fix

apps/api/internal/processing/steps.go

@@ -19,6 +19,18 @@ import (
 type StepPolicy struct {
 	AllowAI    bool
 	AllowEPREL bool
+	// MinCategorizeConfidence overrides DefaultMinCategorizeConfidence. A categorize
+	// reply below it is treated as "no category found" and fails the product rather
+	// than letting a wrong guess drive the formula. 0 uses the default.
+	MinCategorizeConfidence float64
+}
+
+// CategorizeConfidence returns the effective low-confidence floor for this policy.
+func (p StepPolicy) CategorizeConfidence() float64 {
+	if p.MinCategorizeConfidence > 0 {
+		return p.MinCategorizeConfidence
+	}
+	return DefaultMinCategorizeConfidence
 }
 
 // RunSteps executes the multi-step product pipeline.
@@ -213,7 +225,11 @@ func (e *Engine) RunSteps(ctx context.Context, companyID string, in ProductInput
 
 		case StepCategorize:
 			// Vector (if enabled) then LLM taxonomy pick when category still empty.
-			runCategorizeStep(ctx, e, companyID, &out, in, categoryNames, policy)
+			// A category the model could not determine fails the product here, before
+			// enhance spends a call writing copy for the wrong category.
+			if err := runCategorizeStep(ctx, e, companyID, &out, in, categoryNames, policy); err != nil {
+				return out, err
+			}
 
 		case StepAIEnhance:
 			preservePriorEnhanceHash := func() {
@@ -533,7 +549,9 @@ func (e *Engine) RunSteps(ctx context.Context, companyID string, in ProductInput
 	// Pipelines without StepCategorize (normalize_only) still run vector + LLM
 	// categorize when category is empty so downstream steps are not fed a blank.
 	if !stepsContain(steps, StepCategorize) {
-		runCategorizeStep(ctx, e, companyID, &out, in, categoryNames, policy)
+		if err := runCategorizeStep(ctx, e, companyID, &out, in, categoryNames, policy); err != nil {
+			return out, err
+		}
 	}
 	// Record why category stayed empty for every pipeline, including the ones that
 	// now categorize inside the loop (enhance / title / description).