Fix elevation gain inflation from device no-fix leading zeros

Apple Watch and similar devices record exactly 0.0 for elevation while
waiting for barometric/GPS lock, then jump to the real altitude. The
hysteresis accumulator was seeding from 0.0, counting the full jump as
ascent. Fix: detect a leading near-zero run followed by a large jump
and seed the accumulator from the first real value instead.

Applied in both _elevation() (fresh extractions) and
recalculate_elevation_hysteresis() (recompute path). Added a bulk
admin endpoint POST /api/admin/users/{handle}/recompute-elevation and
corresponding button to fix existing stored activities.

bincio/extract/dem.py

@@ -351,6 +351,13 @@ def recalculate_elevation_hysteresis(user_dir: Path, activity_id: str) -> dict:
     altitude_source = detail.get("altitude_source", "unknown")
     threshold = 1.0 if altitude_source == "barometric" else 3.0
 
+    # Strip leading no-fix zeros (same logic as metrics._elevation)
+    if elevations and abs(elevations[0]) < 0.5:
+        for i, e in enumerate(elevations):
+            if abs(e) > threshold:
+                elevations = elevations[i:]
+                break
+
     # Pre-smooth to suppress noise, then accumulate with low dead-band
     smoothed = _moving_average(elevations, _MA_WINDOW_S)
     gain, loss = _hysteresis_gain_loss(smoothed, threshold)

bincio/extract/metrics.py

@@ -371,9 +371,23 @@ def _elevation(
     if len(elevations) < 2:
         return None, None
     threshold = _ELEVATION_THRESHOLD.get(altitude_source, 10.0)
+
+    # Some devices (e.g. Apple Watch) record exactly 0.0 for the initial samples
+    # while waiting for barometric/GPS lock, then jump to the real altitude.
+    # Detect this by checking for a leading near-zero run followed by a large
+    # jump: skip those zeros and seed the accumulator from the first real value.
+    # Safety: if the activity genuinely stays near sea level, no value in the
+    # series will exceed `threshold`, so `start` stays 0 — unchanged behaviour.
+    start = 0
+    if abs(elevations[0]) < 0.5:
+        for i, e in enumerate(elevations):
+            if abs(e) > threshold:
+                start = i
+                break
+
     gain = loss = 0.0
-    committed = elevations[0]
+    committed = elevations[start]
-    for e in elevations[1:]:
+    for e in elevations[start + 1:]:
         diff = e - committed
         if abs(diff) >= threshold:
             if diff > 0:

bincio/serve/server.py

@@ -1900,6 +1900,58 @@ async def recalculate_elevation_hysteresis_endpoint(
         raise HTTPException(422, str(e))
 
 
+@app.post("/api/admin/users/{handle}/recompute-elevation")
+async def admin_recompute_elevation(
+    handle: str,
+    bincio_session: Optional[str] = Cookie(default=None),
+) -> JSONResponse:
+    """Recompute elevation gain/loss for all activities of a user from stored timeseries.
+
+    Skips activities with altitude_source == 'dem' (already DEM-corrected).
+    Applies the leading-zero no-fix fix and source-aware hysteresis.
+    Returns patched/skipped/error counts.
+    """
+    _require_admin(bincio_session)
+    user_dir = _get_data_dir() / handle
+    if not user_dir.is_dir():
+        raise HTTPException(404, f"No data directory for '{handle}'")
+
+    from bincio.extract.dem import recalculate_elevation_hysteresis
+    from bincio.render.merge import merge_one
+
+    patched = skipped = errors = 0
+    acts_dir = user_dir / "activities"
+    for json_path in sorted(acts_dir.glob("*.json")):
+        if json_path.name.endswith(".timeseries.json"):
+            continue
+        activity_id = json_path.stem
+        try:
+            detail = json.loads(json_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            if detail.get("altitude_source") == "dem":
+                skipped += 1
+                continue
+            ts_path = acts_dir / f"{activity_id}.timeseries.json"
+            if not ts_path.exists():
+                skipped += 1
+                continue
+            ts = json.loads(ts_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
+            ele_arr = ts.get("elevation_m") or []
+            if not any(e for e in ele_arr if e is not None):
+                skipped += 1
+                continue
+            recalculate_elevation_hysteresis(user_dir, activity_id)
+            merge_one(user_dir, activity_id)
+            patched += 1
+        except Exception as exc:
+            log.warning("recompute-elevation[%s/%s]: %s", handle, activity_id, exc)
+            errors += 1
+
+    if patched > 0:
+        _trigger_rebuild(handle)
+
+    return JSONResponse({"ok": True, "patched": patched, "skipped": skipped, "errors": errors})
+
+
 @app.delete("/api/activity/{activity_id}", response_model=GenericResponse)
 async def delete_activity(
     activity_id: str,

site/src/pages/admin/index.astro

@@ -174,6 +174,11 @@ import Base from '../../layouts/Base.astro';
                 data-handle="${u.handle}"
                 title="Re-run merge_all and trigger a site rebuild"
               >Rebuild</button>
+              <button
+                class="recompute-elev-btn text-xs px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg bg-zinc-800 hover:bg-zinc-700 text-zinc-400 hover:text-zinc-200 transition-colors"
+                data-handle="${u.handle}"
+                title="Recompute elevation gain/loss from stored timeseries (fixes leading-zero no-fix artefacts)"
+              >Recompute elev.</button>
               <button
                 class="pwreset-btn text-xs px-3 py-1.5 rounded-lg bg-zinc-800 hover:bg-zinc-700 text-zinc-400 hover:text-zinc-200 transition-colors"
                 data-handle="${u.handle}"
@@ -336,6 +341,32 @@ import Base from '../../layouts/Base.astro';
       });
     });
 
+    tbodyEl.querySelectorAll<HTMLButtonElement>('.recompute-elev-btn').forEach(btn => {
+      btn.addEventListener('click', async () => {
+        const h = btn.dataset.handle!;
+        btn.disabled = true;
+        btn.textContent = 'Running…';
+        try {
+          const r = await fetch(`/api/admin/users/${h}/recompute-elevation`, {
+            method: 'POST', credentials: 'include',
+          });
+          const d = await r.json();
+          if (r.ok) {
+            btn.textContent = `Done (${d.patched} patched)`;
+            btn.classList.add('text-green-400');
+          } else {
+            btn.textContent = 'Error: ' + (d.detail ?? r.status);
+            btn.classList.add('text-red-400');
+            btn.disabled = false;
+          }
+        } catch {
+          btn.textContent = 'Error';
+          btn.classList.add('text-red-400');
+          btn.disabled = false;
+        }
+      });
+    });
+
     tbodyEl.querySelectorAll<HTMLButtonElement>('.pwreset-btn').forEach(btn => {
       btn.addEventListener('click', async () => {
         const h = btn.dataset.handle!;