fix: AVIF sidecar crash, edit-metadata silent no-op, passport batch blank images, color-palette hex overflow, OCR log noise

- Convert all AI bridge inputs to PNG before writing to disk so PIL can
  read AVIF/WebP/TIFF (7 bridge files; face-detection and OCR already
  had this pattern)
- Add title/author aliases to edit-metadata schema so common field names
  actually write EXIF tags instead of being silently stripped by Zod
- Port extend/pad crop logic from passport-photo single endpoint to the
  batch pipeline so crop regions extending beyond the image get filled
  with background color instead of producing all-white output
- Clamp quantized color channels to 255 in color-palette to prevent
  Math.round(255/16)*16=256 from producing invalid hex like #100100100
- Compare OCR fallback warning against expected engine name per tier
  instead of comparing engine name against tier name (always mismatch)

apps/api/src/lib/exiftool.ts

@@ -137,6 +137,8 @@ export async function writeMetadata(
 
 /** Settings shape that buildTagArgs accepts */
 export interface EditMetadataSettings {
+  title?: string;
+  author?: string;
   artist?: string;
   copyright?: string;
   imageDescription?: string;
@@ -165,11 +167,16 @@ export interface EditMetadataSettings {
 export function buildTagArgs(settings: EditMetadataSettings): string[] {
   const args: string[] = [];
 
+  // Common aliases
+  const artist = settings.artist || settings.author;
+  const description = settings.imageDescription || settings.title;
+
   // Basic EXIF fields
-  if (settings.artist) args.push(`-Artist=${settings.artist}`);
+  if (artist) args.push(`-Artist=${artist}`);
   if (settings.copyright) args.push(`-Copyright=${settings.copyright}`);
-  if (settings.imageDescription) args.push(`-ImageDescription=${settings.imageDescription}`);
+  if (description) args.push(`-ImageDescription=${description}`);
   if (settings.software) args.push(`-Software=${settings.software}`);
+  if (settings.title) args.push(`-XMP:Title=${settings.title}`);
 
   // Date fields
   if (settings.dateTime) args.push(`-ModifyDate=${settings.dateTime}`);

apps/api/src/routes/tools/color-palette.ts

@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ function extractColors(pixels: Buffer, channelCount: number, maxColors: number):
 
   for (let i = 0; i < pixels.length; i += channelCount) {
     // Quantize to reduce noise (round to nearest 16)
-    const r = Math.round(pixels[i] / 16) * 16;
-    const g = Math.round(pixels[i + 1] / 16) * 16;
-    const b = Math.round(pixels[i + 2] / 16) * 16;
+    const r = Math.min(Math.round(pixels[i] / 16) * 16, 255);
+    const g = Math.min(Math.round(pixels[i + 1] / 16) * 16, 255);
+    const b = Math.min(Math.round(pixels[i + 2] / 16) * 16, 255);
     const key = `${r},${g},${b}`;
     colorMap.set(key, (colorMap.get(key) ?? 0) + 1);
   }

apps/api/src/routes/tools/edit-metadata.ts

@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import { createWorkspace } from "../../lib/workspace.js";
 import { registerToolProcessFn } from "../tool-factory.js";
 
 const settingsSchema = z.object({
+  title: z.string().optional(),
+  author: z.string().optional(),
   artist: z.string().optional(),
   copyright: z.string().optional(),
   imageDescription: z.string().optional(),

apps/api/src/routes/tools/ocr.ts

@@ -150,10 +150,12 @@ export function registerOcr(app: FastifyInstance) {
             });
           }
 
-          if (result.engine && result.engine !== tier) {
+          const expectedEngine =
+            tier === "fast" ? "tesseract" : tier === "balanced" ? "paddleocr" : "paddleocr-vl";
+          if (result.engine && result.engine !== expectedEngine) {
             request.log.warn(
-              { toolId: "ocr", requested: tier, actual: result.engine },
-              `OCR engine fallback: requested ${tier} but used ${result.engine}`,
+              { toolId: "ocr", requested: tier, expected: expectedEngine, actual: result.engine },
+              `OCR engine fallback: requested ${tier} (${expectedEngine}) but used ${result.engine}`,
             );
           }
 

apps/api/src/routes/tools/passport-photo.ts

@@ -560,11 +560,18 @@ export function registerPassportPhoto(app: FastifyInstance) {
       const docSpec = countrySpec.documents.find((d) => d.type === s.documentType);
       if (!docSpec) throw new Error(`No ${s.documentType} spec for ${s.countryCode}`);
 
