Endpoint Triggers a manual refresh of classroom availability data by fetching the latest information from BU’s scheduling system. This endpoint is subject to a 30-minute cooldown to prevent excessive requests.
Request This endpoint does not require any parameters or request body.
curl -X POST https://emptyclassroom-production.up.railway.app/api/refresh
Response Success message confirming the data refresh
ISO 8601 timestamp of when the refresh was completed (in America/New_York timezone)
Success Response { "message" : "Data refreshed successfully" , "timestamp" : "2026-03-03T14:30:00.123456-05:00" }
Error Responses Cooldown Active If a refresh was performed within the last 30 minutes, the endpoint returns a 429 error.
Error message including the remaining cooldown time in minutes
{ "detail" : "Refresh cooldown active. Please wait 15.3 more minutes." }
Server Error If the refresh operation fails due to an internal error:
500 Internal Server Error
Error message describing the failure
500 Internal Server Error
{ "detail" : "Failed to refresh data" }
Behavior Cooldown Mechanism The endpoint implements a 30-minute cooldown to protect the upstream data source:
When refresh is successful, the current timestamp is stored in Redis
Subsequent refresh requests within 30 minutes are rejected with a 429 error
The error message includes the exact remaining cooldown time
After 30 minutes, the cooldown expires and refresh is allowed again
Data Updates When a refresh is successful:
Fresh classroom availability data is fetched from BU’s scheduling system
The Redis cache is updated with new data (24-hour expiry)
The last_refresh timestamp is updated
All subsequent /api/open-classrooms requests will use the new data
Automatic Refresh The app also performs automatic refreshes:
On startup : If the cached data is from a previous dayOn wake : If the app was sleeping and data is stale
Manual refresh via this endpoint is only needed if you want to force a refresh within the same day.
Example Usage Basic Refresh Request const response = await fetch ( 'https://emptyclassroom-production.up.railway.app/api/refresh' , { method: 'POST' } ); if ( response . ok ) { const data = await response . json (); console . log ( `Refreshed at: ${ data . timestamp } ` ); } else if ( response . status === 429 ) { const error = await response . json (); console . log ( error . detail ); // "Refresh cooldown active. Please wait X more minutes." }
With Cooldown Check // Check cooldown status first const statusResponse = await fetch ( 'https://emptyclassroom-production.up.railway.app/api/cooldown-status' ); const status = await statusResponse . json (); if ( ! status . in_cooldown ) { // Safe to refresh const refreshResponse = await fetch ( 'https://emptyclassroom-production.up.railway.app/api/refresh' , { method: 'POST' } ); const data = await refreshResponse . json (); console . log ( data . message ); } else { console . log ( `Wait ${ status . remaining_minutes . toFixed ( 1 ) } more minutes` ); }
import requests response = requests.post( 'https://emptyclassroom-production.up.railway.app/api/refresh' ) if response.status_code == 200 : data = response.json() print ( f "Refreshed at: { data[ 'timestamp' ] } " ) elif response.status_code == 429 : error = response.json() print (error[ 'detail' ])
curl -X POST https://emptyclassroom-production.up.railway.app/api/refresh
Best Practices Check cooldown status before refreshing to avoid unnecessary 429 errors. Use the /api/cooldown-status endpoint to check if refresh is available.
Don’t poll this endpoint. The 30-minute cooldown is enforced to protect upstream services. If you need real-time updates, use the /api/open-classrooms endpoint which serves cached data efficiently.
Notes
The cooldown timer is stored in Redis with the same 24-hour expiry as the cache
If Redis is cleared or restarted, the cooldown state is lost
The remaining time calculation is precise to one decimal place
The timestamp uses full ISO 8601 format including microseconds and timezone offset