Refresh links and impacted graph

Use refresh_links after a pipeline’s Initial Build Map has completed successfully. It refreshes the SAP tables cache, Production history data (PHD), object links, and impacted graph without rebuilding the initial SeaLights build.

Typical patterns:

• Schedule it once a week.
• Run it proactively before a test cycle.

refresh_links is not a substitute for the first buildmap run. It does not run generate_common or generate_buildmap.

Schedule a refresh

slabapcli refresh_links

Registers (or updates) a Windows Scheduled Task named REFRESH_LINKS_<pipeline> that runs watcher.exe REFRESH_LINKS <pipeline> on a cron schedule. Both --pipeline and --cron are required; there is no default cron expression.

Command Prompt

Syntax

slabapcli.exe refresh_links --pipeline <pipeline> --cron <cron>

PowerShell

Syntax

.\slabapcli.exe refresh_links --pipeline <pipeline> --cron <cron>

Parameter	Short flag	Required	Description
--pipeline	-p	Yes	The configured pipeline effective name (as shown in pipeline list).
--cron	—	Yes	A 5-field cron expression (minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week). No default.

The cron expression uses 5 fields in standard Unix cron format. There is no product default. Example values:

• 0 2 * * 0 — every Sunday at 02:00 (recommended weekly example)
• 0 3 * * 1-5 — Monday through Friday at 03:00
• 0 1 * * * — every day at 01:00

Weekly example (Sunday 02:00)

The following expression is a recommended example, not a product default:

Command Prompt

Command

slabapcli.exe refresh_links --pipeline "MyPipeline" --cron "0 2 * * 0"

PowerShell

Command

.\slabapcli.exe refresh_links --pipeline 'MyPipeline' --cron '0 2 * * 0'

Expected output (PowerShell)

.\slabapcli.exe refresh_links --pipeline 'MyPipeline' --cron '0 2 * * 0'
[2026-08-02 11:00:00.123+02:00] [info] Config pathname: C:\ProgramData\Tricentis\SeaLights\ABAP Agent\config\config.toml
Refresh links task scheduled for pipeline: 'MyPipeline'.

Arrange the maintenance window so Build Modifications monitoring is stopped before you import transports and remains stopped until the refresh finishes. After a successful refresh, start Build Modifications so the imported transports are processed. If monitoring is enabled again, stop it before the next refresh window; otherwise the shared build-mode lock can cause watcher exit code 11.

When registration succeeds, the CLI prints:

Refresh links task scheduled for pipeline: '<name>'.

You may also see these warnings:

• settings.install is set but that directory does not contain watcher.exe — set settings.install to the agent bin directory (the folder that contains watcher.exe and slabapcli.exe), or the scheduled task will fail when it runs.
• The ABAP Agent server is not reachable — the scheduled task cannot run until the server starts.

What the task refreshes

When REFRESH_LINKS runs, the watcher executes these four stages in order:

Order	Stage	Result
1	generate_cache	Refreshes the SAP tables cache.
2	sync_phd	Synchronizes Production history data.
3	generate_links	Rebuilds object links from cache and PHD data.
4	generate_graph	Rebuilds the impacted graph.

generate_common and generate_buildmap are not part of this flow, so refresh_links does not replace or recreate the Initial Build Map.

Recommended transport and test-cycle workflow

Do not leave Build Modifications monitoring (BUILD_MODS) running continuously across transport-import and links-refresh windows. Prefer this sequence:

1. Ensure Build Modifications monitoring is not running — slabapcli buildmods stop --pipeline <name>.
2. Import all transports and wait for the imports to complete.
3. Schedule or update the refresh with slabapcli refresh_links --pipeline <name> --cron "<expression>".
4. Wait for the refresh to finish (see Manage the scheduled task), then start Build Modifications — slabapcli buildmods run --pipeline <name>.

Proactive run before a test cycle

Because the CLI schedules rather than directly executes the pipeline:

1. Stop Build Modifications monitoring with slabapcli buildmods stop --pipeline <name>.
2. Import all transports and wait for the imports to complete.
3. Register or update the refresh schedule with slabapcli refresh_links --pipeline <name> --cron "<expression>".
4. In Windows Task Scheduler, locate REFRESH_LINKS_<pipeline> and select Run to trigger the registered task immediately.
5. Wait until the task is no longer running. Confirm a successful Last Run Result and check RefreshLinks_YYYY-MM-DD.log when needed.
6. Start Build Modifications monitoring with slabapcli buildmods run --pipeline <name>.

Mutual exclusion: For a given pipeline, REFRESH_LINKS, INIT_BUILD_MAP, and BUILD_MODS cannot overlap. If they conflict, the watcher exits with code 11. See Watcher Exit Codes and Troubleshooting. Do not start Build Modifications until the refresh has finished.

Manage the scheduled task

• Task name: REFRESH_LINKS_<pipeline>
• Re-run slabapcli refresh_links with a new --cron value to update the existing task’s schedule.
• Use Task Scheduler Run for the proactive (immediate) pattern above.
• This command has no CLI stop or status — use Task Scheduler Disable or Delete on REFRESH_LINKS_<pipeline> when you need to pause or remove the schedule.
• Always wait for the task to finish before starting BUILD_MODS.

Logging

Log	Location
Per-stage server task detail (start here)	public\logs\{taskType}\{yyyy-MM-dd}\{processId}\ for generate_cache, sync_phd, generate_links, and generate_graph ({processId}.log and agent.log)
Pipeline watcher summary (secondary)	public\Logs\{pipeline}\RefreshLinks_YYYY-MM-DD.log (spdlog daily rotation)

For path layout and log-level settings, see Configuration settings — Log locations. For where to look first on a failing server task, see Troubleshooting — Server task logs.