fix: remove WhiteNoise middleware in dev settings

WhiteNoise intercepts all /static/ requests and serves from STATIC_ROOT.
Without collectstatic that directory is empty, so every asset 404s regardless
of the storage backend. Remove it from MIDDLEWARE in development so Django's
runserver handles static files natively (DEBUG=True is enough).

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

apps/core/management/commands/seed_e2e_content.py

@@ -116,20 +116,16 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
             legal_index.add_child(instance=privacy)
             privacy.save_revision().publish()
 
-        site, _ = Site.objects.get_or_create(
-            hostname="127.0.0.1",
-            port=8000,
-            defaults={
-                "root_page": home,
-                "is_default_site": True,
-                "site_name": "No Hype AI",
-            },
-        )
-        site.root_page = home
+        # Point every existing Site at the real home page and mark exactly one
+        # as the default.  Wagtail's initial migration creates a localhost:80
+        # site that matches incoming requests by hostname before the
+        # is_default_site fallback is ever reached, so we must update *all*
+        # sites, not just the is_default_site one.
+        Site.objects.all().update(root_page=home, site_name="No Hype AI", is_default_site=False)
+        site = Site.objects.first()
+        if site is None:
+            site = Site(hostname="localhost", port=80)
         site.is_default_site = True
-        site.site_name = "No Hype AI"
         site.save()
-        # Remove any other conflicting default-site entries left by test fixtures
-        Site.objects.exclude(pk=site.pk).filter(is_default_site=True).update(is_default_site=False)
 
         self.stdout.write(self.style.SUCCESS("Seeded E2E content."))

config/settings/development.py

@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ DEBUG = True
 
 INTERNAL_IPS = ["127.0.0.1"]
 
+# In dev, drop WhiteNoise from middleware and use plain static file storage.
+# WhiteNoise serves from STATIC_ROOT which is empty without collectstatic,
+# so it intercepts every /static/ request and returns nothing.
+# Django's runserver handles static files natively when DEBUG=True.
+MIDDLEWARE = [m for m in MIDDLEWARE if m != "whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware"]
+STATICFILES_STORAGE = "django.contrib.staticfiles.storage.StaticFilesStorage"
+
 try:
     import debug_toolbar  # noqa: F401
 

docker-compose.yml

@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ services:
     working_dir: /app
     command: >
       sh -c "python manage.py migrate --noinput &&
+             python manage.py seed_e2e_content &&
              python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000"
     volumes:
       - .:/app
-      - /opt/playwright-tools/browsers:/opt/playwright-tools/browsers:ro
     ports:
       - "8035:8000"
     environment:
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ services:
       EMAIL_BACKEND: django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend
       DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL: hello@nohypeai.com
       NEWSLETTER_PROVIDER: buttondown
-      PLAYWRIGHT_BROWSERS_PATH: /opt/playwright-tools/browsers
     depends_on:
       db:
         condition: service_healthy