* Centralize filesystem paths in a single module
Add paths.py, which resolves the repo root once and derives the cache,
accounts DB, logs, templates, frontend and bundled-city-data locations
from it. Replace the 13 per-module `dirname(__file__)/..` anchors with
references to it, so a module's location no longer determines where the
app reads its data. Env overrides (accounts DB, VAPID, IndexNow) are
unchanged; every resolved path is byte-identical to before.
Groundwork for moving modules into packages without re-pointing paths.
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XXxmNFy9cZ6Gh8Y9thZn62
* Split the backend into domain packages
Group the flat backend modules into packages that mirror their concerns:
data/ climate, grading, scoring, grid, places, cities,
city_events, store
web/ app, views, homepage, content, schemas
notifications/ notify, digest, push, mailer, discord,
discord_interactions, discord_link
accounts/ models, users, api_accounts, db
core/ metrics, singleton, audit
Intra-project imports are rewritten to the package-qualified form. The
entry scripts (indexnow, warm_cities, migrate, gen_cities, gen_flavor)
and paths.py stay at the backend/ root, and backend/app.py becomes a
shim re-exporting web.app:app so the launch target stays `app:app` —
run.sh, the systemd units, and CI need no change.
Verified: full suite (318) passes, `uvicorn app:app` boots and serves
the home/SEO/static/API surfaces, and every root script imports clean.
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XXxmNFy9cZ6Gh8Y9thZn62
Add a third tier to gen_cities.py: the top-population cities from the remaining
English-official countries plus countries where >35% speak English (Eurobarometer/
EF), that weren't already chosen. cities.json grows to 1000 (500 global + 250
core-English + 250 extended), pulling in the biggest cities of India, Nigeria,
Pakistan, the Philippines, plus Amsterdam/Stockholm/Nairobi/Tel Aviv, etc.
gen_flavor.py is now incremental (fetches only cities missing a blurb, prunes stale
ones; --full to rebuild); cities_flavor.json refreshed to cover 942/1000.
Add unique editorial content so the programmatic pages don't read as templated:
- gen_flavor.py seeds backend/cities_flavor.json with a short descriptive blurb per
city from Wikipedia's free REST summary API (no key), validating each match by
comparing article coordinates to the city's lat/lon so the wrong 'Springfield'
never attaches. Retries + modest concurrency; ~700/750 cities get a blurb, the
rest render without one. Text is CC BY-SA, attributed with a 'via Wikipedia' link.
- City pages show the blurb under the intro and a travel callout that deep-links to
the compare page with the city pre-loaded (/compare#loc=lat,lon) — the visitor
just adds their own city. Month pages get the same seasonal 'visiting in {month}?'
compare link. Both add unique per-page text and internal links.
- cities.py gains flavor(slug); tests cover the blurb + attribution + compare CTA.
