fix(discovery): block countries in vague locations via job description

QAJobsBoard and similar feeds often store Worldwide/Remote while the real
country is only in the description. Scan title and description when location
is vague, and prefer concrete locations from QAJobsBoard postings.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

extractors/qajobsboard/manifest.ts

@@ -81,14 +81,47 @@ function salaryLabel(raw: SalaryBand | undefined): string | undefined {
   return schedule.trim() || undefined;
 }
 
+const VAGUE_LOCATION_LABELS = new Set([
+  "worldwide",
+  "global",
+  "anywhere",
+  "remote",
+  "unknown",
+]);
+
+function isVagueLocationLabel(value: string): boolean {
+  return VAGUE_LOCATION_LABELS.has(value.trim().toLowerCase());
+}
+
+function extractJobLocationFromDescription(
+  html: string | undefined,
+): string | undefined {
+  if (!html) return undefined;
+  const text = stripHtml(html);
+  const match = text.match(
+    /\bjob\s+location\s*:\s*([^\n.]{2,120})/i,
+  );
+  if (!match?.[1]) return undefined;
+  const extracted = match[1].trim();
+  return extracted || undefined;
+}
+
 function locationLabel(job: QaJobBoardlyJob): string {
   const limits = Array.isArray(job.location_limits)
-    ? job.location_limits.filter(
+    ? job.location_limits
-        (v): v is string => typeof v === "string" && v.trim().length > 0,
+        .map((v) => (typeof v === "string" ? v.trim() : ""))
-      )
+        .filter((v) => v.length > 0 && !isVagueLocationLabel(v))
     : [];
   if (limits.length > 0) return limits.join(", ");
+
   const loc = asString(job.location);
+  if (loc && !isVagueLocationLabel(loc)) return loc;
+
+  const fromDescription = extractJobLocationFromDescription(
+    job.description?.html,
+  );
+  if (fromDescription) return fromDescription;
+
   if (loc) return loc;
   return "Unknown";
 }

orchestrator/src/server/pipeline/steps/discover-jobs.test.ts

@@ -394,6 +394,60 @@ describe("discoverJobsStep", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("drops jobs with blocked country in description when location is worldwide", async () => {
+    const settingsRepo = await import("@server/repositories/settings");
+    const registryModule = await import("@server/extractors/registry");
+
+    const qaManifest = {
+      id: "qajobsboard",
+      displayName: "QAJobsBoard",
+      providesSources: ["qajobsboard"],
+      run: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+        success: true,
+        jobs: [
+          {
+            source: "qajobsboard",
+            title: "Sr. QA Automation Engineer",
+            employer: "Harrier",
+            location: "Worldwide",
+            jobDescription:
+              "Job Location: Mumbai/Nagpur. Open to candidates in India.",
+            jobUrl: "https://example.com/job-in",
+          },
+          {
+            source: "qajobsboard",
+            title: "SDET",
+            employer: "Contoso",
+            location: "Toronto, ON, Canada",
+            jobUrl: "https://example.com/job-ca",
+          },
+        ],
+      }),
+    };
+
+    vi.mocked(settingsRepo.getAllSettings).mockResolvedValue({
+      searchTerms: JSON.stringify(["sdet"]),
+      blockedCountries: JSON.stringify(["india"]),
+      searchCities: "Canada",
+    } as any);
+
+    vi.mocked(registryModule.getExtractorRegistry).mockResolvedValue({
+      manifests: new Map([["qajobsboard", qaManifest as any]]),
+      manifestBySource: new Map([["qajobsboard", qaManifest as any]]),
+      availableSources: ["qajobsboard"],
+    } as any);
+
+    const result = await discoverJobsStep({
+      mergedConfig: {
+        ...baseConfig,
+        sources: ["qajobsboard"],
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(result.discoveredJobs).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(result.discoveredJobs[0]?.jobUrl).toBe("https://example.com/job-ca");
+  });
+
   it("applies shared city filtering for sources without native city filtering", async () => {
     const settingsRepo = await import("@server/repositories/settings");
     const registryModule = await import("@server/extractors/registry");

orchestrator/src/server/pipeline/steps/discover-jobs.ts

@@ -553,7 +553,15 @@ export async function discoverJobsStep(args: {
     settings.blockedCountries,
   );
   const filteredDiscoveredJobs = afterCompanyFilter.filter(
-    (job) => !jobMatchesBlockedCountries(job.location, blockedCountryKeys),
+    (job) =>
+      !jobMatchesBlockedCountries(
+        {
+          location: job.location,
+          jobDescription: job.jobDescription,
+          title: job.title,
+        },
+        blockedCountryKeys,
+      ),
   );
   const countryDroppedCount =
     afterCompanyFilter.length - filteredDiscoveredJobs.length;

