Duplicates

NeuralRepo compares each new idea against your existing ones and records pairs that score above your duplicate threshold. This API lists those detections and resolves them.

Free accounts always get an empty list

GET /ideas/duplicates returns { "duplicates": [] } for every Free account, before it touches the database — not because none were found. Detection keeps running in the background, so the backlog appears the moment you upgrade. On Free, an empty array proves nothing.

How detections appear

Detection is asynchronous and happens after capture, not during it:

1. POST /ideas returns immediately with processing: true.
2. The queue embeds the idea and compares it against your existing vectors.
3. Any pair scoring above dedup_threshold (default 0.75) is written as a pending detection.

Nothing in the create response tells you a duplicate was found — there is no synchronous warning and no blocking prompt. Poll this endpoint (or GET /review) a few seconds later instead.

List Duplicates

GET /api/v1/ideas/duplicates

Returns every pending detection where both ideas are still unarchived, highest similarity first. Dismissed and merged detections are never returned, and there is no pagination.

curl

curl https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/duplicates \
  -H "X-API-Key: nrp_YOUR_KEY"

JavaScript

const res = await fetch(
  "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/duplicates",
  { headers: { "X-API-Key": "nrp_YOUR_KEY" } }
);
const { duplicates } = await res.json();

Response 200 OK

{
  "duplicates": [
    {
      "id": 7,
      "user_id": "3f2a91c47b0e4d5aa8c61e0f2b7d4c93",
      "idea_id": 158,
      "idea_number": 58,
      "idea_title": "Add SSO support for enterprise accounts",
      "idea_body": "Larger customers keep asking for SAML...",
      "idea_status": "captured",
      "idea_source": "cli",
      "idea_created_at": "2026-03-22 13:58:00",
      "duplicate_of_id": 137,
      "duplicate_number": 42,
      "duplicate_title": "Enterprise SSO integration",
      "duplicate_body": "SAML and OIDC for teams...",
      "duplicate_status": "exploring",
      "duplicate_source": "web",
      "duplicate_created_at": "2026-02-11 09:04:00",
      "similarity_score": 0.94,
      "status": "pending",
      "created_at": "2026-03-22 14:00:00"
    }
  ]
}

Field	Meaning
id	The detection id — this is what the dismiss and merge endpoints take
idea_id	The idea whose capture or edit triggered the detection — normally the newer one
duplicate_of_id	The older idea it matched
idea_body, duplicate_body	First 280 characters only, for previewing
similarity_score	Cosine similarity, 0–1
status	Always pending in this listing

idea_number and duplicate_number are display numbers for showing the user; every write endpoint here takes the detection id, and the merge acts on the two idea ids.

Dismiss Duplicate

POST /api/v1/ideas/duplicates/:id/dismiss

Marks the detection as dismissed. Both ideas are left exactly as they are, and the pair never appears in the list again.

curl

curl -X POST https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/duplicates/7/dismiss \
  -H "X-API-Key: nrp_YOUR_KEY"

JavaScript

const res = await fetch(
  "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/duplicates/7/dismiss",
  { method: "POST", headers: { "X-API-Key": "nrp_YOUR_KEY" } }
);

Response 200 OK

{
  "success": true
}

Only a pending detection can be dismissed. Dismissing one that is already dismissed or merged returns 404 { "error": "Duplicate not found or already resolved" } — the same body as an id that does not exist.

Merge Duplicate

POST /api/v1/ideas/duplicates/:id/merge

Folds the two ideas together and marks the detection merged.

The newer idea survives, and relations do not move

This merge keeps idea_id — the idea that triggered the detection — and archives duplicate_of_id, the older one. That is the opposite of what most people assume, and it is also the opposite survivor from POST /ideas/:id/merge, where you choose the keeper. Relations on the archived idea are not repointed here, so its connections are lost from the graph.

curl -X POST https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/duplicates/7/merge \
  -H "X-API-Key: nrp_YOUR_KEY"

Exactly what happens, compared with the general merge:

Aspect	duplicates/:id/merge	ideas/:id/merge
Survivor	idea_id — the newer idea	The id in the path; you choose
Body	Both joined with \n\n---\n\n	Both joined with \n\n---\n\n
Tags	Union of both	Union of both
created_at	The earlier of the two	The earlier of the two
Relations	Not transferred	Repointed onto the survivor
Links	Not transferred	Not transferred
Loser’s status	Unchanged, just archived	Set to shelved, then archived
Detection row	Marked merged	Untouched
Response	{ "success": true }	The surviving idea object

Archiving is permanent, so pick deliberately: if the older idea is the one with the relations, the history, or the better title, dismiss the detection and use POST /ideas/:id/merge instead, naming the keeper yourself.

Response 200 OK

{
  "success": true
}

Workflow

1. List pending detections with GET /ideas/duplicates.
2. Compare idea_title/idea_body against duplicate_title/duplicate_body.
3. Dismiss false positives — nothing changes.
4. For true duplicates, decide which idea should survive:
   • the newer one → POST /ideas/duplicates/:id/merge;
   • the older one, or you want relations preserved → dismiss, then POST /ideas/:id/merge with the keeper in the path.

Tune how many detections you get with the dedup_threshold user setting: raise it for fewer, stricter matches.

Status Codes

Status	Meaning
200 OK	Listed, dismissed, or merged
400 Bad Request	:id is not a number
401 Unauthorized	Missing or invalid auth
404 Not Found	Detection not found, not yours, or already dismissed/merged

No endpoint here returns 403 on Free — the list simply comes back empty.

Next Steps

Duplicate detection concepts How the threshold works, what the background pass compares, and how to tune it.

Review Queue The same detections alongside stale ideas and fresh connections, in one call.

Ideas The general merge, where you choose which idea survives.

User & Settings Set dedup_threshold and the other similarity thresholds.