diff --git a/src/lib/curriculumService.js b/src/lib/curriculumService.js
index 4816b94..37d5335 100644
--- a/src/lib/curriculumService.js
+++ b/src/lib/curriculumService.js
@@ -147,34 +147,56 @@ Rules:
 - Do NOT invent theme or topic references — use only the provided values
 - Emit via emit_curriculum_schedule tool — no prose`;
 
-  // Try generation
+  // Try generation with a retry mechanism if validation fails
   let result;
-  try {
-    result = await callLLM({
-      task: 'curriculum.generate',
-      tier: 'standard',
-      system: cachedSystem(SYSTEM_PROMPT),
-      user: userPrompt,
-      tools: [EMIT_CURRICULUM_SCHEDULE_TOOL],
-      toolChoice: { type: 'tool', name: EMIT_CURRICULUM_SCHEDULE_TOOL.name },
-      maxTokens: 8192,
-      temperature: 0,
-    });
-  } catch (err) {
-    throw new Error(`AI generation failed: ${err.message}`);
+  let schedule;
+  let validationErrors = [];
+
+  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= 2; attempt++) {
+    let prompt = userPrompt;
+    if (attempt > 1) {
+      prompt = `${userPrompt}\n\nWARNING: The previous generation attempt failed validation with the following errors. Please correct them:\n- ${validationErrors.join('\n- ')}`;
+    }
+
+    try {
+      result = await callLLM({
+        task: 'curriculum.generate',
+        tier: 'standard',
+        system: cachedSystem(SYSTEM_PROMPT),
+        user: prompt,
+        tools: [EMIT_CURRICULUM_SCHEDULE_TOOL],
+        toolChoice: { type: 'tool', name: EMIT_CURRICULUM_SCHEDULE_TOOL.name },
+        maxTokens: 8192,
+        temperature: 0,
+      });
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (attempt === 2) {
+        throw new Error(`AI generation failed: ${err.message}`);
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const emitted = result.toolUses[0]?.input;
+    if (!emitted || !emitted.weeks) {
+      validationErrors = ['The AI did not emit a valid curriculum schedule structure.'];
+      if (attempt === 2) {
+        throw new Error('The AI did not emit a valid curriculum schedule.');
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    schedule = emitted.weeks;
+    const validation = validateSchedule(schedule, topics);
+    if (validation.valid) {
+      validationErrors = [];
+      break;
+    } else {
+      validationErrors = validation.errors;
+    }
   }
 
-  const emitted = result.toolUses[0]?.input;
-  if (!emitted || !emitted.weeks) {
-    throw new Error('The AI did not emit a valid curriculum schedule.');
-  }
-
-  const schedule = emitted.weeks;
-  
-  // Validate
-  const validation = validateSchedule(schedule, topics);
-  if (!validation.valid) {
-    throw new Error(`Generated schedule failed validation:\n- ${validation.errors.join('\n- ')}`);
+  if (validationErrors.length > 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Generated schedule failed validation after retry:\n- ${validationErrors.join('\n- ')}`);
   }
   
   const stats = computeCoverageStats(schedule, topics);
@@ -206,15 +228,24 @@ export async function confirmVersion(versionId, adminUserId) {
   }
   
   const currentActive = await db.getActiveCurriculumVersion();
-  if (currentActive) {
-    await db.updateCurriculumVersion(currentActive.id, { status: 'superseded' });
-  }
   
-  return db.updateCurriculumVersion(versionId, {
+  // Set the new version to active first to ensure we never have zero active versions
+  const updated = await db.updateCurriculumVersion(versionId, {
     status: 'active',
     confirmed_by: adminUserId,
     confirmed_at: new Date().toISOString(),
   });
+  
+  // Supercede old active version gracefully
+  if (currentActive) {
+    try {
+      await db.updateCurriculumVersion(currentActive.id, { status: 'superseded' });
+    } catch (e) {
+      console.warn('[Curriculum] Failed to supersede old active version, but new version was successfully activated:', e.message);
+    }
+  }
+  
+  return updated;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -257,8 +288,9 @@ export async function getCurrentWeekContent(isoWeekNumber) {
   if (!scheduleWeek) return null;
   
   const topics = await db.getTopics();
+  const topicMap = new Map(topics.map(t => [t.id, t]));
   const weekTopics = scheduleWeek.topic_ids
-    .map(id => topics.find(t => t.id === id))
+    .map(id => topicMap.get(id))
     .filter(Boolean);
     
   return {
@@ -333,12 +365,12 @@ export async function enrichTopicsForCurriculum() {
         for (const update of enrichedBatch) {
           const original = allTopics.find(t => t.id === update.id);
           if (original) {
-            await db.saveTopics([{
+            await db.upsertTopic({
               ...original,
               theme: update.theme,
               complexity_weight: update.complexity_weight,
               difficulty: update.difficulty
-            }]);
+            });
             totalEnriched++;
           }
         }
diff --git a/src/lib/db.js b/src/lib/db.js
index eb0fb93..b3dabb2 100644
--- a/src/lib/db.js
+++ b/src/lib/db.js
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ export async function saveTopics(topics) {
       description: t.description,
       learning_relevance: t.learning_relevance || 'standard',
       relevance_locked: t.relevance_locked === true,
+      theme: t.theme || '',
+      complexity_weight: t.complexity_weight || 3,
+      difficulty: t.difficulty || 'intermediate',
     }, { requestKey: null });
   }
 }