Sync and real-time

Two separate things keep your board current, and it helps to keep them apart:

• Sync is GitGumbo's server fetching your project from GitLab or GitHub.
• Refresh is your open board fetching the latest from GitGumbo.

A change made on GitLab or GitHub reaches your screen once both have happened.

Refresh: your board and GitGumbo

While the tab is visible, your board refreshes every 5 seconds on Pro and every 30 seconds on Free, and again as soon as you come back to the tab. It stops while the tab is hidden. You never need to reload the page.

Sync: GitGumbo and your provider

Every project with sync on is synced in the background: every 5 minutes on Pro and every 15 minutes on Free. Each background sync fetches what changed since the last one. Once an hour, GitGumbo also re-reads every open issue and merge request in full, which catches anything the quick syncs can't see.

A very large project syncs in the background at most every 30 minutes, on every plan. On GitHub that is 200 or more open pull requests: a full sync of a project that size uses a large share of GitHub's hourly request allowance, so it runs less often. On GitLab it is 1,000 or more open merge requests: GitGumbo reads a GitLab project's merge requests in batches, so a sync stays well inside GitLab's limits until a project is far larger. Until a project's first sync has counted its open pull requests or merge requests, it uses your plan's interval. The Sync button, Full Sync and the ↻ on a card still work straight away, on every plan, and on Pro the webhook still brings most changes in as they happen.

On Pro, GitGumbo also registers a webhook with GitLab or GitHub, so most changes arrive as they happen instead of waiting for the next sync. With the webhook and the 5-second refresh, changes on Pro show up within seconds. Real-time updates explains what a webhook needs and how to fix one that couldn't be set up.

Opening a board also asks for a sync if it hasn't had one in the last 30 seconds.

GitLab Status keeps its own clock

GitLab doesn't mark an issue as changed when only its Status moves, so ordinary syncs can't see status changes. Boards with a Status column get their own Status check every 10 minutes, on every plan. Other boards pick up Status in the hourly full re-read. Full Sync and the ↻ on a card check Status straight away, and so does Sync on a board with a Status column.

The Sync button

Sync, in the board header, fetches what changed since the last sync now, instead of waiting for the background sync. GitGumbo then follows up in the background with pipelines and reviews, and with the hourly full re-read if it is due. The spinner shows while it runs.

On wider screens, the button also shows when the board last synced and when the next background sync is due.

While any sync of the board is running, whoever started it (the background sync, a teammate, or you in another tab), the button spins and is greyed out, and on wider screens it says "Sync in progress". It catches up when the board next refreshes, every few seconds on Pro and Team, or every 30 seconds on Free.

• If the board synced less than 30 seconds ago, Sync does nothing; the data is already fresh.
• You can sync up to 10 times a minute. Past that, the button pauses and says when you can try again.

Full Sync, in the ▾ menu beside the Sync button, re-reads the whole project: every open issue and merge request, issues and merge requests closed in the last 90 days, labels and boards, GitLab Status and blocking links. Full Sync skips the 30-second check, so it always runs. Because it reads so much, it can run once a minute per project, shared by everyone in your firm. Use it when something changed that an ordinary sync can't see, such as a dependency on GitHub.

Sync and Full Sync work on every plan. So does the ↻ on each card, which fetches just that issue and its merge requests, up to 30 times a minute. On a Free plan you're never stuck waiting for the background sync.

If a sync fails, you see "Couldn't sync this board" with the reason.

The coloured pill

Next to the Sync button, a pill says how the board is kept current. Click it for details and a button to fix what can be fixed. It isn't shown on phones.

• Real-time on: a webhook is working. On Pro and Team, changes reach your board within seconds.
• Real-time activating: the webhook is being set up and will be live within a few minutes.
• Real-time off: no webhook. The board still syncs on the background interval and when you press Sync. The pill says why, and often offers Try again.
• Periodic sync: your plan doesn't include webhooks. The board syncs on the background interval and when you press Sync.
• Sync error: the last sync failed. The pill shows what the provider said. If GitLab or GitHub refused because the connected account or its token can no longer read the project, the pill says that in plain words instead: the project may also have been deleted, or moved somewhere that account can't see. The board keeps its last synced cards.
• Sync paused: the account connected to this board needs to reconnect, or its personal access token needs replacing.
• Board disconnected: the person whose account connected this board left the firm or deleted their account. A firm admin can re-point it in Firm settings → Boards.

When a board stops updating

• "Sync paused — reconnect needed" across the top of every page: GitLab or GitHub rejected one of your own linked accounts. Choose Reconnect and follow Settings → Linked Accounts. Only the account's owner sees this banner; everyone else sees "Sync paused" on the board's pill.
• "Your session has expired": your board has stopped refreshing. Choose Sign in again to come back to the same board.
• "… showing the last loaded board. Retrying automatically.": GitGumbo couldn't be reached for a moment. The board keeps what it had and tries again on its own.
• "This board's URL changed": the project was renamed or moved on GitLab or GitHub. Your old link still works.
• "You don't have access to this board": the board is synced through someone else's account, and your own account can't see the project. Ask a firm admin to check your access on GitLab or GitHub.
• "Reconnect your account to see this board": GitLab or GitHub turned your own connected account away, usually because its sign-in expired or was revoked. Reconnect it under Settings, and the board comes back on its next check.

Turning sync off

On the Projects page, owners and admins can Turn off sync for a project. Its board still opens with everything it had, and the ↻ on a card still works, but nothing syncs in the background, and pressing Sync tells you "Sync is paused for this board". A "Sync off" badge shows on the Projects page.

Only projects with sync on count towards Free's limit of 5. To turn sync back on, you need a free slot; the page says so if you're at the limit.

Remove deletes the project and everything GitGumbo synced for it, after a confirmation. It doesn't touch anything on GitLab or GitHub.