[Bug]: Frontend "Machine Learning/AI" and "DevOps / Cloud Computing" Interest Options Return Zero Projects

[dharini-sharma]

What happened?

The interest dropdown in the "Find Your Next Project" form includes two options:

• "Machine Learning/AI"
• "DevOps / Cloud Computing"

However, an audit of data/projects.json shows ZERO projects in either category:

• No projects have "interest": "Machine Learning/AI"
• No projects have "interest": "Devops" or "interest": "DevOps"

When users select these options, they receive a blank "No Projects Found" screen with no explanation. This creates a broken user experience and contradicts the app's core promise of personalized project recommendations.

Evidence:

• Frontend code: templates/index.html lines 641, 647 hardcode these options
• Backend bypass: routes/main_routes.py lines 13-19 explicitly block these categories
• Dataset audit: ~26 projects analyzed, 0 matching these categories

GSSOC'26 Contributor Note

Hii @komalharshita, I'm a GSSOC'26 contributor and would like to work on this issue and resolve it. I hope this issue is assigned to me so I can continue working on it.

My approach:

1. First, I'll remove these dead options from the frontend to fix the immediate UX problem
2. Then, I'll add well-structured ML/AI and DevOps projects to the dataset
3. Finally, I'll add validation to prevent future mismatches

If I get assigned to this issue will start working submitting a PR at the earliest

Environment

• Browser: Chrome/Firefox/Safari
• OS: Windows/Mac/Linux
• DevPath Branch: main (latest)

Steps to reproduce

1. Navigate to the recommendation form (#find-project section)
2. Enter "Python" in the "Your Skills" input field
3. Select "Beginner" or "Intermediate" from the "Experience Level" dropdown
4. Select "Machine Learning/AI" from the "Area of Interest" dropdown
5. Select "Low" from the "Time Availability" dropdown
6. Click the "Generate My Projects" button

Alternative (for DevOps):

• Repeat steps 1-6, but select "DevOps / Cloud Computing" in step 4 instead

Expected Behaviour

The recommendation engine should return 3 matching projects (or fewer if less exist) tagged with the selected interest category.

For "Machine Learning/AI": Display projects like sentiment analysis, image classifier, movie recommendation system, AI chatbot

For "DevOps / Cloud Computing": Display projects like Docker tutorial, Kubernetes setup, CI/CD pipeline, infrastructure-as-code

If no projects exist in the selected category, the UI should clearly communicate this and suggest alternatives, not show a blank screen.

Suggested Solution

Phase 1 (Quick Fix):

• Remove these options from the frontend dropdown until projects are added

Phase 2 (Proper Fix):

• Add 4-6 complete ML/AI and DevOps projects to data/projects.json
• Ensure each project has full roadmap (8+ steps) and starter code
• Remove entries from NO_PROJECT_INTERESTS bypass list in routes/main_routes.py

Phase 3 (Validation):

• Add automated checks at startup to warn about dropdown-dataset mismatches
• Add unit test validating all dropdown options have ≥1 project

Files Affected

• templates/index.html (lines 641, 647)
• data/projects.json (needs new projects)
• routes/main_routes.py (lines 13-19)
• starter_code/ (new project templates needed)

Area of the app affected

Homepage form

Python version

3.11+

Operating system

Windows / macOS / Linux

Relevant error output or logs

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues and this has not been reported before.
• I can reproduce this bug consistently with the steps above.
• I am running the latest version of the main branch.

[github-actions]

Thank you for opening your first issue in DevPath.

Please make sure to:

• Read CONTRIBUTING.md
• Wait for assignment before starting work
• Follow repository guidelines carefully

Happy contributing.

[Yazhini74]

Hi, I would like to work on this issue @komalharshita .

[Akanksha-Shahi]

/assign GSSoC26 as I have a good experience in resolving such issues

[kotebhakti30]

Hi @komalharshita, I would like to work on this issue under GSSoC'26.

Description

After reviewing the issue, I understand that the interest dropdown in the "Find Your Next Project" form hardcodes "Machine Learning/AI" and "DevOps / Cloud Computing" as options in templates/index.html at lines 641 and 647, but data/projects.json has zero projects in either category. The backend in routes/main_routes.py at lines 13–19 even explicitly bypasses these categories in a NO_PROJECT_INTERESTS list. This causes users who select these options to see a blank "No Projects Found" screen with no explanation.

Proposed Fix

Add 4–6 well-structured ML/AI projects to data/projects.json — covering projects like a sentiment analyser, image classifier, movie recommendation system, and AI chatbot — each with a complete roadmap of 8+ steps, real learning resources, and appropriate difficulty level
Add 4–6 well-structured DevOps/Cloud Computing projects to data/projects.json — covering Docker setup, CI/CD pipeline, Kubernetes configuration, and infrastructure-as-code — each with the same complete structure
Add corresponding starter code templates in the starter_code/ directory for each new project
Remove "Machine Learning/AI" and "DevOps / Cloud Computing" from the NO_PROJECT_INTERESTS bypass list in routes/main_routes.py at lines 13–19 once the projects are added
Add a startup validation check that warns if any frontend dropdown option has zero matching projects in the dataset to prevent future mismatches

Expected Outcome

Selecting "Machine Learning/AI" or "DevOps / Cloud Computing" returns relevant project recommendations instead of a blank screen
The NO_PROJECT_INTERESTS bypass list is no longer needed for these two categories
All dropdown options have at least one matching project in the dataset
All changes are confined to data/projects.json, routes/main_routes.py, and starter_code/ with no breaking changes to existing functionality

Please assign this issue to me. Thank you!