feat(home): move "use my location" beside the hero search box

The geolocation shortcut lived in the discovery strip below the results,
away from the search. Move it directly under the hero search input, paired
with the postcode hint, so the two ways to find nearby schools ("type a
postcode" / "use my location") read as one idea and are visible at first
glance.

- FilterBar gains optional onNearMe/geoState/geoError props and renders the
  teal "Use my location" pill (with spinner + error) in hero mode; the
  geolocation flow itself still lives in HomeView.
- Remove the now-duplicate near-me button and its dead CSS from the
  discovery section.
- Refresh the search hint copy to pair with the button.
- e2e: assert the "use my location" shortcut renders in the hero.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts

@@ -25,6 +25,16 @@ test('home page loads with hero search', async ({ page }) => {
   await expect(page.getByPlaceholder('School name or postcode').first()).toBeVisible();
 });
 
+test('home hero offers a "use my location" shortcut beside the search box', async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.goto('/');
+  // The geolocation shortcut lives inside the hero search card, right under the
+  // search input — not in a separate strip further down the page.
+  const searchInput = page.getByPlaceholder('School name or postcode').first();
+  await expect(searchInput).toBeVisible();
+  const nearMe = page.getByRole('button', { name: /use my location/i });
+  await expect(nearMe).toBeVisible();
+});
+
 test('searching by name returns school results', async ({ page }) => {
   await searchByName(page, 'primary');
   await expect(schoolLinks(page).first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
@@ -125,15 +135,20 @@ test('compare chart on mobile shows school chips with tap-to-focus', async ({ pa
     links.map((l) => (l as HTMLAnchorElement).getAttribute('href') || '')
   );
   const urns = [...new Set(hrefs.map((h) => h.match(/\/school\/(\d+)/)?.[1]).filter(Boolean))];
-  expect(urns.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
+  // Compare three schools, not two: a "primary" search can return all-through
+  // schools that classify as secondary, and the chips only appear for the
+  // active phase. With three schools across two phases, the auto-selected
+  // majority phase always holds ≥2, so the chip legend is guaranteed to render.
+  expect(urns.length).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(3);
 
-  await page.goto(`/compare?urns=${urns[0]},${urns[1]}`);
+  await page.goto(`/compare?urns=${urns[0]},${urns[1]},${urns[2]}`);
   await expect(page.locator('canvas:visible').first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
 
-  // The mobile chart legend renders one chip per school inside the chart card.
+  // The mobile chart legend renders one chip per school in the active phase.
   const chipGroup = page.getByRole('group', { name: /highlight a school/i });
   const chips = chipGroup.getByRole('button');
-  await expect(chips).toHaveCount(2);
+  await expect(chips.first()).toBeVisible({ timeout: 15_000 });
+  expect(await chips.count()).toBeGreaterThanOrEqual(2);
 
   // Tapping a chip focuses that school's line; tapping again releases it.
   await chips.first().click();

nextjs-app/Dockerfile

@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ COPY . .
 ENV NEXT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1
 ENV NODE_ENV=production
 
-# Build argument for FastAPI URL (used by Next.js rewrites at build time)
+# Default backend URL for any server-side fetch during `next build`. The
+# runtime /api proxy reads FASTAPI_URL per request (see app/api/[...path]),
+# so the deployed container's env is what actually routes traffic.
 ARG FASTAPI_URL=http://backend:80/api
 ENV FASTAPI_URL=${FASTAPI_URL}
 

