CLAUDE: Auto-start game when both lineups submitted

- Broadcast game_state_update in game_engine.start_game() so frontend
  receives the active state immediately
- Add auto-start safeguard to /lineup-status endpoint for stuck pending
  games (both in-memory and database code paths)
- Fix None handling in state_manager._rebuild_state_from_data() for
  pending games with null inning/half values

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

backend/app/api/routes/games.py

@@ -858,6 +858,16 @@ async def get_lineup_status(game_id: str):
                 for p in (away_lineup.players if away_lineup else [])
             ]
 
+            # Safeguard: Auto-start game if both lineups ready but game still pending
+            game_status = state.status
+            if home_count >= 9 and away_count >= 9 and game_status == "pending":
+                try:
+                    logger.info(f"Auto-starting game {game_id} (in-memory) - both lineups ready but game was pending")
+                    await game_engine.start_game(game_uuid)
+                    game_status = "active"
+                except Exception as start_error:
+                    logger.warning(f"Failed to auto-start game {game_id}: {start_error}")
+
             return LineupStatusResponse(
                 game_id=game_id,
                 home_team_id=state.home_team_id,
@@ -866,7 +876,7 @@ async def get_lineup_status(game_id: str):
                 away_lineup_submitted=away_count >= 9,
                 home_lineup_count=home_count,
                 away_lineup_count=away_count,
-                game_status=state.status,
+                game_status=game_status,
                 home_lineup=home_lineup_data,
                 away_lineup=away_lineup_data,
             )
@@ -905,6 +915,20 @@ async def get_lineup_status(game_id: str):
             if lineup.player_id is not None
         ]
 
+        # Safeguard: Auto-start game if both lineups are ready but game is still pending
+        # This handles edge cases where lineups were submitted before the auto-start fix
+        game_status = game.status
+        if home_count >= 9 and away_count >= 9 and game_status == "pending":
+            try:
+                logger.info(f"Auto-starting game {game_id} - both lineups ready but game was pending")
+                # First recover game into state manager (required before start_game)
+                await state_manager.recover_game(game_uuid)
+                await game_engine.start_game(game_uuid)
+                game_status = "active"
+            except Exception as start_error:
+                logger.warning(f"Failed to auto-start game {game_id}: {start_error}")
+                # Continue with pending status - user can retry
+
         return LineupStatusResponse(
             game_id=game_id,
             home_team_id=game.home_team_id,
@@ -913,7 +937,7 @@ async def get_lineup_status(game_id: str):
             away_lineup_submitted=away_count >= 9,
             home_lineup_count=home_count,
             away_lineup_count=away_count,
-            game_status=game.status,
+            game_status=game_status,
             home_lineup=home_lineup_data,
             away_lineup=away_lineup_data,
         )

backend/app/core/game_engine.py

@@ -253,6 +253,14 @@ class GameEngine:
         # Update state
         state_manager.update_state(game_id, state)
 
+        # Broadcast game_state_update so all connected clients get the new active state
+        if self._connection_manager:
+            await self._connection_manager.broadcast_to_game(
+                str(game_id),
+                "game_state_update",
+                state.model_dump(mode='json')
+            )
+
         # Emit decision_required event for real-time frontend notification
         await self._emit_decision_required(game_id, state, "awaiting_defensive", timeout_seconds=self.DECISION_TIMEOUT)
 

backend/app/core/state_manager.py

@@ -322,7 +322,8 @@ class StateManager:
             )
 
         # Determine fielding team based on current half
-        current_half = game.get("current_half", "top")
+        # Use `or` to handle explicit None values from database (not just missing keys)
+        current_half = game.get("current_half") or "top"
         home_team_id = game["home_team_id"]
         away_team_id = game["away_team_id"]
 
@@ -381,7 +382,7 @@ class StateManager:
             home_team_is_ai=game.get("home_team_is_ai", False),
             away_team_is_ai=game.get("away_team_is_ai", False),
             status=game["status"],
-            inning=game.get("current_inning", 1),
+            inning=game.get("current_inning") or 1,
             half=current_half,
             home_score=game.get("home_score", 0),
             away_score=game.get("away_score", 0),