fix: exclude Google Books from bot price/buy offers

Catalog and discovery platforms (google_books, goodreads, open_library) stay in admin scans but are never shown as Buy rows in visitor chat.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

.agent/PRICE_INTELLIGENCE_RULES.md

@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ No new endpoints.
 2. Verified listing with URL only → `See site` + that URL
 3. No verified listings → warm text + existing `get_book_links` Buy button
 
+**Never show as Buy / price rows in chat:** `google_books`, `goodreads`, `open_library`
+(`BOT_CHAT_EXCLUDED_PLATFORMS`). Google Books remains an internal enricher only.
+
 ## 7. Tests
 
 - [x] Unit — PriceCatalogService parse/rank/classify/build

app/services/platform_catalog.py

@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@ _DISCOVERY_PLATFORMS = frozenset({"goodreads", "open_library"})
 _USED_PRINT_PLATFORMS = frozenset({"thriftbooks", "abebooks"})
 _DIGITAL_PLATFORMS = frozenset({"apple_books", "kobo"})
 
+# Catalog / preview only — never shown as Buy targets in visitor chat.
+BOT_CHAT_EXCLUDED_PLATFORMS = frozenset({
+    "google_books",  # API enricher only (not a URL-import / retail buy CTA)
+    "goodreads",
+    "open_library",
+})
+
 
 def canonical_format_prices(
     raw: dict | None,

app/services/price_catalog_service.py

@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
 from app.repositories.platform_listing_repo import PlatformListingRepository
 from app.services.book_url_scraper import PLATFORM_DISPLAY
-from app.services.platform_catalog import canonical_format_prices, primary_list_price
+from app.services.platform_catalog import (
+    BOT_CHAT_EXCLUDED_PLATFORMS,
+    canonical_format_prices,
+    primary_list_price,
+)
 
 _PRICE_RE = re.compile(r"\$?\s*([0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]{1,2})?)")
 
@@ -197,10 +201,12 @@ class PriceCatalogService:
         for row in rows:
             if getattr(row, "status", None) != "verified":
                 continue
+            pid = row.platform_id
+            if pid in BOT_CHAT_EXCLUDED_PLATFORMS:
+                continue
             url = (getattr(row, "listing_url", None) or "").strip()
             if not url.startswith(("http://", "https://")):
                 continue
-            pid = row.platform_id
             fps = canonical_format_prices(
                 row.format_prices if isinstance(getattr(row, "format_prices", None), dict) else {},
                 pid,
@@ -369,14 +375,38 @@ class PriceCatalogService:
         book_title: str,
         platform_ids: tuple[str, ...],
     ) -> dict[str, Any]:
+        # Visitor named a catalog-only site (e.g. Google Books) — redirect to retailers.
+        named_excluded = [p for p in platform_ids if p in BOT_CHAT_EXCLUDED_PLATFORMS]
+        retail_ids = [p for p in platform_ids if p not in BOT_CHAT_EXCLUDED_PLATFORMS]
         target = None
-        for pid in platform_ids:
+        for pid in retail_ids:
             for o in offers:
                 if o.platform_id == pid:
                     target = o
                     break
             if target:
                 break
+        if target is None and named_excluded and offers:
+            excl_name = PLATFORM_DISPLAY.get(
+                named_excluded[0], named_excluded[0].replace("_", " ").title(),
+            )
+            target = next((o for o in offers if o.is_source), offers[0])
+            text = (
+                f"I don't use {excl_name} as a buy link for {book_title} — "
+                f"here's {target.platform} instead"
+                + (f" at {target.price_display}." if target.price_cents is not None else ".")
+            )
+            return {
+                "text": text[:380],
+                "links": [{
+                    "label": f"Buy on {target.platform}",
+                    "url": target.url,
+                    "type": "platform_purchase",
+                    "icon": "🛒",
+                }],
+                "has_links": True,
+                "platform_offers": [offer_to_platform_item(target, is_best=True)],
+            }
         if target is None:
             target = next((o for o in offers if o.is_source), offers[0])
         if target.price_cents is None:

tests/unit/test_price_catalog_service.py

@@ -140,6 +140,56 @@ async def test_catalog_for_book_skips_non_verified():
     assert offers[0].price_cents == 1499
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_catalog_for_book_excludes_google_books():
+    svc = PriceCatalogService(MagicMock())
+    svc._listings = MagicMock()
+    svc._listings.list_for_book = AsyncMock(return_value=[
+        SimpleNamespace(
+            status="verified",
+            listing_url="https://books.google.com/books?id=X",
+            platform_id="google_books",
+            format_prices={"eBook": "$0.00"},
+            list_price="$0.00",
+            book_format="eBook",
+            is_source=False,
+        ),
+        SimpleNamespace(
+            status="verified",
+            listing_url="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1",
+            platform_id="goodreads",
+            format_prices={},
+            list_price=None,
+            book_format=None,
+            is_source=False,
+        ),
+        SimpleNamespace(
+            status="verified",
+            listing_url="https://amazon.com/dp/B0X",
+            platform_id="amazon",
+            format_prices={"eBook": "$14.99"},
+            list_price="$14.99",
+            book_format="eBook",
+            is_source=True,
+        ),
+    ])
+    offers = await svc.catalog_for_book("a1", "b1")
+    assert [o.platform_id for o in offers] == ["amazon"]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_google_books_link_ask_redirects_to_retail():
+    svc = PriceCatalogService.__new__(PriceCatalogService)
+    offers = [
+        Offer("amazon", "Amazon", "$14.99", 1499, "https://a.com", True),
+    ]
+    result = svc._build_platform_link_answer(offers, "Lethal Lines", ("google_books",))
+    assert "Google Books" in result["text"]
+    assert "Amazon" in result["text"]
+    assert result["links"][0]["url"] == "https://a.com"
+    assert result["platform_offers"][0]["platform_id"] == "amazon"
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_handle_how_much_uses_source():
     svc = PriceCatalogService(MagicMock())