[tor-dev] Counting HS descriptor uploads

Hi,

The Briar team is working on a new app that uses Tor hidden services, and we're trying to work out when the server publishing a hidden service should consider the service to be reachable by clients.

We've tried counting HS descriptor uploads via control port events, but we found that when republishing a hidden service that has been published before, the number of descriptor uploads seems to vary.

When republishing a hidden service, is it guaranteed that at least one copy of the descriptor will be uploaded? Or are there circumstances where Tor might decide that enough copies were previously uploaded, and still contain up-to-date information about introduction points etc, so no new copies need to be uploaded?

Thanks, Michael