-      // Convert normalized landmarks (0-1) to pixel coordinates
-      const crownYPx = (landmarks.crown.y + s.adjustY) * imgH;
-      const chinYPx = (landmarks.chin.y + s.adjustY) * imgH;
-      const eyeYPx = (landmarks.eyeCenter.y + s.adjustY) * imgH;
-      const faceCenterXPx = (landmarks.faceCenterX + s.adjustX) * imgW;
+      // Use actual bg-removed image dimensions (may differ from original)
+      const bgRemovedMeta = await sharp(bgRemovedBuffer).metadata();
+      const actualW = bgRemovedMeta.width ?? imgW;
+      const actualH = bgRemovedMeta.height ?? imgH;
+      const scaleX = actualW / imgW;
+      const scaleY = actualH / imgH;
+
+      // Convert normalized landmarks (0-1) to pixel coordinates in bg-removed space
+      const crownYPx = (landmarks.crown.y + s.adjustY) * imgH * scaleY;
+      const chinYPx = (landmarks.chin.y + s.adjustY) * imgH * scaleY;
+      const eyeYPx = (landmarks.eyeCenter.y + s.adjustY) * imgH * scaleY;
+      const faceCenterXPx = (landmarks.faceCenterX + s.adjustX) * imgW * scaleX;
 
       const targetHeadRatio = (docSpec.headHeightMin + docSpec.headHeightMax) / 2;
       const headHeightPx = chinYPx - crownYPx;
@@ -575,40 +582,58 @@ export function registerPassportPhoto(app: FastifyInstance) {
       const topY = eyeYPx - photoHeightPx * (1 - docSpec.eyeLineFromBottom);
       const leftX = faceCenterXPx - photoWidthPx / 2;
 
-      const cropW = Math.min(Math.round(photoWidthPx), imgW);
-      const cropH = Math.min(Math.round(photoHeightPx), imgH);
-      let cropLeft = Math.max(0, Math.round(leftX));
-      let cropTop = Math.max(0, Math.round(topY));
-      if (cropLeft + cropW > imgW) cropLeft = imgW - cropW;
-      if (cropTop + cropH > imgH) cropTop = imgH - cropH;
-      cropLeft = Math.max(0, cropLeft);
-      cropTop = Math.max(0, cropTop);
-
       // Composite onto background
       const hex = s.bgColor.replace("#", "");
       const bgR = Number.parseInt(hex.slice(0, 2), 16);
       const bgG = Number.parseInt(hex.slice(2, 4), 16);
       const bgB = Number.parseInt(hex.slice(4, 6), 16);
+      const bgRgb = { r: bgR, g: bgG, b: bgB, alpha: 1 };
 
-      const bgRemovedMeta = await sharp(bgRemovedBuffer).metadata();
       const bgLayer = await sharp({
         create: {
-          width: bgRemovedMeta.width ?? imgW,
-          height: bgRemovedMeta.height ?? imgH,
+          width: actualW,
+          height: actualH,
           channels: 4,
-          background: { r: bgR, g: bgG, b: bgB, alpha: 1 },
+          background: bgRgb,
         },
       })
         .composite([{ input: bgRemovedBuffer, blend: "over" }])
         .png()
         .toBuffer();
 
+      // Pad instead of clamp so the crop region can extend beyond the image
+      const rawLeft = Math.round(leftX);
+      const rawTop = Math.round(topY);
+      const rawW = Math.round(photoWidthPx);
+      const rawH = Math.round(photoHeightPx);
+
+      const padLeft = Math.max(0, -rawLeft);
+      const padTop = Math.max(0, -rawTop);
+      const padRight = Math.max(0, rawLeft + rawW - actualW);
+      const padBottom = Math.max(0, rawTop + rawH - actualH);
+
+      let sourceForCrop = bgLayer;
+      if (padLeft > 0 || padTop > 0 || padRight > 0 || padBottom > 0) {
+        sourceForCrop = await sharp(bgLayer)
+          .extend({
+            top: padTop,
+            bottom: padBottom,
+            left: padLeft,
+            right: padRight,
+            background: bgRgb,
+          })
+          .toBuffer();
+      }
+
+      const cropLeft = rawLeft + padLeft;
+      const cropTop = rawTop + padTop;
+
       const MM_PER_INCH = 25.4;
       const targetWidthPx = Math.round((docSpec.width / MM_PER_INCH) * docSpec.dpi);
       const targetHeightPx = Math.round((docSpec.height / MM_PER_INCH) * docSpec.dpi);
 
