Refactor configuration handling and improve error management across services; normalize placeholder values for SMTP and Stripe configurations; enhance local storage fallback logic in StorageService; add tests for new behaviors and edge cases.

backend/app/utils/config_placeholders.py

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+"""Helpers for treating sample config values as missing runtime configuration."""
+import re
+
+_MASKED_SEQUENCE_RE = re.compile(r"(x{6,}|\*{4,})", re.IGNORECASE)
+
+
+def normalize_optional_config(
+    value: str | None,
+    placeholder_markers: tuple[str, ...] = (),
+) -> str:
+    """Return a stripped config value, or blank when it still looks like a sample."""
+    normalized = str(value or "").strip()
+    if not normalized:
+        return ""
+
+    lowered = normalized.lower()
+    if any(marker.lower() in lowered for marker in placeholder_markers if marker):
+        return ""
+
+    if _MASKED_SEQUENCE_RE.search(normalized):
+        return ""
+
+    return normalized
+
+
+def has_real_config(
+    value: str | None,
+    placeholder_markers: tuple[str, ...] = (),
+) -> bool:
+    """Return True when the value is present and not an obvious placeholder."""
+    return bool(normalize_optional_config(value, placeholder_markers))