Convert synchronous HTTP calls to async in AI endpoints

[SarveshShahane]

Closes #177

Description

This pull request resolves a critical performance bottleneck in the AI service endpoints by converting blocking synchronous HTTP requests to asynchronous operations. The issue was identified where requests library calls were blocking FastAPI's event loop, preventing concurrent request handling and causing significant performance degradation under load.

The refactor maintains 100% backward compatibility while dramatically improving the application's ability to handle concurrent requests. All external API calls to Gemini AI and YouTube Data API have been converted from synchronous requests to asynchronous httpx operations, enabling true non-blocking I/O operations.

Changes Made

Core HTTP Client Migration

• Replaced requests with httpx.AsyncClient for all external API communications
• Converted blocking functions to async/await pattern:
  • fetch_from_gemini() → async def fetch_from_gemini()
  • get_youtube_channel_info() → async def get_youtube_channel_info()
• Updated all route handlers to use async def for proper async context management

Async Implementation Details

• Implemented proper async context managers with async with httpx.AsyncClient() for automatic resource cleanup
• Converted retry mechanisms from time.sleep() to await asyncio.sleep() to maintain non-blocking behavior
• Added comprehensive timeout configuration using httpx.Timeout() for better connection management
• Preserved all existing retry logic including exponential backoff and specific HTTP status code handling

Code Quality Improvements

• Added type hints with from typing import Optional import for better code maintainability
• Optimized error handling while maintaining existing exception patterns
• Cleaned up URL construction and simplified variable assignments
• Enhanced logging consistency throughout async operations

Files Modified

• ai.py - Complete async transformation of AI endpoints

Performance Optimizations

• Eliminated event loop blocking during external API calls
• Enabled true concurrent request processing for multiple simultaneous users
• Improved resource utilization with proper async connection pooling
• Reduced response latency under concurrent load scenarios

Dependency Management

• Leveraged existing httpx==0.28.1 dependency (no new packages required)
• Maintained compatibility with existing supabase client operations
• Preserved all environment variable handling and validation logic

Business Logic Preservation

• Zero changes to API contracts - same endpoints, parameters, and response formats
• Maintained data processing logic including JSON parsing and Markdown cleanup
• Preserved caching mechanisms with Supabase integration
• Kept fallback strategies for API failure scenarios intact
• Maintained existing validation and error messaging

Collaboration

Individual contribution - comprehensive async refactor based on performance analysis and best practices for FastAPI applications.

Checklist

• I have read the contributing guidelines.
• I have verified that all HTTP calls are properly converted to async operations.
• I have ensured backward compatibility with existing API contracts.
• I have validated that retry logic and error handling remain intact.
• I have confirmed that no new dependencies were introduced.
• I have tested that the async implementation maintains all business logic.
• I have verified proper resource cleanup with async context managers.
• Any dependent changes have been merged and published in downstream modules.

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