From 9cc04b640b45f7eadb7979629a22b35feb1ccd8c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luke Manyamazi <lukemanyamazi1@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:19:24 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] added code to limit bloom in the backend and control in
 the frontend

---
 backend/data/blooms.py         |  3 +++
 front-end/components/bloom.mjs | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++----
 2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/backend/data/blooms.py b/backend/data/blooms.py
index 7e280cf..925f398 100644
--- a/backend/data/blooms.py
+++ b/backend/data/blooms.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ class Bloom:
 
 
 def add_bloom(*, sender: User, content: str) -> Bloom:
+    if len(content) > 280:
+        raise ValueError("Bloom must not exceed 280 characters")
+
     hashtags = [word[1:] for word in content.split(" ") if word.startswith("#")]
 
     now = datetime.datetime.now(tz=datetime.UTC)
diff --git a/front-end/components/bloom.mjs b/front-end/components/bloom.mjs
index 0b4166c..495a48d 100644
--- a/front-end/components/bloom.mjs
+++ b/front-end/components/bloom.mjs
@@ -8,10 +8,12 @@
  * "sender": username,
  * "content": "string from textarea",
  * "sent_timestamp": "datetime as ISO 8601 formatted string"}
-
  */
 const createBloom = (template, bloom) => {
   if (!bloom) return;
+
+  const MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH = 280;
+
   const bloomFrag = document.getElementById(template).content.cloneNode(true);
   const bloomParser = new DOMParser();
 
@@ -21,14 +23,30 @@ const createBloom = (template, bloom) => {
   const bloomTimeLink = bloomFrag.querySelector("a:has(> [data-time])");
   const bloomContent = bloomFrag.querySelector("[data-content]");
 
+  const isTooLong = bloom.content && bloom.content.length > MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH;
+
+  // Highlight invalid blooms (UI only)
+  if (isTooLong) {
+    bloomArticle.style.border = "2px solid red";
+    bloomArticle.style.backgroundColor = "#fff5f5";
+    bloomArticle.title = "This bloom exceeds 280 characters (invalid)";
+  }
+
   bloomArticle.setAttribute("data-bloom-id", bloom.id);
   bloomUsername.setAttribute("href", `/profile/${bloom.sender}`);
   bloomUsername.textContent = bloom.sender;
   bloomTime.textContent = _formatTimestamp(bloom.sent_timestamp);
   bloomTimeLink.setAttribute("href", `/bloom/${bloom.id}`);
+
+  const displayContent = isTooLong
+    ? `[INVALID BLOOM - exceeds 280 characters]\n\n${bloom.content}`
+    : bloom.content;
+
   bloomContent.replaceChildren(
-    ...bloomParser.parseFromString(_formatHashtags(bloom.content), "text/html")
-      .body.childNodes
+    ...bloomParser.parseFromString(
+      _formatHashtags(displayContent),
+      "text/html"
+    ).body.childNodes
   );
 
   return bloomFrag;
@@ -84,4 +102,4 @@ function _formatTimestamp(timestamp) {
   }
 }
 
-export {createBloom};
+export { createBloom };
\ No newline at end of file

From 6c20c8045c596291376129282ce62d10cd2ef01c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luke Manyamazi <lukemanyamazi1@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2026 08:05:29 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] refactor: replaced hardcoded bloom character limit with
 constant

---
 backend/data/blooms.py | 6 +++---
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/backend/data/blooms.py b/backend/data/blooms.py
index 925f398..d1edefc 100644
--- a/backend/data/blooms.py
+++ b/backend/data/blooms.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from data.connection import db_cursor
 from data.users import User
 
-
+MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH = 280
 @dataclass
 class Bloom:
     id: int
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ class Bloom:
 
 
 def add_bloom(*, sender: User, content: str) -> Bloom:
-    if len(content) > 280:
-        raise ValueError("Bloom must not exceed 280 characters")
+    if len(content) > MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH:
+        raise ValueError(f"Bloom must not exceed {MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH} characters")
 
     hashtags = [word[1:] for word in content.split(" ") if word.startswith("#")]
 

From 14f32a49bb84d2b5f0b1ae953cc952d8b69de31f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Luke Manyamazi <lukemanyamazi1@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2026 15:57:19 +0200
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] fixed the character limit constant reference

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>
---
 backend/data/blooms.py         | 1 +
 front-end/components/bloom.mjs | 4 ++--
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/backend/data/blooms.py b/backend/data/blooms.py
index d1edefc..3914020 100644
--- a/backend/data/blooms.py
+++ b/backend/data/blooms.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from data.users import User
 
 MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH = 280
+
 @dataclass
 class Bloom:
     id: int
diff --git a/front-end/components/bloom.mjs b/front-end/components/bloom.mjs
index 495a48d..f962a2a 100644
--- a/front-end/components/bloom.mjs
+++ b/front-end/components/bloom.mjs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const createBloom = (template, bloom) => {
   if (isTooLong) {
     bloomArticle.style.border = "2px solid red";
     bloomArticle.style.backgroundColor = "#fff5f5";
-    bloomArticle.title = "This bloom exceeds 280 characters (invalid)";
+    bloomArticle.title = `This bloom exceeds ${MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH} characters (invalid)`;
   }
 
   bloomArticle.setAttribute("data-bloom-id", bloom.id);
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ const createBloom = (template, bloom) => {
   bloomTimeLink.setAttribute("href", `/bloom/${bloom.id}`);
 
   const displayContent = isTooLong
-    ? `[INVALID BLOOM - exceeds 280 characters]\n\n${bloom.content}`
+    ? `[INVALID BLOOM - exceeds ${MAX_BLOOM_LENGTH} characters]\n\n${bloom.content}`
     : bloom.content;
 
   bloomContent.replaceChildren(