Verify (job-applier)

Runtime observation only. Don't run pytest/vitest/svelte-check here — that's CI.

Isolate first (mandatory)

data/jobs.db is the user's real job data. Never run a dev server against it. config.py derives db + resumes + applications from one env var:

export JOB_APPLIER_DATA_DIR="<scratch>/data"   # relocates DB, resumes, drafts together
uv run job-applier init                        # creates tables, seeds ~1300 slugs

Afterwards confirm ls -la data/jobs.db mtime is unchanged.

Launch

# backend (pick a non-default port so a running instance isn't clobbered)
JOB_APPLIER_DATA_DIR=<scratch>/data \
  uv run uvicorn job_applier.api.app:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8010

# frontend (must be told where the backend is)
cd web && JOB_APPLIER_API_BASE=http://127.0.0.1:8010 \
  npm run dev -- --port 5175 --strictPort

Seeding fixtures

• Job postings: no create endpoint — insert JobPosting rows directly. engine in models/db.py is a function, so Session(engine()), not Session(engine). Set filter_status=FilterStatus.passed or the job is invisible to the queue/scoring.
• Resume + scores: use the real API, it exercises more of the app — POST /api/resume (multipart) and POST /api/jobs/{id}/score.
• Real PDFs to reuse for upload tests live in data/resumes/*.pdf (read-only copy them out).

Driving the UI (Playwright)

playwright is already a dependency; uv run python your_script.py works.

Three gotchas, all of which cost time:

1. Vite binds localhost, not 127.0.0.1. curl 127.0.0.1:5175 returns nothing; use http://localhost:5175.
2. wait_until="networkidle" never settles — the layout holds an SSE connection open for background-task progress. Use domcontentloaded + wait_for_selector.
3. Wait ~2s after load before set_input_files. The resume upload auto-submits from an onchange handler that isn't bound until SvelteKit hydrates; setting files too early silently does nothing (no request, no banner). Verify a POST actually fired via page.on("request", ...) before concluding the app misbehaved.

Surfaces worth driving

Change touches	Drive
scoring / staleness	/resume upload → prompt; /dashboard Score pending
queue + statuses	/ master-detail, form actions
drafts / PDFs	/jobs/[id] draft cart (needs an AI provider)
pure API	curl the endpoint, then still drive the page that calls it

Anything AI-backed (scoring, drafting, suggest-roles) needs a configured provider and spends the user's real subscription quota. Without one the app returns a clean 409 (no AI provider selected). Verify the error path and say plainly that the success path went unexercised — don't burn quota to complete a happy path.