try

foodie_engagement_tweet.py

@@ -102,25 +102,32 @@ except Exception as e:
     logging.error(f"Failed to initialize OpenAI client: {e}", exc_info=True)
     sys.exit(1)
 
-# Load author backgrounds
+# Load author backgrounds into a dictionary for faster lookup
 try:
     if not os.path.exists(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE):
         logging.error(f"Author backgrounds file not found at {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}")
         raise FileNotFoundError(f"Author backgrounds file not found at {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}")
     with open(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE, 'r') as f:
-        AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS = json.load(f)
+        background_list = json.load(f)
-    if not isinstance(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS, list):
+    if not isinstance(background_list, list):
-        logging.error(f"Invalid format in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: Expected a list, got {type(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS)}")
+        logging.error(f"Invalid format in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: Expected a list, got {type(background_list)}")
         raise ValueError("Author backgrounds must be a list")
-    for bg in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS:
+    AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS = {}
+    for bg in background_list:
         if "username" not in bg:
             logging.error(f"Invalid entry in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: Missing 'username' key in {bg}")
             raise ValueError("Each author background must have a 'username' key")
-    loaded_usernames = [bg["username"] for bg in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS]
+        username = bg["username"]
+        if not isinstance(username, str):
+            logging.error(f"Invalid username type in {AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS_FILE}: {username} (type: {type(username)})")
+            raise ValueError("Username must be a string")
+        cleaned_username = username.strip().lower()
+        AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS[cleaned_username] = bg
+    loaded_usernames = list(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS.keys())
     logging.debug(f"Loaded author backgrounds: {loaded_usernames}")
 except Exception as e:
     logging.error(f"Failed to load author_backgrounds.json: {e}", exc_info=True)
-    AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS = []
+    AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS = {}
     sys.exit(1)
 
 def validate_twitter_credentials(author):
@@ -205,28 +212,24 @@ def generate_engagement_tweet(author):
     persona = author["persona"]
     persona_config = PERSONA_CONFIGS.get(persona, PERSONA_CONFIGS["Visionary Editor"])
     
-    # Case-insensitive lookup for background with whitespace stripping
+    # Lookup background using a dictionary
     username_cleaned = username.strip().lower()
-    background = {}
+    background = AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS.get(username_cleaned, {})
-    available_usernames = []
+    
-    for bg in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS:
+    # Debug comparison
-        bg_username = bg.get("username")
+    available_usernames = list(AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS.keys())
-        if bg_username is None:
+    if username_cleaned in available_usernames:
-            logging.warning(f"Skipping background entry with missing username: {bg}")
+        logging.debug(f"Direct key check: '{username_cleaned}' found in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS keys")
-            continue
+    else:
-        if not isinstance(bg_username, str):
+        logging.debug(f"Direct key check: '{username_cleaned}' NOT found in AUTHOR_BACKGROUNDS keys")
-            logging.warning(f"Skipping background entry with non-string username: {bg_username} (type: {type(bg_username)})")
+        # Log byte-level comparison for the first available username as a sample
-            continue
+        if available_usernames:
-        bg_username_cleaned = bg_username.strip().lower()
+            sample_key = available_usernames[0]
-        available_usernames.append(bg_username)
+            logging.debug(
-        logging.debug(
+                f"Byte-level comparison sample: "
-            f"Comparing usernames for {username}: "
+                f"username_cleaned bytes = {list(username_cleaned.encode('utf-8'))}, "
-            f"author username (cleaned) = '{username_cleaned}', "
+                f"sample background key bytes = {list(sample_key.encode('utf-8'))}"
-            f"background username (cleaned) = '{bg_username_cleaned}'"
+            )
-        )
-        if bg_username_cleaned == username_cleaned:
-            background = bg
-            break
     
     if not background or "engagement_themes" not in background:
         logging.warning(