diff --git a/internal/recommendation/candidates_test.go b/internal/recommendation/candidates_test.go
index ca32bd98..0446ba3d 100644
--- a/internal/recommendation/candidates_test.go
+++ b/internal/recommendation/candidates_test.go
@@ -296,7 +296,10 @@ func TestLoadCandidates_MultipleMatchingLikes_TakesMax(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	current := SessionVector{Artists: []string{"a1"}, Tags: map[string]int{"rock": 1}}
-	got, _ := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, current)
+	got, err := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, current)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("load: %v", err)
+	}
 	for _, c := range got {
 		if c.Track.ID == target.ID && c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore < 0.99 {
 			t.Errorf("target = %v, want ~1.0 (max)", c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore)
@@ -315,7 +318,10 @@ func TestLoadCandidates_SoftDeletedLikes_Ignored(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	current := SessionVector{Artists: []string{"a1"}, Tags: map[string]int{"rock": 1}}
-	got, _ := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, current)
+	got, err := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, current)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("load: %v", err)
+	}
 	for _, c := range got {
 		if c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore != 0 {
 			t.Errorf("soft-deleted track %s ContextualMatchScore = %v", c.Track.Title, c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore)
@@ -331,7 +337,10 @@ func TestLoadCandidates_OnlySeedLikes_ScoresZero(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	current := SessionVector{Artists: []string{"a1"}, Tags: map[string]int{"rock": 1}}
-	got, _ := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, current)
+	got, err := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, current)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("load: %v", err)
+	}
 	for _, c := range got {
 		if c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore != 0 {
 			t.Errorf("seed-only track %s ContextualMatchScore = %v", c.Track.Title, c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore)
@@ -346,7 +355,10 @@ func TestLoadCandidates_CurrentSeed_ScoresZero(t *testing.T) {
 	helperInsertContextualLike(t, f, target.ID, likeVec)
 
 	currentSeed := SessionVector{Seed: true}
-	got, _ := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, currentSeed)
+	got, err := LoadCandidates(context.Background(), f.q, f.user, f.tracks[0].ID, 1, currentSeed)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("load: %v", err)
+	}
 	for _, c := range got {
 		if c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore != 0 {
 			t.Errorf("seed-current track %s ContextualMatchScore = %v", c.Track.Title, c.Inputs.ContextualMatchScore)