1 files changed, 42 insertions, 16 deletions

diff --git a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/tmdb.py b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/tmdb.py
index a530660..c9623df 100644
--- a/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/tmdb.py
+++ b/packages/meshbay-node/src/meshbay_node/tmdb.py
@@ -51,24 +51,47 @@ def _normalize(s: str) -> str:
     return re.sub(r"\s+", " ", s).strip()
 
 
-def _best_match(query_title: str, results: list[dict], keys: tuple[str, ...]) -> tuple[dict | None, float]:
+def _release_year_of(item: dict) -> int | None:
+    d = str(item.get("release_date") or item.get("first_air_date") or "")
+    return int(d[:4]) if d[:4].isdigit() else None
+
+
+def _ratio_against(qn: str, item: dict, keys: tuple[str, ...]) -> float:
+    best = 0.0
+    for k in keys:
+        val = item.get(k)
+        if val:
+            best = max(best, difflib.SequenceMatcher(None, qn, _normalize(str(val))).ratio())
+    return best
+
+
+def _best_match(
+    query_title: str, results: list[dict], keys: tuple[str, ...],
+    year: int | None = None,
+) -> tuple[dict | None, float]:
     """
     Trusts TMDB's own ranking (§3.3's last row — a locally-recomputed
-    re-rank picked a coincidentally-closer-looking wrong show once): only
-    the top result is considered. The similarity ratio is returned purely
-    as a confidence signal for the caller's fallback decision, never used
-    to pick a different candidate.
+    re-rank picked a coincidentally-closer-looking wrong show once): the
+    top result is what's returned. The similarity ratio rides along purely
+    as a confidence signal for the caller's fallback decision.
+
+    One narrow exception (§10.1/V9): when the top result is *not* a
+    confident textual hit (ratio < 0.6) and a `year` was requested, a
+    different result of that **exact** release year is preferred. TMDB
+    already year-filtered the search, so an entry landing on the requested
+    year is a hard corroboration, not the fuzzy string re-rank §3.3 warns
+    against — and this never overrides a confident top hit.
     """
     if not results:
         return None, 0.0
-    top = results[0]
     qn = _normalize(query_title)
-    best_ratio = 0.0
-    for k in keys:
-        val = top.get(k)
-        if val:
-            best_ratio = max(best_ratio, difflib.SequenceMatcher(None, qn, _normalize(str(val))).ratio())
-    return top, best_ratio
+    top = results[0]
+    top_ratio = _ratio_against(qn, top, keys)
+    if year is not None and top_ratio < 0.6:
+        for item in results:
+            if _release_year_of(item) == year:
+                return item, _ratio_against(qn, item, keys)
+    return top, top_ratio
 
 
 class TmdbClient:
@@ -138,12 +161,15 @@ class TmdbClient:
             params["year"] = year
         data = await self._get("search/movie", params)
         results = (data or {}).get("results", [])
-        return _best_match(title, results, ("title", "original_title"))
+        return _best_match(title, results, ("title", "original_title"), year=year)
 
-    async def search_tv(self, title: str) -> tuple[dict | None, float]:
-        data = await self._get("search/tv", {"query": title})
+    async def search_tv(self, title: str, year: int | None = None) -> tuple[dict | None, float]:
+        params = {"query": title}
+        if year:
+            params["first_air_date_year"] = year
+        data = await self._get("search/tv", params)
         results = (data or {}).get("results", [])
-        return _best_match(title, results, ("name", "original_name"))
+        return _best_match(title, results, ("name", "original_name"), year=year)
 
     async def search_movie_results(self, title: str) -> list[dict]:
         """