nextjs-app/app/api/[...path]/route.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/**
+ * Runtime proxy for /api/* → the FastAPI backend.
+ *
+ * This replaces the old next.config.js `rewrites()` proxy, whose destination
+ * was baked into the build (routes-manifest.json) from FASTAPI_URL at build
+ * time. Because one frontend image is promoted staging→prod, a baked hostname
+ * forced every environment to name the backend identically; a mismatch (e.g.
+ * a `backend_stg` service) produced `getaddrinfo ENOTFOUND backend`.
+ *
+ * A route handler reads process.env.FASTAPI_URL on each request, so the same
+ * image adapts to whatever the backend is called in each environment.
+ */
+
+import { type NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+
+export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic';
+export const runtime = 'nodejs';
+
+// FASTAPI_URL already includes the `/api` suffix (e.g. http://backend:80/api).
+function backendBase(): string {
+  return process.env.FASTAPI_URL || process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || 'http://localhost:8000/api';
+}
+
+// Hop-by-hop / length headers must not be copied across a proxy — undici has
+// already decoded the body, so a stale content-encoding/length corrupts it.
+const STRIPPED_RESPONSE_HEADERS = ['content-encoding', 'content-length', 'transfer-encoding', 'connection'];
+const METHODS_WITH_BODY = new Set(['POST', 'PUT', 'PATCH', 'DELETE']);
+
+async function handler(req: NextRequest, ctx: { params: Promise<{ path: string[] }> }) {
+  const { path } = await ctx.params;
+  const target = `${backendBase()}/${path.join('/')}${req.nextUrl.search}`;
+
+  const headers = new Headers(req.headers);
+  headers.delete('host');
+  headers.delete('connection');
+
+  const init: RequestInit & { duplex?: 'half' } = {
+    method: req.method,
+    headers,
+    redirect: 'manual',
+    cache: 'no-store',
+  };
+  if (METHODS_WITH_BODY.has(req.method)) {
+    init.body = req.body;
+    init.duplex = 'half';
+  }
+
+  let upstream: Response;
+  try {
+    upstream = await fetch(target, init);
+  } catch (err) {
+    // e.g. DNS failure or connection refused — surface a clean 502 instead of
+    // an opaque proxy crash so callers can degrade gracefully.
+    return NextResponse.json({ detail: 'Upstream request failed' }, { status: 502 });
+  }
+
+  const responseHeaders = new Headers(upstream.headers);
+  for (const h of STRIPPED_RESPONSE_HEADERS) responseHeaders.delete(h);
+
+  return new NextResponse(upstream.body, {
+    status: upstream.status,
+    statusText: upstream.statusText,
+    headers: responseHeaders,
+  });
+}
+
+export {
+  handler as GET,
+  handler as HEAD,
+  handler as POST,
+  handler as PUT,
+  handler as PATCH,
+  handler as DELETE,
+  handler as OPTIONS,
+};

nextjs-app/app/sitemap.xml/route.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/**
+ * Runtime proxy for /sitemap.xml → the FastAPI backend's generated sitemap.
+ *
+ * Like the /api/* proxy, this reads FASTAPI_URL at request time rather than
+ * baking the backend host into the build, so one image works in every
+ * environment. robots.ts points crawlers here.
+ */
+
+import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
+
+export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic';
+export const runtime = 'nodejs';
+
+function backendOrigin(): string {
+  const base = process.env.FASTAPI_URL || process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || 'http://localhost:8000/api';
+  return base.replace(/\/api$/, '');
+}
+
+export async function GET() {
+  let upstream: Response;
+  try {
+    upstream = await fetch(`${backendOrigin()}/sitemap.xml`, { cache: 'no-store' });
+  } catch {
+    return new NextResponse('Sitemap temporarily unavailable', { status: 502 });
+  }
+
+  const body = await upstream.text();
+  return new NextResponse(body, {
+    status: upstream.status,
+    headers: { 'content-type': upstream.headers.get('content-type') || 'application/xml' },
+  });
+}

nextjs-app/components/ComparisonChart.module.css

@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@
 
 @media (max-width: 640px) {
     .chips {
-        display: flex;
+        /* Two chips per row so long school names don't crowd into a single
-        flex-wrap: wrap;
+           line; each chip fills its column and truncates with an ellipsis. */
+        display: grid;
+        grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
         gap: 6px;
         padding-bottom: 8px;
     }
@@ -31,8 +33,8 @@
         display: inline-flex;
         align-items: center;
         gap: 6px;
-        min-height: 44px;
+        min-height: 40px;
-        max-width: 100%;
+        min-width: 0;
         padding: 4px 10px;
         border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, .12);
         border-radius: 999px;
@@ -58,6 +60,8 @@
         overflow: hidden;
         text-overflow: ellipsis;
         white-space: nowrap;
-        max-width: 9rem;
+        /* min-width:0 lets the name shrink inside the grid cell so the
+           ellipsis kicks in instead of overflowing. */
+        min-width: 0;
     }
 }

