Topic pages: empty/error/low-signal states (QA checklist)

[AndreRobitaille]

Summary

Define empty/error/low-signal states for Topic pages and the Topics index.

Requirements

• Clear messaging when no agenda items, no documents, or low-quality extraction.
• UI remains usable without AI summaries.

Acceptance criteria

• QA checklist covers Topic-first flows and failure modes.

[AndreRobitaille]

Partial progress: broad topic quality (2026-02-28)

The "low-signal" root cause — overly-broad topics like "zoning" producing vague AI summaries — has been addressed:

• Extraction prompt now forbids category names (Zoning, Infrastructure, Finance, etc.) as topic tags
• TopicBlocklist seeded with all category names as a safety net
• topics:split_broad_topic[name] rake task re-extracts items from broad topics into specific civic concerns or marks them not topic-worthy
• All 8 broad category topics (zoning, finance, infrastructure, public safety, recreation, licensing, personnel, development) have been split and blocked
• Rules added to TOPIC_GOVERNANCE.md (Section 3, rules 6-7) and DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md (Topic Granularity section)

See docs/plans/2026-02-28-broad-topic-prevention-design.md for full design.

Still open on this issue: UI handling of empty states (no briefing, no appearances, failed AI generation) and error states on topic pages.

[AndreRobitaille]

Completed: consistent layout + empty states (2026-03-01)

The remaining UI work is done. Topic show pages now have:

• Fixed 6-section inverted pyramid layout — all sections always render, empty sections show contextual messages
• Section order: Header → What to Watch → Coming Up → The Story → Key Decisions → Record
• Structured JSON rendering — briefing content renders from pass 1 generation_data instead of pass 2 markdown, giving full control over formatting
• Timeline layout for Record section (replaces bullet list)
• What to Watch elevated to its own warm callout card
• Process concerns shown as "Worth noting" callout

Design doc: docs/plans/2026-03-01-topic-show-consistent-layout-design.md

Combined with the broad topic prevention work from Feb 28, this issue is fully resolved.