WatchGenius: Image pipeline v1 (no-hotlink) — worker download→WebP→Supabase Storage + backfill

We are building a watch analytics website (Next.js). Currently, we have external image URLs (from source/RTL, often Chrono24 CDN), but we do NOT use hotlinking. We need to implement a proper image system so that we do not have to redo it when scaling to 1000+ models.

Stack:

• Frontend: Next.js

• Backend/API: Node/Next API routes (or a separate service)

• DB/Storage: Supabase (Postgres + Supabase Storage)

• Hosting: Vercel (FE), Render (API/worker)

Requirement (contract forever):

• UI shows <img> only from our storage/CDN by image_key (no external URLs).

• If the image is not available/not ready: 1 neat placeholder (not 4-5 duplicates).

What needs to be done (v1):
Stage 0 (C0) — UI contract + schema:

• add fields in models: image_key, image_status (missing|queued|ready|failed), image_updated_at

• API returns image_url (formed from storage) and image_status

• UI: if ready → show photo; otherwise 1 placeholder

Stage 1 (C1) — image worker:

• queue table image_jobs (kind, source_url, dest_key, status, tries, last_error)

• worker (Render): download → validate → convert WebP (sharp) → upload to Supabase Storage → update image_key/status

• security: allowlist of domains, ban private IP, size limit, timeouts

• cache headers: long cache (max-age/immutable) on storage/CDN (if applicable)

Stage 2 (C2) — backfill:

• run the current batch (39/84 models): take 1 main image per model, fill storage

• report: % success, list of failed + reasons

Additionally (optional):

• batches for 1000+ (by 100-200, limit on parallelism)

• retries/backoff + dead-letter

DoD (acceptance criteria):

• there are no <img src="...chrono24..."> on the site at all

• real model images from storage (or 1 placeholder) are shown in the catalog/PDP

• no duplicate placeholders in the gallery

• worker correctly uploads WebP to /images/models/{slug}/main.webp and updates image_status

• there is an error log and a list of failed uploads

Important:

• We need an estimate by stages (fixed price and ETA for each stage).

• Access: initially only consultation/assessment. Code/repository will be provided after the contractor is selected (NDA if necessary).

Request in response:

1. cost/time estimate by stages C0/C1/C2 (and separately optional for 1000+)

2. what risks do you see (3-5 points)

3. examples of similar tasks (worker/media pipeline)

4. what format of work: fixed or hourly with a limit