diff --git a/atlasbot/engine/answerer.py b/atlasbot/engine/answerer.py
index 2205043..55d811a 100644
--- a/atlasbot/engine/answerer.py
+++ b/atlasbot/engine/answerer.py
@@ -1179,30 +1179,60 @@ def _select_chunks(
     if not chunks:
         return []
     ranked = sorted(chunks, key=lambda item: scores.get(item["id"], 0.0), reverse=True)
-    selected: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
-    head = chunks[0]
-    selected.append(head)
-    id_map = {item["id"]: item for item in chunks}
-    if must_ids:
-        for cid in must_ids:
-            item = id_map.get(cid)
-            if item and item not in selected:
-                selected.append(item)
-                if len(selected) >= plan.chunk_top:
-                    return selected
+    selected: list[dict[str, Any]] = [chunks[0]]
+    if _append_must_chunks(chunks, selected, must_ids, plan.chunk_top):
+        return selected
+    if _append_keyword_chunks(ranked, selected, keywords, plan.chunk_top):
+        return selected
+    _append_ranked_chunks(ranked, selected, plan.chunk_top)
+    return selected
 
+
+def _append_must_chunks(
+    chunks: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    selected: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    must_ids: list[str] | None,
+    limit: int,
+) -> bool:
+    if not must_ids:
+        return False
+    id_map = {item["id"]: item for item in chunks}
+    for cid in must_ids:
+        item = id_map.get(cid)
+        if item and item not in selected:
+            selected.append(item)
+            if len(selected) >= limit:
+                return True
+    return False
+
+
+def _append_keyword_chunks(
+    ranked: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    selected: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    keywords: list[str] | None,
+    limit: int,
+) -> bool:
+    if not ranked:
+        return False
+    head = ranked[0]
     for item in _keyword_hits(ranked, head, keywords):
-        if len(selected) >= plan.chunk_top:
-            return selected
         if item not in selected:
             selected.append(item)
+            if len(selected) >= limit:
+                return True
+    return False
 
+
+def _append_ranked_chunks(
+    ranked: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    selected: list[dict[str, Any]],
+    limit: int,
+) -> None:
     for item in ranked:
-        if len(selected) >= plan.chunk_top:
+        if len(selected) >= limit:
             break
         if item not in selected:
             selected.append(item)
-    return selected
 
 
 def _format_runbooks(runbooks: list[str]) -> str: