fix: guarantee 6 top stories with 30-day fallback and regional expansion

src/api/routes/top_stories.py

@@ -232,16 +232,25 @@ async def fetch_live_stories(n: int = 6, adapter: DuckDuckGoAdapter = None) -> L
     if not adapter:
         return []
     
-    try:
-        # Broaden search to ensure we get enough results
-        query = "Ethiopia latest news breaking world"
+        # Focus on Ethiopia news
+        query = "Ethiopia breaking news latest"
         results = await adapter.search(query)
         
+        # If very few results, try a broader regional search
+        if len(results) < 3:
+            logger.info("Live search yielded few results, trying broader regional query")
+            results += await adapter.search("East Africa breaking news today")
+        
         stories = []
-        for r in results[:n]:
+        seen_urls = set()
+        for r in results:
+            url = r.get("url", "#")
+            if url in seen_urls: continue
+            seen_urls.add(url)
+            
             stories.append(TopStory(
                 title=r.get("title", "Untitled"),
-                url=r.get("url", "#"),
+                url=url,
                 source=r.get("source", "Live News"),
                 published_at=r.get("published_at", datetime.utcnow().isoformat()),
                 category="BREAKING",
@@ -250,6 +259,7 @@ async def fetch_live_stories(n: int = 6, adapter: DuckDuckGoAdapter = None) -> L
                 origin="live",
             ))
         
+        logger.info(f"Live top stories: fetched {len(stories)}")
         return stories
     except Exception as e:
         logger.error(f"Live top stories error: {e}")
@@ -307,10 +317,14 @@ async def get_top_stories(
     # ── FALLBACK: If still less than 6, pull from Vector DB (Qdrant) ──────────
     if len(all_stories) < 6:
         needed = 6 - len(all_stories)
-        logger.info(f"Top stories fallback: pulling {needed} from Vector DB")
+        logger.info(f"Top stories fallback: only have {len(all_stories)}, pulling {needed} from Vector DB")
         try:
-            db_res = vector_store.browse(limit=needed * 2, days_back=7)
-            for p in db_res.get("articles", []):
+            # Try 30 days back to be safe
+            db_res = vector_store.browse(limit=needed * 4, days_back=30)
+            db_articles = db_res.get("articles", [])
+            logger.info(f"Vector DB returned {len(db_articles)} potential fallback articles")
+            
+            for p in db_articles:
                 payload = p.payload or {}
                 title = payload.get("title") or payload.get("content", "")[:100]
                 url = payload.get("url") or "#"
@@ -331,6 +345,7 @@ async def get_top_stories(
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error(f"Top stories DB fallback failed: {e}")
 
+    logger.info(f"Final top stories count: {len(all_stories)}")
     now_iso = datetime.utcnow().isoformat()
     final_stories = all_stories[:6]