fix: avoid blocking startup on bundled skill sync

api/app.py

@@ -47,6 +47,34 @@ def _start_image_cleanup() -> Thread:
     return thread
 
 
+def _start_bundled_skill_sync() -> Thread:
+    """Synchronize bundled Skills without blocking HTTP startup.
+
+    On Hugging Face the Skills directory can live on a Storage Bucket mount.
+    Copying a large bundle to that network filesystem may take minutes on the
+    first deployment, so doing it before ``yield`` makes the whole Space appear
+    stuck even though database recovery has already completed.
+    """
+
+    def worker() -> None:
+        started_at = time.monotonic()
+        print("[skills] bundled Skill synchronization started in background")
+        try:
+            bundled_skills = skill_service.sync_bundled_skills()
+            elapsed = time.monotonic() - started_at
+            print(
+                f"[skills] synchronized {len(bundled_skills)} bundled Skills "
+                f"in {elapsed:.2f}s"
+            )
+        except Exception as exc:
+            elapsed = time.monotonic() - started_at
+            print(f"[skills] bundled Skill synchronization failed after {elapsed:.2f}s: {exc}")
+
+    thread = Thread(target=worker, name="bundled-skill-sync", daemon=True)
+    thread.start()
+    return thread
+
+
 def _web_cache_headers(full_path: str, asset: Path) -> dict[str, str]:
     clean_path = full_path.strip("/")
     suffix = asset.suffix.lower()
@@ -129,9 +157,6 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
 
     @asynccontextmanager
     async def lifespan(_: FastAPI):
-        bundled_skills = skill_service.sync_bundled_skills()
-        if bundled_skills:
-            print(f"[skills] synchronized {len(bundled_skills)} bundled Skills")
         # anyio's worker-thread limiter defaults to 40 and is shared by every
         # run_in_threadpool() call in the process.  Resize it here, inside the
         # event loop, so the whole app sees the configured capacity.
@@ -142,6 +167,7 @@ def create_app() -> FastAPI:
         backup_service.start()
         sqlite_mirror_service.start()
         pool_pricing_service.start()
+        _start_bundled_skill_sync()
         _start_image_cleanup()
         try:
             yield