fix: avoid embedding work during bootstrap

Co-authored-by: Codex <noreply@openai.com>

app.py

@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ def bootstrap() -> dict:
         "voice": voice_transcriber.status().to_dict(),
         **trace_metadata(index),
         "top_projects": [project.to_public_dict() for project in index.top_projects(limit=8)],
-        "whitespace": [item.to_dict() for item in index.find_whitespace(limit=5)],
+        "whitespace": [item.to_dict() for item in index.starter_directions(limit=5)],
         "goal_options": GOALS,
         "goal_profiles": goal_profiles(),
         "default_goals": GOALS[:3],

hackathon_advisor/data.py

@@ -319,6 +319,18 @@ class ProjectIndex:
         items.sort(key=lambda item: item.score, reverse=True)
         return items[:limit]
 
+    def starter_directions(self, limit: int = 5) -> list[WhitespaceItem]:
+        return [
+            WhitespaceItem(
+                label=seed.label,
+                pitch=seed.pitch,
+                evidence="Press this direction to test it against the current project map.",
+                score=0.0,
+                nearby_projects=(),
+            )
+            for seed in WHITESPACE_SEEDS[:limit]
+        ]
+
     def _embed_query(self, query: str) -> Sequence[float]:
         if self._query_embedder is None:
             from hackathon_advisor.llama_embedding import create_llama_cpp_embedder

static/app.js

@@ -1097,7 +1097,7 @@ function renderCitations(echoes) {
 function renderWhitespace(items) {
   whitespaceEl.innerHTML = "";
   if (!items.length) {
-    whitespaceEl.innerHTML = `<div class="empty">No under-explored directions are loaded yet.</div>`;
+    whitespaceEl.innerHTML = `<div class="empty">No starting directions are loaded yet.</div>`;
     return;
   }
   for (const item of items.slice(0, 4)) {

static/index.html

@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@
             </section>
 
             <section class="section">
-              <div class="eyebrow">Under-explored directions</div>
+              <div class="eyebrow">Directions to test</div>
               <div id="whitespace" class="whitespace-list"></div>
             </section>
           </aside>

tests/test_app.py

@@ -68,7 +68,12 @@ def test_health_exposes_index_metadata() -> None:
     assert len(payload["snapshot_digest"]) == 64
 
 
-def test_bootstrap_exposes_index_metadata() -> None:
+def test_bootstrap_exposes_index_metadata(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    def fail_query_embedder(_: str) -> tuple[float, ...]:
+        raise AssertionError("bootstrap should not load the runtime query embedder")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(index, "_query_embedder", fail_query_embedder)
+
     payload = bootstrap()
 
     assert payload["index_algorithm"] == "llama-cpp-embedding-v1"
@@ -77,6 +82,7 @@ def test_bootstrap_exposes_index_metadata() -> None:
     assert payload["runtime"]["tool_count"] >= 8
     assert payload["voice"]["backend"] == "nemo-asr"
     assert payload["top_projects"]
+    assert payload["whitespace"]
     assert payload["default_goals"] == payload["goal_options"][:3]
     assert [goal["id"] for goal in payload["goal_profiles"]] == payload["goal_options"]
     assert payload["goal_profiles"][0]["label"] == "Local-first"

tests/test_frontend_copy.py

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ def test_main_interface_copy_is_builder_facing() -> None:
     app_js = Path("static/app.js").read_text(encoding="utf-8")
     combined = f"{html}\n{app_js}"
 
-    assert "Under-explored directions" in html
+    assert "Directions to test" in html
     assert "Closest project echoes" in html
     assert "Press Plan to draft build steps for the selected idea." in app_js
     assert "Loading an example idea board." in app_js