shared/src/blocked-countries.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
 import {
+  inferCountryKeysFromJobText,
+  isVagueJobLocation,
   jobMatchesBlockedCountries,
   normalizeBlockedCountryTokens,
   resolveBlockedCountriesFromStoredString,
@@ -34,4 +36,41 @@ describe("blocked-countries", () => {
     expect(jobMatchesBlockedCountries("Remote", blocked)).toBe(false);
     expect(jobMatchesBlockedCountries(null, blocked)).toBe(false);
   });
+
+  it("treats worldwide and remote-only locations as vague", () => {
+    expect(isVagueJobLocation("Worldwide")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isVagueJobLocation("Remote")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isVagueJobLocation("Toronto, Canada")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("finds blocked countries in description when location is worldwide", () => {
+    const blocked = resolveBlockedCountriesFromStoredString('["india"]');
+    expect(
+      jobMatchesBlockedCountries(
+        {
+          location: "Worldwide",
+          jobDescription:
+            "Job Location: Mumbai/Nagpur. We are hiring in India for this role.",
+        },
+        blocked,
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      jobMatchesBlockedCountries(
+        {
+          location: "Worldwide",
+          jobDescription: "Fully remote team across North America.",
+        },
+        blocked,
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("infers country names embedded in free text", () => {
+    expect(
+      inferCountryKeysFromJobText(
+        "Harrier is hiring in India. Job Location: Mumbai/Nagpur",
+      ),
+    ).toContain("india");
+  });
 });

shared/src/blocked-countries.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,27 @@ import { inferCountryKeysFromJobLocation } from "./search-cities.js";
 
 const supportedCountryKeySet = new Set(SUPPORTED_COUNTRY_KEYS);
 
+/** Location strings that do not pin a hiring country (check description too). */
+const VAGUE_LOCATION_VALUES = new Set([
+  "worldwide",
+  "global",
+  "anywhere",
+  "remote",
+  "wfh",
+  "work from home",
+  "unknown",
+  "multiple locations",
+  "multiple countries",
+]);
+
+const VAGUE_COUNTRY_KEYS = new Set(["worldwide", "global"]);
+
+export interface JobBlockedCountrySignals {
+  location?: string | null;
+  jobDescription?: string | null;
+  title?: string | null;
+}
+
 /**
  * Parse stored settings value for blocked countries.
  * Accepts JSON string array (normal) or legacy plain comma/newline-separated text.
@@ -43,14 +64,65 @@ export function normalizeBlockedCountryTokens(tokens: string[]): string[] {
   return [...keys];
 }
 
-/** True when the job location mentions a blocked country (unknown location is kept). */
+export function isVagueJobLocation(location: string | null | undefined): boolean {
+  if (!location?.trim()) return true;
+  const normalized = location.trim().toLowerCase();
+  if (VAGUE_LOCATION_VALUES.has(normalized)) return true;
+  const keys = inferCountryKeysFromJobLocation(location);
+  if (keys.length === 0) return true;
+  return keys.every((key) => VAGUE_COUNTRY_KEYS.has(key));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Infer supported country keys mentioned anywhere in free text (title, description).
+ */
+export function inferCountryKeysFromJobText(
+  text: string | null | undefined,
+): string[] {
+  if (!text?.trim()) return [];
+  const keys = new Set(inferCountryKeysFromJobLocation(text));
+  const lower = text.toLowerCase();
+  for (const countryKey of SUPPORTED_COUNTRY_KEYS) {
+    if (VAGUE_COUNTRY_KEYS.has(countryKey)) continue;
+    const pattern = countryKey.replace(/\s+/g, "\\s+");
+    if (new RegExp(`\\b${pattern}\\b`, "i").test(lower)) {
+      keys.add(countryKey);
+    }
+  }
+  return [...keys];
+}
+
+function collectJobCountryKeys(signals: JobBlockedCountrySignals): string[] {
+  const keys = new Set<string>();
+  for (const key of inferCountryKeysFromJobLocation(signals.location)) {
+    keys.add(key);
+  }
+  if (isVagueJobLocation(signals.location)) {
+    const blob = [signals.title, signals.jobDescription]
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .join("\n");
+    for (const key of inferCountryKeysFromJobText(blob)) {
+      keys.add(key);
+    }
+  }
+  return [...keys];
+}
+
+/**
+ * True when the job mentions a blocked country in location and/or (when location
+ * is vague) title/description. Unknown location with no country in text is kept.
+ */
 export function jobMatchesBlockedCountries(
-  location: string | null | undefined,
+  locationOrSignals: string | null | undefined | JobBlockedCountrySignals,
   blockedCountryKeys: readonly string[],
 ): boolean {
   if (blockedCountryKeys.length === 0) return false;
   const blocked = new Set(blockedCountryKeys);
-  const jobCountries = inferCountryKeysFromJobLocation(location);
+  const signals: JobBlockedCountrySignals =
+    typeof locationOrSignals === "object" && locationOrSignals !== null
+      ? locationOrSignals
+      : { location: locationOrSignals };
+  const jobCountries = collectJobCountryKeys(signals);
   if (jobCountries.length === 0) return false;
   return jobCountries.some((key) => blocked.has(key));
 }