Hotfixes - Search recommendations 503 error

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Observed behavior

When I go to "Import from other channels" I am always seeing a There was a problem showing these resources Try again message.

Console error:

browserapierrors.ts:169 POST https://hotfixes.studio.learningequality.org/api/recommendations/ 503 (Service Unavailable)

The issue is not happening on production.

Expected behavior

The search recommendations should be working correctly.

Steps to reproduce the issue

1. Sign in to Hotfixes with an account with enabled search recommendations
2. Go to a channel and try to import resources from other channels by clicking ADD > Import from channels

Usage Details

• OS: Windows 11
• Browser: Chrome, Firefox
• URL: https://hotfixes.studio.learningequality.org/en/
• Observed while testing: https://github.com/learningequality/studio/pull/6081

Reproduce the failure at the Import from channels flow on hotfixes.studio.learningequality.org and inspect the reported POST /api/recommendations/ request and 503 response. Compare the hotfix environment with production to identify what is failing, then verify that search recommendations load successfully in the stated flow. The issue is explicitly marked as not open for contribution.