# Project Lessons

- Weekly bulk meal generation must call `generate_meal_plan`; `fill-empty-slots` is a manual slot-filling utility and does not enforce calorie, recency, blocklist, cost, or diversity rules.
- DB-backed API tests in Compose must point both `DATABASE_URL` and `TEST_DATABASE_URL` at the same disposable database ending in `_test`; pre-migrate it when tests use `SessionLocal` without the shared schema fixture.
- Generated local recipe images must be resolved through the current Home Assistant ingress prefix at render time; a root-relative `/static/...` URL alone escapes the ingress path.
- Remote multiline verification scripts should be base64-encoded before `python -c`; layered shell quoting can turn binary escape assertions into literal backslash text and create false failures.