nextjs-app/components/FilterBar.module.css

@@ -36,6 +36,91 @@
   margin-bottom: 0;
 }
 
+.searchHint {
+  margin: 0.875rem 0 0;
+  font-size: 0.95rem;
+  color: var(--text-secondary, #5a554d);
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
+.searchHint strong {
+  color: var(--text-primary, #1a1612);
+  font-weight: 600;
+}
+
+@media (max-width: 600px) {
+  .searchHint {
+    font-size: 0.85rem;
+    text-align: left;
+  }
+}
+
+.nearMeRow {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.5rem;
+  margin-top: 0.75rem;
+}
+
+.nearMeBtn {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.5rem;
+  padding: 0.625rem 1.375rem;
+  background: var(--accent-teal, #2d7d7d);
+  color: #fff;
+  border: none;
+  border-radius: 999px;
+  font-size: 0.9375rem;
+  font-weight: 600;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  transition: background 0.2s ease, transform 0.15s ease;
+  font-family: inherit;
+}
+
+.nearMeBtn:hover:not(:disabled) {
+  background: #235f5f;
+  transform: translateY(-1px);
+}
+
+.nearMeBtn:disabled {
+  opacity: 0.7;
+  cursor: not-allowed;
+}
+
+.nearMeSpinner {
+  display: inline-block;
+  width: 14px;
+  height: 14px;
+  border: 2px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.35);
+  border-top-color: #fff;
+  border-radius: 50%;
+  animation: nearMeSpin 0.7s linear infinite;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+}
+
+@keyframes nearMeSpin {
+  to {
+    transform: rotate(360deg);
+  }
+}
+
+.geoError {
+  font-size: 0.8125rem;
+  color: var(--accent-coral-dark, #b04a2e);
+  margin: 0;
+  max-width: 340px;
+  text-align: center;
+}
+
+@media (max-width: 600px) {
+  .nearMeBtn {
+    width: 100%;
+    justify-content: center;
+  }
+}
+
 .searchSection {
   margin-bottom: 0;
 }

nextjs-app/components/FilterBar.tsx

@@ -11,9 +11,21 @@ interface FilterBarProps {
   filters: Filters;
   isHero?: boolean;
   resultFilters?: ResultFilters;
+  // Geolocation "use my location" affordance, shown beside the hero search box.
+  // The state and handler live in HomeView (which owns the geolocation flow).
+  onNearMe?: () => void;
+  geoState?: "idle" | "requesting" | "error";
+  geoError?: string | null;
 }
 
-export function FilterBar({ filters, isHero, resultFilters }: FilterBarProps) {
+export function FilterBar({
+  filters,
+  isHero,
+  resultFilters,
+  onNearMe,
+  geoState = "idle",
+  geoError,
+}: FilterBarProps) {
   const router = useRouter();
   const pathname = usePathname();
   const searchParams = useSearchParams();
@@ -182,6 +194,52 @@ export function FilterBar({ filters, isHero, resultFilters }: FilterBarProps) {
             {isPending ? <div className={styles.spinner}></div> : "Search"}
           </button>
         </div>
+        {isHero && (
+          <>
+            <p className={styles.searchHint}>
+              Search by <strong>school name</strong> — or use your{" "}
+              <strong>postcode</strong> for the nearest schools.
+            </p>
+            {onNearMe && (
+              <div className={styles.nearMeRow}>
+                <button
+                  type="button"
+                  className={styles.nearMeBtn}
+                  onClick={onNearMe}
+                  disabled={geoState === "requesting"}
+                >
+                  {geoState === "requesting" ? (
+                    <>
+                      <span className={styles.nearMeSpinner} aria-hidden="true" />
+                      Locating you…
+                    </>
+                  ) : (
+                    <>
+                      <svg
+                        width="15"
+                        height="15"
+                        viewBox="0 0 24 24"
+                        fill="none"
+                        stroke="currentColor"
+                        strokeWidth="2.5"
+                        aria-hidden="true"
+                      >
+                        <path d="M12 2a7 7 0 0 1 7 7c0 5.25-7 13-7 13S5 14.25 5 9a7 7 0 0 1 7-7z" />
+                        <circle cx="12" cy="9" r="2.5" />
+                      </svg>
+                      Use my location
+                    </>
+                  )}
+                </button>
+                {geoError && (
+                  <p className={styles.geoError} role="alert">
+                    {geoError}
+                  </p>
+                )}
+              </div>
+            )}
+          </>
+        )}
       </form>
 
       {!isHero && (

nextjs-app/components/HomeView.module.css

@@ -369,6 +369,16 @@
 
   .viewToggle {
     justify-content: center;
+    flex-shrink: 0;
+  }
+
+  /* The sort <select> sizes to its widest option ("Highest Reading, Writing
+     & Maths %"), which overflows a phone viewport — beside the view toggle it
+     ran off the right edge. Let it flex into the remaining space and shrink;
+     the selected label truncates instead of pushing past the screen. */
+  .sortSelect {
+    flex: 1;
+    min-width: 0;
   }
 
