Document sync_interval for deb/alpine and test interval changes

- add sync_interval to the github_deb/github_alpine docs and the caching field table
- apply the created_at slot gate only when no sync state row exists
- test 0<->N interval changes, the insert-only gate and a negative sync_interval on update

docs/alpine/remote-github.md

@@ -5,3 +5,16 @@ Shared classification, TTL and eviction rules: [caching](../common/caching.md).
 | Type | Mutable (auto-detected) | Immutable (auto-detected) |
 |---|---|---|
 | `github_alpine` | `APKINDEX.tar.gz` (synthesized) | `.apk` (redirected) |
+
+## Release sync
+
+A background syncer re-scans the GitHub releases list per remote, sharing one
+lease per remote across replicas through `github_alpine_sync_state`.
+
+- **`sync_interval`** (seconds) re-checks once per interval at a stable
+  per-remote offset, so remotes on the same interval spread out instead of
+  syncing together; its first scheduled sync waits for that slot (a cold-cache
+  request still primes at once). Unset, it re-checks no more often than its
+  `mutable_ttl`.
+- A failed scan keeps serving the last good index and retries with exponential
+  backoff.

docs/common/caching.md

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Every proxied request on a remote is classified as **denied**, **immutable** or
 | `mutable_patterns` | Regexes forcing a path mutable. |
 | `immutable_ttl` | Seconds an immutable path stays fresh. `0` = forever. |
 | `mutable_ttl` | Seconds a mutable path stays fresh. `0` also means never expires. Omitted on create, it defaults to `3600`; omitted on update, the stored value is kept. |
+| `sync_interval` | github_rpm/github_deb/github_alpine only. Seconds between background release re-scans, at a stable per-remote offset. Unset (`0`) re-scans no more often than `mutable_ttl`. |
 | `check_mutable` | When a mutable path's `mutable_ttl` expires, sends a conditional `HEAD` (`If-None-Match`) with the stored upstream ETag. A `304` re-arms the TTL and serves the stored copy; anything else refetches in full. The ETag is kept for `max(10 × mutable_ttl, 7 days)`, re-armed on each `304`, so idle paths age out. It is only stored when `check_mutable` is set and `mutable_ttl` is non-zero, and never for immutable paths. |
 | `stale_on_error` | On an upstream network error, serve the stored copy instead of failing. |
 | `serve_stale` | rpm/deb/alpine virtual members only. When a virtual re-merges, use this member's previous index at once and refresh it in the background; the next merge picks up the refresh. The first merge still waits, and so does any merge once the previous index is over an hour old, so a member that keeps failing surfaces its error. Default `false`. |

docs/deb/remote-github.md

@@ -5,3 +5,16 @@ Shared classification, TTL and eviction rules: [caching](../common/caching.md).
 | Type | Mutable (auto-detected) | Immutable (auto-detected) |
 |---|---|---|
 | `github_deb` | `Packages*`, `Release*` (synthesized) | `.deb` (redirected) |
+
+## Release sync
+
+A background syncer re-scans the GitHub releases list per remote, sharing one
+lease per remote across replicas through `github_deb_sync_state`.
+
+- **`sync_interval`** (seconds) re-checks once per interval at a stable
+  per-remote offset, so remotes on the same interval spread out instead of
+  syncing together; its first scheduled sync waits for that slot (a cold-cache
+  request still primes at once). Unset, it re-checks no more often than its
+  `mutable_ttl`.
+- A failed scan keeps serving the last good index and retries with exponential
+  backoff.

docs/rpm/remote-github.md

@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ derived metadata current off the client request path:
   stable per-remote offset, so remotes on the same interval spread out instead
   of syncing together; its first scheduled sync waits for that slot (a
   cold-cache request still primes at once). Unset, it re-checks no more often
-  than its `mutable_ttl`. New/changed
-  assets are derived incrementally; assets already cached are never re-fetched,
-  and assets that disappear upstream are pruned.
+  than its `mutable_ttl`. New/changed assets are derived incrementally; assets
+  already cached are never re-fetched, and assets that disappear upstream are
+  pruned.
 - **ETag / 304 conditional requests.** The releases-list `ETag` is stored per
   remote and sent as `If-None-Match`; a `304 Not Modified` means nothing changed
   and the syncer derives nothing. GitHub does not count `304` conditional
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ derived metadata current off the client request path:
   periodic scan a replica must atomically claim a per-remote lease
   (`github_rpm_sync_state`: `last_synced_at`, `etag`, `sync_lease_owner`,
   `sync_lease_expires`); only the winner scans. This bounds total GitHub load to
-  ~once per `sync_interval` (else `mutable_ttl`) regardless of replica count, and the shared `etag`
-  lets any replica issue the conditional request.
+  ~once per `sync_interval` (else `mutable_ttl`) regardless of replica count,
+  and the shared `etag` lets any replica issue the conditional request.
 
 ```hcl
 # Backend that serves the actual .rpm bytes from github.com.