fix

app/Http/Controllers/SurveyQuestionController.php

@@ -297,40 +297,85 @@ public function suggestedMedia(Request $request)
     {
         $userId = auth()->id();
 
+        $limit = (int) $request->input('limit', 20);
+        $limit = max(1, min($limit, 100));
+
         $answersQuery = SurveyAnswer::where('user_id', $userId);
         if ($request->filled('question_id')) {
             $answersQuery->where('survey_question_id', $request->question_id);
         }
         $optionIds = $answersQuery->pluck('survey_option_id');
 
-        if ($optionIds->isEmpty()) {
-            return response()->json([]);
-        }
-
-        // Collect the tags behind the chosen options.
-        $tagIds = DB::table('survey_option_tag')
+        // Tags behind the user's chosen options.
+        $tagIds = $optionIds->isEmpty()
+            ? collect()
+            : DB::table('survey_option_tag')
                 ->whereIn('survey_option_id', $optionIds)
                 ->pluck('tag_id')
                 ->unique()
                 ->values();
 
-        if ($tagIds->isEmpty()) {
-            return response()->json([]);
-        }
+        // Visible to this user: public or their own.
+        $visible = function ($q) use ($userId) {
+            $q->where('visibility', 'public')->orWhere('user_id', $userId);
+        };
 
-        // Media sharing those tags, ranked by how many of them match.
-        $media = Media::query()
+        $eager = ['image', 'detailImage', 'categories', 'subCategories', 'tags'];
+
+        $media = collect();
+
+        if ($tagIds->isNotEmpty()) {
+            // 1) Media directly sharing the chosen tags, ranked by overlap.
+            $tagMatched = Media::query()
                 ->whereHas('tags', fn ($q) => $q->whereIn('tags.id', $tagIds))
                 ->withCount(['tags as match_count' => fn ($q) => $q->whereIn('tags.id', $tagIds)])
-            ->where(function ($q) use ($userId) {
-                $q->where('visibility', 'public')->orWhere('user_id', $userId);
-            })
-            ->with(['image', 'categories', 'subCategories', 'tags'])
+                ->where($visible)
+                ->with($eager)
                 ->orderByDesc('match_count')
                 ->orderByDesc('created_at')
                 ->get();
 
-        return response()->json($media);
+            // 2) Broaden to "similar" media: same categories / sub-categories as
+            //    the tag-matched media (so a thinly-tagged catalog still surfaces
+            //    the rest of the topic, not just the one over-tagged item).
+            $categoryIds = $tagMatched->pluck('categories')->flatten(1)->pluck('id')->unique()->values();
+            $subCategoryIds = $tagMatched->pluck('subCategories')->flatten(1)->pluck('id')->unique()->values();
+
+            $similar = collect();
+            if ($categoryIds->isNotEmpty() || $subCategoryIds->isNotEmpty()) {
+                $similar = Media::query()
+                    ->where($visible)
+                    ->whereNotIn('id', $tagMatched->pluck('id'))
+                    ->where(function ($q) use ($categoryIds, $subCategoryIds) {
+                        if ($categoryIds->isNotEmpty()) {
+                            $q->orWhereHas('categories', fn ($c) => $c->whereIn('categories.id', $categoryIds));
+                        }
+                        if ($subCategoryIds->isNotEmpty()) {
+                            $q->orWhereHas('subCategories', fn ($s) => $s->whereIn('sub_categories.id', $subCategoryIds));
+                        }
+                    })
+                    ->with($eager)
+                    ->orderByDesc('created_at')
+                    ->get()
+                    ->each(fn ($m) => $m->match_count = 0);
+            }
+
+            $media = $tagMatched->concat($similar);
+        }
+
+        // Fallback (no answers / no tags / nothing matched): popular public media,
+        // so the suggestions row is never empty.
+        if ($media->isEmpty()) {
+            $media = Media::query()
+                ->where($visible)
+                ->withCount('plays as plays_count')
+                ->with($eager)
+                ->orderByDesc('plays_count')
+                ->orderByDesc('created_at')
+                ->get();
+        }
+
+        return response()->json($media->take($limit)->values());
     }
 
     private function syncOptions(SurveyQuestion $question, array $options): void