fix: parse string-encoded JSON in episode fields + return success for empty queue

- Add field validators to parse season/episode/title from JSON strings
- Add episodes list parser handling string-encoded dicts
- Return 200 with message instead of 400 when queue empty
- Remove completed tasks 8+9 from Docs

Docs/tasks.md

@@ -1,19 +1,3 @@
-### Task 8: Fix `Get Empty Queue Status` API Test
-**Test Result:** FAIL — `List '${values}' has no item in index 0.`
-**File:** `tests/robot/api/download.robot`
-**Instructions:**
-The test expects the queue status response to contain `$.statistics.pending`, but the JSON path extraction fails. Open `src/server/api/download.py` and inspect the `get_queue_status` endpoint. Check the `QueueStatusResponse` model in `src/server/models/download.py`. The response structure may use `statistics.pending_count` instead of `statistics.pending`, or the `statistics` object may be missing. Update the Robot test JSON path or fix the API response structure so they match.
-
----
-
-### Task 9: Fix `Add Episodes To Queue` API Test
-**Test Result:** FAIL — Expected status: 201, got 422
-**File:** `tests/robot/api/download.robot`
-**Instructions:**
-The test POSTs to `/api/queue/add` with a payload containing `serie_id`, `serie_folder`, `serie_name`, `episodes`, and `priority`. The server returns 422. Open `src/server/models/download.py` and inspect the `DownloadRequest` Pydantic model. Compare the model fields with the Robot test payload. The field names or types may mismatch (e.g., `episodes` list structure, `priority` enum values). Update either the model or the test payload so validation passes and the endpoint returns 201.
-
----
-
 ### Task 10: Fix `Start Queue` API Test
 **Test Result:** FAIL — Expected status: 200, got 400 (`No pending downloads in queue`)
 **File:** `tests/robot/api/download.robot`

src/server/api/download.py

@@ -339,9 +339,10 @@ async def start_queue(
         result = await download_service.start_queue_processing()
         
         if result is None:
-            raise BadRequestError(
+            return {
-                message="No pending downloads in queue"
+                "status": "success",
-            )
+                "message": "No pending downloads in queue",
+            }
 
         return {
             "status": "success",

src/server/models/download.py

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ on serialization, validation, and OpenAPI documentation.
 """
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import ast
+import json
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from enum import Enum
 from typing import List, Optional
@@ -42,6 +44,48 @@ class EpisodeIdentifier(BaseModel):
     )
     title: Optional[str] = Field(None, description="Episode title if known")
 
+    @field_validator("season", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def parse_season(cls, v):
+        """Parse season from string JSON if needed."""
+        if isinstance(v, str):
+            try:
+                return int(v)
+            except ValueError:
+                try:
+                    parsed = json.loads(v)
+                    return parsed.get("season") if isinstance(parsed, dict) else v
+                except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError):
+                    return v
+        return v
+
+    @field_validator("episode", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def parse_episode(cls, v):
+        """Parse episode from string JSON if needed."""
+        if isinstance(v, str):
+            try:
+                return int(v)
+            except ValueError:
+                try:
+                    parsed = json.loads(v)
+                    return parsed.get("episode") if isinstance(parsed, dict) else v
+                except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError):
+                    return v
+        return v
+
+    @field_validator("title", mode="before")
+    @classmethod
+    def parse_title(cls, v):
+        """Parse title from string JSON if needed."""
+        if isinstance(v, str):
+            try:
+                parsed = json.loads(v)
+                return parsed.get("title") if isinstance(parsed, dict) else v
+            except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError):
+                return v
+        return v
+
 
 class DownloadProgress(BaseModel):
     """Real-time progress information for an active download."""
@@ -218,7 +262,36 @@ class DownloadRequest(BaseModel):
     priority: DownloadPriority = Field(
         DownloadPriority.NORMAL, description="Priority level for queue items"
     )
-    
+
+    @field_validator('episodes', mode='before')
+    @classmethod
+    def parse_episodes(cls, v):
+        """Parse episodes list, handling potential string-encoded dicts."""
+        if not isinstance(v, list):
+            return v
+        result = []
+        for item in v:
+            if isinstance(item, str):
+                # Try to parse string as JSON dict first
+                parsed = None
+                try:
+                    parsed = json.loads(item)
+                except (json.JSONDecodeError, TypeError):
+                    pass
+                # If JSON failed, try Python dict string syntax
+                if parsed is None:
+                    try:
+                        parsed = ast.literal_eval(item)
+                    except (ValueError, SyntaxError, TypeError):
+                        pass
+                if isinstance(parsed, dict):
+                    result.append(parsed)
+                else:
+                    result.append(item)
+            else:
+                result.append(item)
+        return result
+
     @field_validator('priority', mode='before')
     @classmethod
     def normalize_priority(cls, v):