refactor(api): code-review fixes — widen iso() to date, fix import order (R6 S1a)

/code-review high round 1 (5 findings):
- iso(dt) now typed `date | None` — MediaAsset.upload_date is a plain `date`, not a
  datetime; the helper's signature was too narrow for the type-contract epic. +test.
- restore alphabetical app.* import order in audit.py and plex.py (the new iso/_common
  imports had been dropped in mid-block).
The other 3 findings are deliberate design choices, left as-is for UAT: push/push-plan
now gate write-scope before the 404 (dependency ordering); the unified 403 message; and
owned_or_404's owner_attr kept for S1b's DownloadShare.to_user_id-style owners.

Gate: ruff clean, pytest 164 green.

backend/app/routes/audit.py

@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
 from app import audit
 from app.audit import AuditAction
 from app.db import get_db
-from app.utils import iso
 from app.models import AuditLog, User
 from app.routes.admin import admin_user
+from app.utils import iso
 
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api/admin/audit", tags=["admin"])
 

backend/app/routes/plex.py

@@ -41,16 +41,16 @@ from app.models import (
     PlexState,
     User,
 )
-from app.routes._common import owned_or_404
-from app.utils import iso
 from app.plex import paths as plex_paths
 from app.plex import people as plex_people
 from app.plex import stream as plex_stream
 from app.plex import sync as plex_sync
 from app.plex import watch_sync as plex_watch
 from app.plex.client import PlexClient, PlexError, PlexNotConfigured
+from app.routes._common import owned_or_404
 from app.routes.admin import admin_user
 from app.routes.feed import _to_tsquery_str
+from app.utils import iso
 
 log = logging.getLogger("siftlode.plex")
 

backend/app/utils.py

@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 """Small cross-cutting helpers shared across modules (kept dependency-light on purpose)."""
 import re
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from datetime import date, datetime, timezone
 
 
-def iso(dt: datetime | None) -> str | None:
-    """Serialize a datetime for a JSON response: ISO-8601, or None when the column is NULL.
-    Single source of truth for the `x.isoformat() if x else None` idiom the routes had
-    hand-rolled ~17 times — so a future tz/format tweak lands in one place."""
+def iso(dt: date | None) -> str | None:
+    """Serialize a date/datetime for a JSON response: ISO-8601, or None when the column is
+    NULL. Single source of truth for the `x.isoformat() if x else None` idiom the routes had
+    hand-rolled ~17 times — so a future tz/format tweak lands in one place. Accepts `date`
+    too (datetime is a subclass) — e.g. MediaAsset.upload_date is a plain `date`."""
     return dt.isoformat() if dt is not None else None
 
 # Single source of truth for "looks like an email" — used by every endpoint that accepts an

backend/tests/test_utils.py

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-"""iso(): the single datetime→JSON serializer the routes share (R6 S1a)."""
-from datetime import datetime, timezone
+"""iso(): the single date/datetime→JSON serializer the routes share (R6 S1a)."""
+from datetime import date, datetime, timezone
 
 from app.utils import iso
 
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ def test_none_maps_to_none():
     assert iso(None) is None
 
 
+def test_plain_date_serializes_as_iso_date():
+    # MediaAsset.upload_date is a `date`, not a datetime — the contract must accept it.
+    assert iso(date(2026, 7, 26)) == "2026-07-26"
+
+
 def test_aware_datetime_keeps_offset():
     dt = datetime(2026, 7, 26, 12, 30, 0, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
     assert iso(dt) == "2026-07-26T12:30:00+00:00"