---
key: channel.origin-marker
title: 2026-07-23 — Channel origin is immutable creation-provenance, stamped at insert, not a health signal (#414)
status: active
since: '2026-07-23'
supersedes: none
superseded-by: none
rule: A new `Channel.Origin` (`ChannelOrigin` enum — `Unknown`/`UserCreated`/`AutoTuned`) records how a channel row was created and is stamped exactly once at insert (`AutoTuned` in `CreateChannelFromLineupHandler`, `UserCreated` in `CreateChannelHandler`), and is never mutated on a later edit. It is surfaced as a raw `origin` field on `ChannelResponseModel`; the SPA badges only `AutoTuned`. Rows predating the column read `Unknown` — provenance is **not** back-filled.
signals: 'channel origin, auto-tuned vs user-created channel, ChannelOrigin enum, immutable creation provenance, Origin column stamp at insert, do not back-fill origin, Channel Lineups playlist-group heuristic rejected, auto-generated then user-edited stays AutoTuned · paths: `ErsatzTV.Core/Domain/ChannelOrigin.cs`, `Channel.Origin`, `CreateChannelFromLineupHandler.BuildChannel`, `CreateChannelHandler`, `ChannelResponseModel`, `web/src/screens/ChannelsScreen.tsx`, `/app/channels` · issues: #414, #415, #72'
mechanics: '`CreateChannelHandlerTests` (UserCreated stamp), `CreateChannelFromLineupHandlerTests` (AutoTuned stamp), `ChannelsScreen.test.tsx` (badge only on AutoTuned); dual-provider migration `Add_Channel_Origin`'
---

This is #72 scope item (a), deferred in `api.channel-health-signal` because "no honest signal exists": `ChannelPlayoutSource.Generated` is a *playout-strategy* value that SPA-created blank channels also carry, so it would mislabel them, and a join through the `"Channel Lineups"` system playlist group was rejected as a heuristic that breaks the moment a user edits the channel. The fix is a dedicated `Origin` column — a fact, not a derivation.

**Immutable provenance, not a mutable "still managed" flag.** `Origin` records how the row was *born* and a later user edit never changes it, so "auto-generated then user-edited" stays `AutoTuned`. This deliberately avoids reviving the fragile "detect when it's been edited away" heuristic the issue rejected. A future "has diverged from its auto-tune template" signal, if wanted, is a *separate* concern owned by the #383/#384 auto-tune arc (which knows the template), not this column — mirroring the `api.channel-health-signal` reasoning that kept health a raw fact rather than freezing a policy enum.

**`Unknown = 0` is the honest legacy default.** A new non-null int column defaults existing rows to `0`; making that `Unknown` (rather than `UserCreated`) means pre-migration rows say "we never recorded this" instead of asserting a provenance we cannot know. The SPA badges only `AutoTuned`, so `Unknown` and `UserCreated` both render unbadged. Enum (not `bool IsAutoTuned`) so a future origin (e.g. `Imported`) is additive without a wire-contract break. Stamped in `CreateChannelFromLineupHandler.BuildChannel`, which is the single channel-construction primitive `CreateAutoTunedChannelsHandler` delegates to, so both the lineup endpoint and bulk auto-tune are covered by one stamp site. Empty-schedule and broken-source fault detection remain deferred to #415.
