Progress Report - November 19, 2025

Project: ISO Tracker

✅ Completed

Sprint 7 Complete: NASA Horizons API Integration & Orbital Visualization - Fully integrated real-time NASA JPL Horizons API for ephemeris data, built interactive 2D orbital visualization with time controls, and created comprehensive data tables showing all three interstellar objects (1I/'Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov, 3I/ATLAS)
10/10 Automated Tests Passing - Built complete Playwright test suite covering visualization rendering, tab navigation, data display, and accessibility, with all tests passing after comprehensive bug fixing
NASA API Verification Complete - Verified all three interstellar objects return real ephemeris data from NASA JPL Horizons system using simple designations ('1I', '2I', '3I')
Manual Testing & UX Validation - Conducted thorough end-user testing across all features, confirmed core functionality working perfectly, and identified 4 minor UX polish items for future enhancement
Sprint 8 Mission Initiated - Started next major feature: location-based observation planning tool with visibility windows, sky maps, and geographic availability
File Persistence Bug Recovery - Successfully recovered from critical file persistence bug during Sprint 8 Phase 8.1 using documented protocol (5-minute recovery vs hours of rework)

🐛 Issues & Learnings

Issue #1: NASA API Parameter Quoting Failure (CRITICAL)

Root Cause: NASA JPL Horizons API rejects multi-value parameters without proper quoting. JavaScript's URLSearchParams strips quotes, causing "Too many constants" errors for parameters like QUANTITIES=1,20
Fix: Completely rewrote API parameter handling to use manual query string construction, preserving required quotes (QUANTITIES='1,20'). Simplified data request to essential fields only.
Prevention: Never use URLSearchParams for APIs requiring quoted parameters. Document API-specific parameter requirements. Test with curl before implementing in code.
Time Impact: ~1.5 hours including research, curl testing, and implementation

Issue #2: Database Column Name Mismatches (3 instances)

Root Cause: Code referenced incorrect database column names (nasa_jpl_id instead of nasa_id, 'ephemeris_cache' instead of 'iso_horizons_cache'), and object name had apostrophe in DB but not in code mapping
Fix: Updated all references to match actual database schema using grep to find all instances
Prevention: Use database schema as single source of truth. Validate column names against schema before implementation. Consider TypeScript types generated from schema.
Time Impact: ~20 minutes to identify and fix all instances

Issue #3: File Persistence Bug - Sprint 8 Phase 8.1

Root Cause: Task tool delegation creates files in agent execution context that don't persist to host filesystem after agent completion (known bug documented in CLAUDE.md)
Fix: Applied documented recovery protocol - extracted file contents from agent response, used coordinator Write tool directly, verified each file with ls -lh commands
Prevention: Always verify file existence with independent filesystem commands after Task delegation. Use coordinator Write tool for critical files instead of delegating. Document verification timestamps.
Time Impact: ~5 minutes (rapid recovery thanks to existing protocol vs ~6-8 hours without it)

Issue #4: Playwright Test Selector Issues

Root Cause: Tests used incorrect selectors ([role="tab"] for buttons without explicit tab role, looking for ephemeris table on wrong tab)
Fix: Updated selectors to use getByRole('button', { name: 'Overview' }) and added tab navigation before table assertions
Prevention: Use Playwright's recommended selector strategy (role + accessible name). Test selectors in isolation before full test implementation.
Time Impact: ~15 minutes

Impact Summary

Sprint 7 shipped successfully with NASA's real-time orbital data powering interactive visualizations. All 10 automated tests passing provides confidence in core functionality. The manual testing revealed core features work perfectly while identifying non-blocking UX improvements for future iterations. Sprint 8 has begun to transform ISO Tracker from passive viewer to active observation planning tool.

Next Steps

Complete Sprint 8 Phase 8.1: Location services and coordinate transformation system
Build visibility window calculation engine (Phase 8.2)
Create interactive sky map for observation planning (Phase 8.3)
Continue applying file persistence verification protocol

Generated from progress.md on November 19, 2025 at 23:45

ISO Tracker - Interstellar Tracking Application Progress