Python (ml/serving):
- Validate tip item after JSON parse: non-empty content, valid kind
- Retry on schema failure with a targeted clarification prompt, same 2× retry budget
- JSON parse failures keep the existing retry suffix
TypeScript (recommender):
- Add TipSource 'fallback' to shared-types
- FALLBACK_TIPS: 12 general-purpose life tips (hardcoded, no DB read)
- fetchOrchestratorTip returns {ok} discriminated union instead of null
- On !res.ok or fetch error: serve a random fallback tip with rationale 'AI service issues'
- Update tests: 204 path removed; both failure cases now expect source='fallback'
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>