-      const result = await sharp(bgLayer)
-        .extract({ left: cropLeft, top: cropTop, width: cropW, height: cropH })
+      const result = await sharp(sourceForCrop)
+        .extract({ left: cropLeft, top: cropTop, width: rawW, height: rawH })
         .resize(targetWidthPx, targetHeightPx, { fit: "fill" })
         .jpeg({ quality: 95 })
         .toBuffer();

packages/ai/src/background-removal.ts

@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ export async function removeBackground(
   const inputPath = join(tmpdir(), `rembg_in_${id}.png`);
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, `rembg_out_${id}.png`);
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
+  const pngBuffer = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngBuffer);
   try {
     const meta = await sharp(inputBuffer).metadata();
     const megapixels = ((meta.width ?? 0) * (meta.height ?? 0)) / 1_000_000;

packages/ai/src/colorization.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { type ProgressCallback, parseStdoutJson, runPythonWithProgress } from "./bridge.js";
 
 export interface ColorizeOptions {
@@ -23,7 +24,8 @@ export async function colorize(
   const inputPath = join(outputDir, "input_colorize.png");
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, "output_colorize.png");
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
+  const pngBuffer = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngBuffer);
   const { stdout } = await runPythonWithProgress(
     "colorize.py",
     [inputPath, outputPath, JSON.stringify(options)],

packages/ai/src/face-enhancement.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { type ProgressCallback, parseStdoutJson, runPythonWithProgress } from "./bridge.js";
 
 export interface EnhanceFacesOptions {
@@ -25,7 +26,8 @@ export async function enhanceFaces(
   const inputPath = join(outputDir, "input_enhance_faces.png");
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, "output_enhance_faces.png");
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
+  const pngBuffer = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngBuffer);
   const { stdout } = await runPythonWithProgress(
     "enhance_faces.py",
     [inputPath, outputPath, JSON.stringify(options)],

packages/ai/src/inpainting.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { type ProgressCallback, parseStdoutJson, runPythonWithProgress } from "./bridge.js";
 
 export async function inpaint(
@@ -12,8 +13,10 @@ export async function inpaint(
   const maskPath = join(outputDir, "mask_inpaint.png");
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, "output_inpaint.png");
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
-  await writeFile(maskPath, maskBuffer);
+  const pngInput = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  const pngMask = await sharp(maskBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngInput);
+  await writeFile(maskPath, pngMask);
 
   const { stdout } = await runPythonWithProgress("inpaint.py", [inputPath, maskPath, outputPath], {
     onProgress,

packages/ai/src/noise-removal.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { type ProgressCallback, parseStdoutJson, runPythonWithProgress } from "./bridge.js";
 
 export interface NoiseRemovalOptions {
@@ -28,7 +29,8 @@ export async function noiseRemoval(
   const inputPath = join(outputDir, "input_denoise.png");
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, "output_denoise.png");
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
+  const pngBuffer = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngBuffer);
   const { stdout } = await runPythonWithProgress(
     "noise_removal.py",
     [inputPath, outputPath, JSON.stringify(options)],

packages/ai/src/restoration.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { type ProgressCallback, parseStdoutJson, runPythonWithProgress } from "./bridge.js";
 
 export interface RestorePhotoOptions {
@@ -32,7 +33,8 @@ export async function restorePhoto(
   const inputPath = join(outputDir, "input_restore.png");
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, "output_restore.png");
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
+  const pngBuffer = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngBuffer);
   const { stdout } = await runPythonWithProgress(
     "restore.py",
     [inputPath, outputPath, JSON.stringify(options)],

packages/ai/src/upscaling.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
+import sharp from "sharp";
 import { type ProgressCallback, parseStdoutJson, runPythonWithProgress } from "./bridge.js";
 
 export interface UpscaleOptions {
@@ -28,7 +29,8 @@ export async function upscale(
   const inputPath = join(outputDir, "input_upscale.png");
   const outputPath = join(outputDir, "output_upscale.png");
 
-  await writeFile(inputPath, inputBuffer);
+  const pngBuffer = await sharp(inputBuffer).png().toBuffer();
+  await writeFile(inputPath, pngBuffer);
   const { stdout } = await runPythonWithProgress(
     "upscale.py",
     [inputPath, outputPath, JSON.stringify(options)],