---
name: scan-visual-catalog-search
classification: feature
success_metric: |
  After catalog embeddings exist and the new kNN path is on, ≥50% of
  legitimate card scans (scan_attempts excluding not_a_card) auto-match
  a printing with no picker — the original add-real-ocr-layer 70%
  target, measured honestly. Gemini L2 share of attempts falls vs the
  Phase 1 post-ship baseline.
skip:
  - ia
  - ui-design
  - visual
  - a11y
  - design
  - flag
status: open
created: 2026-08-14
depends_on:
  - improve-scan-card-detection
umbrella: scanner-identify-upgrade
model_policy:
  default_session: auto
  roles:
    role-conductor: composer-2.5-fast
    role-architect: composer-2.5
    role-ia-architect: composer-2.5-fast
    role-ux-reviewer: composer-2.5-fast
    role-ui-designer: composer-2.5-fast
    role-implementer: composer-2.5-fast
    role-reviewer: cursor-grok-4.5-high
    role-security-auditor: gpt-5.6-terra-medium
    role-design-system-auditor: cursor-grok-4.5-high
    role-a11y-auditor: cursor-grok-4.5-high
    role-doc-writer: auto
  escalate_to: claude-sonnet-5-thinking-medium
  escalate_to_premium: claude-4.6-opus-high-thinking
  never_premium:
    - role-reviewer
    - role-security-auditor
    - role-design-system-auditor
    - role-a11y-auditor
    - role-ui-designer
    - role-doc-writer
---

# Convoy: scan-visual-catalog-search

Phase 3 of `scanner-identify-upgrade`. Identify cards by **what they
look like**, not by reading the name. This is how Manabox / Delver-style
scanners get printing-accurate matches on foil and alt-art.

Blocked on `improve-scan-card-detection`: embeddings of unwarped
phone crops will not match catalog `image_url`s reliably.

## Why

Name-only `pg_trgm` cannot distinguish printings. Tesseract fails on
foil and stylized type even when it emits 8–20 characters (76.7% L1
escalate with non-empty text). Gemini can read a name but still
returns a picker when set/number are missing, and costs 5/min.

The catalog already stores `cards.image_url` for every imported
printing. Precompute an embedding per row; at scan time embed the
warped crop and take top-k cosine. OCR / Gemini become hints and
unknown-card fallback.

## Scope

### In scope

- **Migration:** `pgvector` (confirm Neon availability) +
  `cards.embedding` (or a side table `card_embeddings`) + ANN index.
  Update `docs/SCHEMA_MAP.md`.
- **Offline embed job:** new dated script or `npm run` task that
  reads `image_url`, writes vectors. Idempotent. Rate-limit the
  embedding provider. Do **not** edit historical `scripts/add-*.js`.
- **Architect picks the embedder** (one):
  1. Gateway embedding model (same `AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY`, server-only).
  2. In-browser MobileCLIP-S2 / SigLIP ONNX for the *query* crop, with
     catalog vectors baked or fetched — only if weight license + size
     are acceptable.
- **Identify path:** new Layer-0 (or replace L1) — kNN then
  auto-match / disambiguate / escalate to existing L2. Log
  `scan_attempts.layer = 0` (or Architect-ratified value).
- **Similarity thresholds** analogous to 0.85 / 0.60, tuned on a
  held-out set of scan captures if any exist in Blob.
- Auth + rate-limit on any new route. No client-side API keys
  (`forbidden-client-side-llm-keys` must stay green).

### Out of scope

- Replacing Gemini entirely on day one — keep L2 for catalog misses
  and low similarity.
- Training a custom card CNN.
- Python GPU service.
- Changing scanner chrome / cart.
- Auto-approving the 27 pending `card_submissions`.

## Roles invoked

1. `role-architect` — embedder, schema, layer numbering, thresholds,
   brief split (migration / backfill / route). Security-sensitive:
   escalate to Sonnet if schema + new route land together.
2. `role-implementer`.
3. Audit: `role-reviewer` + `role-security-auditor` (required).

## Todos

- [ ] Architect: confirm `pgvector` on prod Neon tier
- [ ] Brief 1 — migration + SCHEMA_MAP
- [ ] Brief 2 — catalog backfill job (idempotent)
- [ ] Brief 3 — identify kNN route + client escalate order
- [ ] Threshold bake-off on real crops
- [ ] Re-measure auto-match % excluding `not_a_card`

## Likely file ownership

| Area | Files |
| --- | --- |
| Schema | `migrations/*_card-embeddings.js`, `docs/SCHEMA_MAP.md` |
| Backfill | new `scripts/` job (dated) or `lib/card-embed-backfill.js` |
| Query | new `lib/card-visual-match.js`, `pages/api/scan/identify-by-image.js` **or** fold into existing identify |
| Client | `lib/scanner-card-identify.js` (`tryLayer1TextIdentify` sibling) |

Do not rewrite `lib/scanner-card-detection.js` here.

## Multitask dispatch

Brief 1 first. Brief 2 after 1. Brief 3 after 1 (can overlap 2 if the
route degrades to escalate-when-empty-index).

```
/multitask role-reviewer + role-security-auditor
```

Group id: `audit-scan-visual-catalog-search-<pr>`.

## CI impact

| Workflow / job | Behavior |
| --- | --- |
| `schema-map-fresh` | **Fires** — migration + SCHEMA_MAP |
| `ci.yml` migrate | Must apply `pgvector` on CT 102 CI Postgres — Architect must verify the extension is available there or gate the migration |
| `forbidden-client-side-llm-keys` | Blocking |

## Operator action

- Confirm Neon `pgvector` (or Neon’s equivalent) on the prod project.
- Budget: one embedding per catalog image, plus one per live scan if
  the query embed is server-side. Architect publishes a cost note
  before Brief 2 runs against prod images.
- No new browser secrets.

## Conductor notes

This is the accuracy leap. Do not start it to "try CLIP" before Phase 2
crops are rectified — that wastes the backfill. If Architect finds
`pgvector` unavailable on CI Postgres, stop and write a fallback
(external index vs skip-CI-extension plan) rather than shipping an
untestable migration.