diff --git a/packages/api/src/events/user/user_created.ts b/packages/api/src/events/user/user_created.ts
index eb882c39b..25c5e15cc 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/events/user/user_created.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/events/user/user_created.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import {
   InsertEvent,
 } from 'typeorm'
 import { Profile } from '../../entity/profile'
-import { env } from '../../env'
 import { createPubSubClient } from '../../pubsub'
 import { addPopularReadsForNewUser } from '../../services/popular_reads'
 import { IntercomClient } from '../../utils/intercom'
diff --git a/packages/api/src/resolvers/recommendations/index.ts b/packages/api/src/resolvers/recommendations/index.ts
index 95f8585f2..d3062dc5d 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/resolvers/recommendations/index.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/resolvers/recommendations/index.ts
@@ -283,9 +283,9 @@ export const recommendHighlightsResolver = authorized<
                 {
                   id: group.id,
                   note: input.note,
-                  recommender: user,
+                  recommender: { id: uid },
                   createdAt: new Date(),
-                  libraryItem: item,
+                  libraryItem: { id: item.id },
                 },
                 auth,
                 input.highlightIds
diff --git a/packages/api/src/services/recommendation.ts b/packages/api/src/services/recommendation.ts
index cd5558b97..85197f302 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/services/recommendation.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/services/recommendation.ts
@@ -16,21 +16,6 @@ export const addRecommendation = async (
   try {
     // check if the item is already recommended to the group
     let recommendedItem = await findLibraryItemByUrl(item.originalUrl, userId)
-    // if (existingItem) {
-    //   const existingHighlights = existingItem.highlights || []
-
-    //   // remove duplicates
-    //   const newHighlights =
-    //     highlights?.filter(
-    //       (highlight) =>
-    //         !existingHighlights.find(
-    //           (existingHighlight) => existingHighlight.quote === highlight.quote
-    //         )
-    //     ) || []
-
-    //   return existingItem
-    // }
-
     if (!recommendedItem) {
       // create a new item
       const newItem: DeepPartial<LibraryItem> = {
@@ -103,6 +88,6 @@ export const findRecommendationsByLibraryItemId = async (
     relations: {
       group: true,
       recommender: true,
-    }
+    },
   })
 }
diff --git a/packages/db/migrations/0129.do.add_recommender_names_to_library_item.sql b/packages/db/migrations/0129.do.add_recommender_names_to_library_item.sql
index 68f5b20d2..bf1d8597a 100755
--- a/packages/db/migrations/0129.do.add_recommender_names_to_library_item.sql
+++ b/packages/db/migrations/0129.do.add_recommender_names_to_library_item.sql
@@ -4,33 +4,33 @@
 
 BEGIN;
 
-ALTER TABLE omnivore.library_item ADD COLUMN recommender_names text[] DEFAULT '{}'::text[];
+ALTER TABLE omnivore.library_item ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS recommender_names text[] DEFAULT '{}'::text[];
 
 CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION update_library_item_recommenders()
 RETURNS trigger AS $$
 BEGIN
     -- update library_item recommender names from user and group table name column
     UPDATE omnivore.library_item
-    SET recommender_names = (
+    SET recommender_names = array_cat(recommender_names, (
         SELECT array_agg(DISTINCT name)
         FROM (
             SELECT name
             FROM omnivore.user
-            WHERE id = NEW.user_id
+            WHERE id = NEW.recommender_id
             UNION
             SELECT name
             FROM omnivore.group
             WHERE id = NEW.group_id
         ) AS recommender_names
-    )
+    ))
     WHERE id = NEW.library_item_id;
 
-    return NEW;
+    RETURN NEW;
 END;
 $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
 
 CREATE TRIGGER library_item_recommenders_update
-AFTER INSERT ON omnivore.recommendation
+BEFORE INSERT ON omnivore.recommendation
 FOR EACH ROW
 EXECUTE FUNCTION update_library_item_recommenders();