Status endpoints hardcode healthy subsystem state instead of checking dependencies

[tg12]

Summary

GeoSentinel exposes subsystem status routes that report healthy/connected state from hardcoded literals instead of checking the actual AI or satellite integrations.

Evidence

• https://github.com/h9zdev/GeoSentinel/blob/main/app.py#L2644-L2652 returns status: "CONNECTED", engine: "HuggingFace Llama-3.1-8B", and web_search: "DuckDuckGo_Scraper_Active" without any runtime check.
• https://github.com/h9zdev/GeoSentinel/blob/main/app.py#L2657-L2664 returns HighSight satellite status as online, UPLINK_ESTABLISHED, and key_active: True from a static JSON body.
• The same routes exist in the alternate executable entrypoint as well: https://github.com/h9zdev/GeoSentinel/blob/main/app-exe.py#L1888-L1896

Why this matters

A status endpoint is supposed to reduce uncertainty. These routes do the opposite: they can report a healthy AI/search/satellite stack even when the upstream keys are absent, providers are offline, or the feature is just a placeholder.

Attack or failure scenario

An operator checks the product's status panel during an outage or missing-key deployment. The UI or monitoring path sees CONNECTED / online and keeps routing work through a dead subsystem, delaying diagnosis and eroding trust in every other status signal.

Root cause

Health and status were implemented as static branding responses rather than dependency-aware readiness checks.

Recommended fix

1. Replace hardcoded status payloads with explicit dependency probes or feature-disabled states.
2. Distinguish configured, reachable, degraded, and unavailable states.
3. Remove placeholder provider claims until real integrations exist.
4. Add tests that fail when a status route reports healthy state without the required backing dependency.

Acceptance criteria

• Status routes reflect actual dependency configuration and reachability.
• Placeholder integrations no longer report healthy state by default.
• Monitoring/health responses can distinguish misconfiguration from upstream outage.

Suggested labels

• bug
• observability
• production-readiness
• reliability

Priority

P1 (High)

Severity

High — the system lies about subsystem health in routes that operators are likely to trust.

Confidence

Confirmed — the hardcoded success payloads are explicit in source.