diff --git a/background.js b/background.js
index 182bf6a..b6561c1 100644
--- a/background.js
+++ b/background.js
@@ -24,18 +24,18 @@ async function handleGeminiRequest({ apiKey, prompt, tab, action = 'generateText
     throw new Error('Daily limit reached (1,000 requests). Resets at midnight PT.');
   }
 
-  // Truncate text
-  const maxChars = 6000;
+  // Truncate text — 12k chars to fit list_analysis prompts
+  const maxChars = 12000;
   const trimmedPrompt = prompt && prompt.length > maxChars
     ? prompt.substring(0, maxChars) + '\n\n[Truncated]'
     : prompt;
 
   const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
-  const RETRY_DELAYS = [2000, 20000, 30000];
+  const RETRY_DELAYS = [0, 15000, 30000]; // No delay on first attempt
   let lastError = '';
 
   for (let attempt = 0; attempt < MAX_RETRIES; attempt++) {
-    await delay(RETRY_DELAYS[attempt]);
+    if (RETRY_DELAYS[attempt] > 0) await delay(RETRY_DELAYS[attempt]);
 
     try {
       const response = await fetch('https://cv.intaleqapp.com/cv/server/generate_cv.php', {
@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ async function handleGeminiRequest({ apiKey, prompt, tab, action = 'generateText
         } else {
           const text = data.candidates?.[0]?.content?.parts?.[0]?.text;
           if (!text) {
-            lastError = 'Empty response from API.';
+            console.error('[LJA-BG] Empty text. Full response:', JSON.stringify(data).substring(0, 500));
+            lastError = 'Empty response from API. Server returned: ' + JSON.stringify(data).substring(0, 200);
             continue;
           }
           await incrementUsage();
diff --git a/server/generate_cv.php b/server/generate_cv.php
index 5c50bed..c30cea2 100644
--- a/server/generate_cv.php
+++ b/server/generate_cv.php
@@ -48,9 +48,8 @@ if (empty($apiKey)) {
     exit;
 }
 
-// $model = "gemini-flash-lite-latest";
-$model = "gemini-flash-lite-latest";
-// $model = "gemini-2.5-flash";
+// gemini-2.5-flash is required for reliable structured JSON output (list_analysis)
+$model = "gemini-2.5-flash";
 $geminiUrl = "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/{$model}:generateContent?key=" . $apiKey;
 
 // ==========================================