
   mockBounties,
   mockMaintenancePools,
   mockMilestones,
-  recentActivity,
+  getRecentActivity,
 } from "./mock-data";
 import { formatCurrency, isPlausibleAmount } from "./utils";
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ describe("mock-data asset coverage", () => {
     mockBounties,
     mockMilestones,
     mockMaintenancePools,
-    recentActivity: recentActivity.filter((e) => e.asset),
+    recentActivity: getRecentActivity().filter((e) => e.asset),
   };
 
   it.each(Object.entries(collections))("%s contains both USDC and XLM entries", (_, items) => {
@@ -26,13 +26,27 @@ describe("mock-data asset coverage", () => {
       ...mockBounties.map((b) => b.reward),
       ...mockMilestones.flatMap((m) => [m.budget, m.distributed]),
       ...mockMaintenancePools.flatMap((p) => [p.balance, p.monthlyDeposit]),
-      ...recentActivity.flatMap((e) => (e.amount === undefined ? [] : [e.amount])),
+      ...getRecentActivity().flatMap((e) => (e.amount === undefined ? [] : [e.amount])),
     ];
     for (const amount of amounts) {
       expect(isPlausibleAmount(amount)).toBe(true);
     }
   });
 
+  it("anchors activity timestamps to the current call time, not module load (#707)", () => {
+    jest.useFakeTimers().setSystemTime(new Date("2026-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"));
+    const first = getRecentActivity()[0].occurredAt;
+
+    // Simulate a long-running server: real time passes well after the
+    // module was first evaluated.
+    jest.setSystemTime(new Date("2026-01-03T00:00:00.000Z"));
+    const twoDaysLater = getRecentActivity()[0].occurredAt;
+
+    jest.useRealTimers();
+    expect(twoDaysLater).not.toBe(first);
+    expect(new Date(twoDaysLater).getTime()).toBeGreaterThan(new Date(first).getTime());
+  });
+
   it("XLM mock amounts render with XLM precision and no sanity warning", () => {
     const pool = mockMaintenancePools.find((p) => p.asset === "XLM")!;
     expect(formatCurrency(pool.balance, pool.asset)).toBe("8,412.1234567 XLM");

src/lib/mock-data.ts

@@ -275,65 +275,73 @@ function minutesAgo(n: number): string {
   return new Date(Date.now() - n * 60_000).toISOString();
 }
 
-export const recentActivity: ActivityEvent[] = [
-  {
-    id: "a1",
-    handle: "devrel_ana",
-    action: "was paid",
-    target: "core-indexer#288",
-    amount: 40,
-    asset: "USDC",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(6),
-  },
-  {
-    id: "a2",
-    handle: "0xkoda",
-    action: "claimed",
-    target: "soroban-escrow-sdk#17",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(22),
-  },
-  {
-    id: "a3",
-    handle: "linh_dev",
-    action: "opened a pull request for",
-    target: "stellar-wallet-kit#475",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(48),
-  },
-  {
-    id: "a4",
-    handle: "Stellar Development Foundation",
-    action: "funded",
-    target: "v2.0: Multi-asset escrow",
-    amount: 2500,
-    asset: "USDC",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(71),
-  },
-  {
-    id: "a4b",
-    handle: "Stellar Community Fund",
-    action: "funded",
-    target: "v1.4: Indexer performance pass",
-    amount: 15000,
-    asset: "XLM",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(95),
-  },
-  {
-    id: "a5",
-    handle: "priyaeth",
-    action: "was paid",
-    target: "core-indexer#301",
-    amount: 480,
-    asset: "USDC",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(130),
-  },
-  {
-    id: "a6",
-    handle: "qa_marcus",
-    action: "joined as a",
-    target: "contributor",
-    occurredAt: minutesAgo(210),
-  },
-];
+// A function, not a module-level constant: minutesAgo(n) anchors each event
+// n minutes before whenever it's *called*. A constant array only calls
+// minutesAgo once, when the module first loads -- on a long-running server
+// that's once at deploy, so the "live" feed goes stale for the rest of the
+// process's uptime (#707). Calling getRecentActivity() at render/request
+// time instead keeps every event's anchor fresh relative to now.
+export function getRecentActivity(): ActivityEvent[] {
+  return [
+    {
+      id: "a1",
+      handle: "devrel_ana",
+      action: "was paid",
+      target: "core-indexer#288",
+      amount: 40,
+      asset: "USDC",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(6),
+    },
+    {
+      id: "a2",
+      handle: "0xkoda",
+      action: "claimed",
+      target: "soroban-escrow-sdk#17",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(22),
+    },
+    {
+      id: "a3",
+      handle: "linh_dev",
+      action: "opened a pull request for",
+      target: "stellar-wallet-kit#475",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(48),
+    },
+    {
+      id: "a4",
+      handle: "Stellar Development Foundation",
+      action: "funded",
+      target: "v2.0: Multi-asset escrow",
+      amount: 2500,
+      asset: "USDC",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(71),
+    },
+    {
+      id: "a4b",
+      handle: "Stellar Community Fund",
+      action: "funded",
+      target: "v1.4: Indexer performance pass",
+      amount: 15000,
+      asset: "XLM",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(95),
+    },
+    {
+      id: "a5",
+      handle: "priyaeth",
+      action: "was paid",
+      target: "core-indexer#301",
+      amount: 480,
+      asset: "USDC",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(130),
+    },
+    {
+      id: "a6",
+      handle: "qa_marcus",
+      action: "joined as a",
+      target: "contributor",
+      occurredAt: minutesAgo(210),
+    },
+  ];
+}
 
 
 // Weekly earnings/spend series (8 weeks) for dashboard charts.