Claimed recommendations never expire abandoned claims permanently lock users out of the claim limit

[Siddhartha-singh01]

What happened?

The recsExpire cron in src/inngest/functions/maintenance.ts expires stale
recommendations, but its query filters .eq('status', 'open') so it only ever
expires open recommendations. A recommendation in claimed status is never
expired, no matter how long ago its expires_at passed.

claimRecommendation in src/app/actions/recommendations.ts enforces a 3-claim
limit by counting every status = 'claimed' row for the user, with no expires_at
filter. So once a contributor claims 3 recommendations and abandons them, those
claims count against the limit forever claimRecommendation permanently returns
claim_limit, and the contributor can never claim new work again.

The expires_at window (7 days) is meant to auto-recover abandoned claims, but it
is only enforced for open recs, so it never fires for claimed ones.

Steps to Reproduce

1. As a contributor, claim 3 recommendations (claimRecommendation).
2. Do not act on them. Wait until their expires_at passes (or set it in the past).
3. Let the hourly recsExpire cron run.
4. Try to claim a 4th recommendation.

Expected Behavior

the abandoned claims past expires_at are released/expired, freeing
the claim slots, so a new claim succeeds.
Actual: the claimed recs are untouched, still count toward the limit, and
claimRecommendation returns claim_limit permanently.

Where does this occur?

Other

Environment

Not environment-specific this is a logic gap in the recsExpire cron in
src/inngest/functions/maintenance.ts, reproducible on any OS / Node version.
No browser involved Inngest background job.

Screenshots / Logs

No error log this is a silent lifecycle gap, shown by the code itself.

recsExpire only expires open recommendations (src/inngest/functions/maintenance.ts):

await sb.from('recommendations')
  .update({ status: 'expired' })
  .lt('expires_at', now)
  .eq('status', 'open')   // claimed recs are never expired
  .select('id');

But claimRecommendation counts every claimed row toward the limit, with no
expires_at filter (src/app/actions/recommendations.ts):

.eq('user_id', user.id)
.eq('status', 'claimed');
if ((claimedCount ?? 0) >= 3) return err('claim_limit', ...);

So a claimed rec past its expires_at is never released, keeps counting toward the
3-claim limit forever, and the contributor is permanently locked out of claiming
new work.

[Krirox]

Hi @Siddhartha-singh01, I’d like to work on this issue.
I’ve worked on backend lifecycle logic, cron jobs, and state handling before, and I’d love to fix the expiration flow to properly release abandoned claimed recommendations.

Could you please assign this issue to me? Thanks!