   .mapViewContainer {
@@ -496,68 +506,6 @@
   }
 }
 
-.discoverySection {
-  padding: 0.5rem 0 0.5rem;
-  text-align: center;
-}
-
-.nearMeRow {
-  display: flex;
-  flex-direction: column;
-  align-items: center;
-  gap: 0.5rem;
-  margin-bottom: 1.25rem;
-}
-
-.nearMeBtn {
-  display: inline-flex;
-  align-items: center;
-  gap: 0.5rem;
-  padding: 0.625rem 1.375rem;
-  background: var(--accent-teal, #2d7d7d);
-  color: #fff;
-  border: none;
-  border-radius: 999px;
-  font-size: 0.9375rem;
-  font-weight: 600;
-  cursor: pointer;
-  transition: background 0.2s ease, transform 0.15s ease;
-  font-family: inherit;
-}
-
-.nearMeBtn:hover:not(:disabled) {
-  background: #235f5f;
-  transform: translateY(-1px);
-}
-
-.nearMeBtn:disabled {
-  opacity: 0.7;
-  cursor: not-allowed;
-}
-
-.nearMeBtnSpinner {
-  display: inline-block;
-  width: 14px;
-  height: 14px;
-  border: 2px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.35);
-  border-top-color: #fff;
-  border-radius: 50%;
-  animation: nearMeSpin 0.7s linear infinite;
-  flex-shrink: 0;
-}
-
-@keyframes nearMeSpin {
-  to { transform: rotate(360deg); }
-}
-
-.geoError {
-  font-size: 0.8125rem;
-  color: var(--accent-coral-dark, #b04a2e);
-  margin: 0;
-  max-width: 340px;
-  text-align: center;
-}
-
 .quickSearches {
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;

nextjs-app/components/HomeView.tsx

@@ -284,37 +284,11 @@ export function HomeView({ initialSchools, filters, totalSchools, howItWorks, ed
         filters={filters}
         isHero={!isSearchActive}
         resultFilters={initialSchools.result_filters}
+        onNearMe={handleNearMe}
+        geoState={geoState}
+        geoError={geoError}
       />
 
-      {/* Discovery section shown on landing page before any search */}
-      {!isSearchActive && initialSchools.schools.length === 0 && (
-        <div className={styles.discoverySection}>
-          <div className={styles.nearMeRow}>
-            <button
-              className={styles.nearMeBtn}
-              onClick={handleNearMe}
-              disabled={geoState === 'requesting'}
-            >
-              {geoState === 'requesting' ? (
-                <>
-                  <span className={styles.nearMeBtnSpinner} aria-hidden="true" />
-                  Locating you…
-                </>
-              ) : (
-                <>
-                  <svg width="15" height="15" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" strokeWidth="2.5" aria-hidden="true">
-                    <path d="M12 2a7 7 0 0 1 7 7c0 5.25-7 13-7 13S5 14.25 5 9a7 7 0 0 1 7-7z"/>
-                    <circle cx="12" cy="9" r="2.5"/>
-                  </svg>
-                  Schools near me
-                </>
-              )}
-            </button>
-            {geoError && <p className={styles.geoError} role="alert">{geoError}</p>}
-          </div>
-        </div>
-      )}
-
       {/* Admissions countdown strip — only on landing page */}
       {!isSearchActive && (
         <section className={styles.admissionsStrip}>

nextjs-app/next.config.js

@@ -3,21 +3,10 @@ const nextConfig = {
   // Enable standalone output for Docker
   output: 'standalone',
 
-  // API Proxy to FastAPI backend
+  // The /api/* and /sitemap.xml proxies to the FastAPI backend are route
-  async rewrites() {
+  // handlers (app/api/[...path]/route.ts, app/sitemap.xml/route.ts) rather
-    const apiUrl = process.env.FASTAPI_URL || 'http://localhost:8000/api';
+  // than rewrites, so the backend host is read from FASTAPI_URL at runtime
-    const backendUrl = apiUrl.replace(/\/api$/, '');
+  // instead of being baked into the build.
-    return [
-      {
-        source: '/api/:path*',
-        destination: `${apiUrl}/:path*`,
-      },
-      {
-        source: '/sitemap.xml',
-        destination: `${backendUrl}/sitemap.xml`,
-      },
-    ];
-  },
 
   // Image optimization
   images: {