# 2026-08-22 — video producer: NO OUTPUT (2 runs, 8 products, 0 videos)

Nothing was produced and nothing was posted. Second consecutive dry day (2026-08-21 also
produced zero). Video autopost remains PAUSED by `_AUTOPOST-PAUSE.txt` (Gregory, 2026-06-30,
approval-gated) — that switch was honored and NOT overridden.

## Run 1 — daily seed
| Product | Campaign | Failure |
|---|---|---|
| Weekend Asymmetrical Plaid Skirt \| Plaid | outfit_inspiration | reviewer API 503/timeout — gate UNRESOLVED, 2/4 confirmed |
| Fresh Take Multi-Pocket Crossbody Bag | new_arrivals | 0/4 photos in real environments |
| Everyday Contrast T-Shirt Wide Leg Pants Set | best_sellers | 2/4 photos in real environments |
| Fresh Take Floral T-Shirt \| Light Blue | lifestyle | 0/4 photos in real environments |

## Run 2 — `--seed 8221` (different draw; daily seed is date-derived, so a plain re-run repeats)
| Product | Campaign | Failure |
|---|---|---|
| Cozy Striped Popcorn Knit Top | outfit_inspiration | reviewer API 503/timeout — reached lookbook mode, killed by infra not photo defect |
| Fresh Take Knit Cargo Shorts \| Fuchsia | seasonal_collections | 0/4 photos in real environments |
| Brunch Ruffle Wrap Slip Dress \| Sugar Coral | outfit_inspiration | 3 distinct real photos, need 4 |
| Tortoiseshell Sunglasses \| Light Gray | new_arrivals | 0/4 photos in real environments |

## Two independent causes

**1. External — Gemini reviewer API degraded (transient).** `vb_qa._gemini` calls
`gemini-2.5-flash`; it already retries 5x with backoff and still exhausted them. Live probe
during this run: **2 ok / 2 timeout on plain text calls (~50% failure)**. `_panel` runs
PANEL=3 reviewers concurrently and needs all to resolve, so a 50% per-call failure rate makes
the usability gate very unlikely to clear. This blocked 2 of 8 products and is NOT a photo
defect — the script labels it correctly. Expect this to clear on its own.

**2. Structural — the known bottleneck.** 6 of 8 products failed the 4-real-photo gate
(`vb_video_producer.py:190`) because the catalogue is studio shots and `VB_RELOCATE=0`
(deliberately off since 2026-07-25) means the pipeline cannot synthesize real scenes. This is
the documented studio-catalogue-vs-real-photo-gate bottleneck, not a regression.

## Not done autonomously (Gregory's calls)
- Did NOT flip `VB_RELOCATE=1` — relocation was turned off on purpose; re-enabling changes the
  real-motion/real-background standard set on 2026-06-30.
- Did NOT remove `_AUTOPOST-PAUSE.txt`.
- Did NOT touch products, photos, or prices.

## Worth deciding
The scheduled task is written as "FULL-AUTO posting (flipped back on 2026-06-28)", but the
2026-06-30 pause file supersedes it and is still in force. Those two should be reconciled so
the task description matches reality.

Sourcing is the real constraint: until more SKUs carry 4 distinct real-environment photos, dry
days will keep recurring on unlucky draws regardless of API health.