GitHub user Komalpawar22 edited a discussion: Clearing tasks from old DAG runs resets start_date instead of preserving original
# DAG run `start_date` is overwritten when clearing old tasks ## Apache Airflow version 2.10.4 --- ## What happened When clearing a task from an *old DAG run*, the DAG run’s `start_date` gets updated to the current timestamp. This makes the old run appear as if it just started “today,” even though it originally ran days or weeks ago. --- ## What you expected to happen - The DAG run’s `start_date` should remain fixed to its original value (when the run was first created). - Only the `end_date` or task-level timestamps should update when clearing/retrying tasks. - `start_date` should act as an immutable record of when the DAG run first started. --- ## How to reproduce 1. Trigger a manual DAG run (e.g. `manual__2025-07-25T00:00:00+00:00`). 2. Note the run’s `start_date`. 3. Wait (days/weeks). 4. Clear one of the tasks in that old run. 5. Observe that the DAG run’s `start_date` is now updated to the current time. --- ## Anything else - This behaviour feels confusing and counterintuitive. - From a user perspective, `start_date` looks like a historical field and shouldn’t change after the fact. - Is this behaviour **intended**? - If not, are there any fixes or changes in newer versions of Airflow? --- ### Attachments This DAG is scheduled daily. <img width="1870" height="249" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/81a357c6-8794-4637-8dd9-dd72452e1a99"; /> GitHub link: https://github.com/apache/airflow/discussions/55206 ---- This is an automatically sent email for [email protected]. To unsubscribe, please send an email to: [email protected]
