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Merged
ralyodio merged 1 commit into from
Aug 30, 2026
Merged

Stop losing a post's images when the image provider blinks #223

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100 changes: 88 additions & 12 deletions lib/lx/articleGen.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -914,6 +914,65 @@ export async function uploadImage(
return data.publicUrl;
}

// An inline image that fails to generate used to have its marker deleted,
// which threw away the only record of where the image belonged and what it
// was meant to show — the post published a paragraph short of its plan and
// nothing could put it back. Leave a self-describing marker instead: it is
// an HTML comment, so it renders as nothing for the reader, and the repair
// sweep can regenerate exactly that image later. See repairImages.ts.
const PENDING_INLINE_RE = /<!--\s*INLINE_IMAGE_PENDING\s+([^>]*?)-->/g;

// `--` cannot appear inside an HTML comment, and a quote would end the
// attribute early. Neither survives a round trip, so drop both.
function markerAttr(value: string): string {
return value.replace(/--+/g, " ").replace(/["<>]/g, "").trim();
}

export function pendingInlineMarker(spec: {
// 1-based position of this image in the article, which is also what names
// its object in storage. Carried on the marker so a repair that fills in
// only image 2 cannot overwrite image 1.
index: number;
kind?: string | null;
alt?: string | null;
prompt: string;
}): string {
const kind = markerAttr(spec.kind ?? "concept");
const alt = markerAttr(spec.alt ?? "");
const prompt = markerAttr(spec.prompt);
return `<!-- INLINE_IMAGE_PENDING n="${spec.index}" kind="${kind}" alt="${alt}" prompt="${prompt}" -->`;
}

export type PendingInlineImage = {
raw: string;
index: number;
kind: string;
alt: string;
prompt: string;
};

export function parsePendingInlineMarkers(markdown: string): PendingInlineImage[] {
const out: PendingInlineImage[] = [];
for (const m of markdown.matchAll(PENDING_INLINE_RE)) {
const attrs = m[1] ?? "";
const read = (name: string) =>
new RegExp(`${name}="([^"]*)"`).exec(attrs)?.[1] ?? "";
const prompt = read("prompt");
// A marker with no prompt can't be regenerated — skip it rather than
// sending the image model an empty brief.
if (!prompt) continue;
const index = Number.parseInt(read("n"), 10);
out.push({
raw: m[0],
index: Number.isFinite(index) && index > 0 ? index : out.length + 1,
kind: read("kind") || "concept",
alt: read("alt"),
prompt,
});
}
return out;
}

export function validateInternalLinks(
markdown: string,
expected: string[],
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1342,6 +1401,11 @@ export async function generateArticle(
// Featured image + inline section images, generated in parallel so the
// 30–60s image latency stacks once instead of 4×.
let imageUrl: string | null = null;
// Every image call is best-effort so a provider blip can't cost us the
// article. That silence is the trap: for a week in August every post
// published image-less and nothing recorded why. Collect the reasons and
// store them on the row.
const imageFailures: string[] = [];
const inlineImageUrls: Array<string | null> = new Array(
article.inline_image_prompts.length,
).fill(null);
Expand All @@ -1360,11 +1424,11 @@ export async function generateArticle(
});
if (bytes)
imageUrl = await uploadImage(supabase, typedSite.id, finalSlug, bytes);
if (!imageUrl) imageFailures.push("hero: no image returned");
} catch (err) {
console.warn(
"[lx] hero image generation failed, continuing without",
err instanceof Error ? err.message : err,
);
const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
imageFailures.push(`hero: ${msg}`);
console.warn("[lx] hero image generation failed, continuing without", msg);
}
})(),
...article.inline_image_prompts.map(async (p, i) => {
Expand All @@ -1383,25 +1447,33 @@ export async function generateArticle(
bytes,
);
}
if (!inlineImageUrls[i]) {
imageFailures.push(`inline ${i + 1}: no image returned`);
}
} catch (err) {
console.warn(
`[lx] inline image ${i + 1} failed, continuing without`,
err instanceof Error ? err.message : err,
);
const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
imageFailures.push(`inline ${i + 1}: ${msg}`);
console.warn(`[lx] inline image ${i + 1} failed, continuing without`, msg);
}
}),
]);

