Downgrade to Gradio 4.44.0 to fix compatibility bug

Revert to Gradio 4.x which is stable with the Chatbot component.
Use default tuple format for chat history.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ emoji: 🌱
 colorFrom: yellow
 colorTo: pink
 sdk: gradio
-sdk_version: 5.9.1
+sdk_version: 4.44.0
 app_file: app.py
 pinned: false
 ---

app.py

@@ -881,8 +881,7 @@ def create_app():
                     height=500,
                     show_label=True,
                     elem_id="chatbot",
-                    bubble_full_width=False,
-                    type="messages"
+                    bubble_full_width=False
                 )
 
                 # Needs selector (hidden until stage 5)
@@ -1004,10 +1003,7 @@ def create_app():
 
             if stage == 5 and not sel_needs:
                 bot_response = "Please take a moment to select your needs from the list above, then click 'Confirm My Needs' to continue."
-                history = history + [
-                    {"role": "user", "content": message},
-                    {"role": "assistant", "content": bot_response}
-                ]
+                history = history + [[message, bot_response]]
                 return (
                     history, "", stage, session, sel_needs,
                     f"{stage}/13: {STAGE_NAMES[stage]}",
@@ -1024,10 +1020,7 @@ def create_app():
             )
 
             if error:
-                history = history + [
-                    {"role": "user", "content": message},
-                    {"role": "assistant", "content": error}
-                ]
+                history = history + [[message, error]]
                 return (
                     history, "", stage, session, sel_needs,
                     f"{stage}/13: {STAGE_NAMES[stage]}",
@@ -1036,14 +1029,9 @@ def create_app():
                 )
 
             if message != "continue":
-                history = history + [
-                    {"role": "user", "content": message},
-                    {"role": "assistant", "content": response}
-                ]
+                history = history + [[message, response]]
             else:
-                history = history + [
-                    {"role": "assistant", "content": response}
-                ]
+                history = history + [[None, response]]
 
             show_needs = (next_stage == 5)
 
@@ -1089,7 +1077,7 @@ def create_app():
             if not all_selected:
                 return (
                     all_selected,
-                    history + [{"role": "assistant", "content": "Please select at least one need before continuing."}],
+                    history + [[None, "Please select at least one need before continuing."]],
                     stage,
                     session
                 )
@@ -1103,10 +1091,7 @@ def create_app():
                 True
             )
 
-            history = history + [
-                {"role": "user", "content": f"Selected needs: {', '.join(all_selected)}"},
-                {"role": "assistant", "content": response}
-            ]
+            history = history + [[f"Selected needs: {', '.join(all_selected)}", response]]
 
             return all_selected, history, next_stage, updated_session