Curated Article Fallback Strategy

Archived record

This page describes the Firebase-era platform or a migration step that has completed. It is kept as history and is not a current runbook. The current platform is described from the home page.

Overview

Cost optimization strategy for curated article image generation that prioritizes scraping existing images over expensive AI generation.

Implementation (May 24, 2026 - F10)

Strategy Hierarchy

1. Try og:image scraping first (preferred)
2. Scrape article URL for og:image or twitter:image metadata
3. Re-host scraped image in Firebase Storage

4. Cost: minimal (axios + cheerio)

5. Use default fallback cover (when scraping fails)

6. Static branded cover image hosted in Firebase Storage
7. URL: https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/hybridcloudworks-61e8d.appspot.com/o/covers%2F1779664455640-rss-azure-azuremicrosoftcomupdatesid562359.png?alt=media

8. Cost: $0 (no generation)

9. AI generation disabled (deprecated)

10. Previously generated unique images via Replicate API
11. Cost: $0.05-0.10 per image
12. Removed to reduce operational costs

Code Location

Function: generateCuratedArticleImage in functions/cms-functions.js

// Default fallback cover image for articles without og:image
const DEFAULT_FALLBACK_COVER_URL =
  'https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/hybridcloudworks-61e8d.appspot.com/o/covers%2F1779664455640-rss-azure-azuremicrosoftcomupdatesid562359.png?alt=media';

// Try to scrape og:image → If fails → Use default fallback

Cost Savings

Before (AI Generation for All)

• Curated articles without og:image: ~50/month
• Cost per AI image: $0.08
• Monthly cost: $4.00

After (Fallback Strategy)

• Curated articles without og:image: ~50/month
• Cost per fallback: $0.00
• Monthly cost: $0.00

Annual savings: ~$48

Quality Trade-offs

✅ Advantages

• Instant fallback (no generation delay)
• Consistent branded appearance
• Zero AI generation cost
• No Replicate API calls
• Reduced function execution time
• Simpler error handling

⚠️ Trade-offs

• Less visual variety for articles without og:image
• Same fallback image used across providers
• No article-specific visual context

Cache Behavior

Firestore cache still operates normally:

• Cache key: articleId
• Cache collection: curated_article_images
• Cached value: scraped image URL OR fallback URL
• TTL: indefinite (manual invalidation only)

Future Enhancements

If AI generation cost becomes acceptable or quality requirements change:

1. Re-enable generateCuratedAiImage() function (currently preserved but unused)
2. Add configuration flag to toggle between fallback and AI generation
3. Consider selective AI generation (e.g., only for high-priority providers)

Related Files

• functions/cms-functions.js — Implementation
• src/hooks/useGenerateCuratedImages.js — Frontend consumer
• documentation/Firebase-GCP-Cost-Inventory.md — Cost analysis
• documentation/AI-Integration-Inventory.md — AI feature registry

Migration Notes

• No database migration required
• Existing cached images remain valid
• New requests without og:image use fallback immediately
• Function signature unchanged (backward compatible)

Testing

Manual Test

curl -X POST https://generatecuratedarticleimage-p6ktmuw2wq-uc.a.run.app \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "articleTitle": "Test Article Without Image",
    "articleSummary": "Test summary",
    "basePrompt": "Test prompt",
    "provider": "Azure",
    "articleId": "test-fallback-001",
    "articleUrl": "https://example.com/no-og-image"
  }'

Expected response:

{
  "success": true,
  "imageUrl": "https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/hybridcloudworks-61e8d.appspot.com/o/covers%2F1779664455640-rss-azure-azuremicrosoftcomupdatesid562359.png?alt=media"
}

Deployment

# Deploy only the updated function
firebase deploy --only functions:generateCuratedArticleImage --project hybridcloudworks-61e8d

Monitoring

Key metrics to track:

• Fallback usage rate (no og:image articles)
• Scrape success rate
• Cache hit rate
• Cost reduction validation

Check logs:

firebase functions:log --only generateCuratedArticleImage

Look for:

• [generateCuratedArticleImage] Scraping og:image for {id}
• [generateCuratedArticleImage] No og:image found for {id}, using default fallback cover
• [generateCuratedArticleImage] Cache hit for {id}