// Substitute the inline-image markers in markdown. A missing/failed
// image strips the marker rather than leaving a visible comment.
// Substitute the inline-image markers in markdown. A missing/failed image
// leaves a PENDING marker — invisible to the reader, but enough for the
// repair sweep to generate that one image later instead of losing it.
let bodyWithImages = article.markdown_body;
for (let i = 0; i < article.inline_image_prompts.length; i++) {
const marker = new RegExp(`<!--\\s*INLINE_IMAGE_${i + 1}\\s*-->`, "g");
const url = inlineImageUrls[i];
const alt = article.inline_image_prompts[i]?.alt ?? "";
const spec = article.inline_image_prompts[i];
const alt = spec?.alt ?? "";
bodyWithImages = bodyWithImages.replace(
marker,
url ? `![${alt.replace(/[\[\]]/g, "")}](${url})` : "",
url
? `![${alt.replace(/[\[\]]/g, "")}](${url})`
: spec
? pendingInlineMarker({ index: i + 1, kind: spec.kind, alt, prompt: spec.prompt })
: "",
);
}

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1464,6 +1536,10 @@ export async function generateArticle(
// a blog whose scores are creeping up is drifting before it fails.
slop_score: gate?.score ?? null,
slop_issues: gate ? gate.issues : [],
generation_error:
imageFailures.length > 0
? `images: ${imageFailures.join("; ")}`.slice(0, 2000)
: null,
status: "ready",
})
.select("id")
Expand Down
39 changes: 27 additions & 12 deletions lib/lx/guestPostGen.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import {
generateImage,
generateInlineImage,
normalizeArticleOutput,
pendingInlineMarker,
refundCredit,
ensureTableOfContentsLinks,
slugify,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -210,8 +211,10 @@ export async function generateGuestPost(
const baseSlug = article.slug || slugify(article.title);
const finalSlug = await uniqueSlug(supabase, target.id, baseSlug);

// Hero + inline images.
// Hero + inline images. Best-effort, so record why each one is missing
// rather than publishing image-less in silence — see articleGen.
let imageUrl: string | null = null;
const imageFailures: string[] = [];
const inlineImageUrls: Array<string | null> = new Array(
article.inline_image_prompts.length,
).fill(null);
Expand All @@ -228,11 +231,11 @@ export async function generateGuestPost(
brand: target.domain ?? null,
});
if (bytes) imageUrl = await uploadImage(supabase, target.id, finalSlug, bytes);
if (!imageUrl) imageFailures.push("hero: no image returned");
} catch (err) {
console.warn(
"[lx] guest hero image failed, continuing without",
err instanceof Error ? err.message : err,
);
const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
imageFailures.push(`hero: ${msg}`);
console.warn("[lx] guest hero image failed, continuing without", msg);
}
})(),
...article.inline_image_prompts.map(async (p, i) => {
Expand All @@ -251,24 +254,32 @@ export async function generateGuestPost(
bytes,
);
}
if (!inlineImageUrls[i]) {
imageFailures.push(`inline ${i + 1}: no image returned`);
}
} catch (err) {
console.warn(
`[lx] guest inline image ${i + 1} failed, continuing without`,
err instanceof Error ? err.message : err,
);
const msg = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
imageFailures.push(`inline ${i + 1}: ${msg}`);
console.warn(`[lx] guest inline image ${i + 1} failed, continuing without`, msg);
}
}),
]);

// Substitute the inline image markers + strip any pandoc heading IDs.
// Substitute the inline image markers + strip any pandoc heading IDs. A
// failed image leaves a PENDING marker for the repair sweep to fill in.
let bodyWithImages = article.markdown_body;
for (let i = 0; i < article.inline_image_prompts.length; i++) {
const marker = new RegExp(`<!--\\s*INLINE_IMAGE_${i + 1}\\s*-->`, "g");
const url = inlineImageUrls[i];
const alt = article.inline_image_prompts[i]?.alt ?? "";
const spec = article.inline_image_prompts[i];
const alt = spec?.alt ?? "";
bodyWithImages = bodyWithImages.replace(
marker,
url ? `![${alt.replace(/[\[\]]/g, "")}](${url})` : "",
url
? `![${alt.replace(/[\[\]]/g, "")}](${url})`
: spec
? pendingInlineMarker({ index: i + 1, kind: spec.kind, alt, prompt: spec.prompt })
: "",
);
}
bodyWithImages = bodyWithImages.replace(
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -316,6 +327,10 @@ export async function generateGuestPost(
tags: article.tags,
internal_links: internalLinksPayload,
outbound_links: outboundLinksPayload,
generation_error:
imageFailures.length > 0
? `images: ${imageFailures.join("; ")}`.slice(0, 2000)
: null,
status: "ready",
})
.select("id")
Expand Down
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