diff --git a/src/utils/recommender.py b/src/utils/recommender.py
index 8304c359..99b37189 100644
--- a/src/utils/recommender.py
+++ b/src/utils/recommender.py
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ def _normalize_skill(s: str) -> str:
 # Keep the old name alive so score_single_project() and any external callers
 # that reference SKILL_ALIASES continue to work without modification.
 SKILL_ALIASES = SKILL_SYNONYMS
-
 def parse_skill_entries(skills_string):
     """Parse skills with optional per-skill proficiency levels."""
     if not skills_string or not skills_string.strip():
@@ -137,7 +136,8 @@ def parse_skill_entries(skills_string):
             parsed = json.loads(stripped)
             if isinstance(parsed, list):
                 tokens = [str(s).strip().lower() for s in parsed if str(s).strip()]
-                return [SKILL_SYNONYMS.get(token, token) for token in tokens]
+                canonical_tokens = [SKILL_SYNONYMS.get(token, token) for token in tokens]
+                return list(dict.fromkeys(canonical_tokens))
         except (json.JSONDecodeError, ValueError):
             pass  # fall through to comma-splitting
 
@@ -147,9 +147,16 @@ def parse_skill_entries(skills_string):
         for s in skills_string.split(",")
         if s.strip()  # skip blanks produced by trailing / consecutive commas
     ]
-    return [SKILL_SYNONYMS.get(token, token) for token in tokens]
+    canonical_tokens = [SKILL_SYNONYMS.get(token, token) for token in tokens]
+    return list(dict.fromkeys(canonical_tokens))
 
+def test_parse_skill_entries_deduplicates_synonyms():
+    """Verify that parse_skill_entries removes duplicate canonical tokens after alias resolution."""
+    from utils.recommender import parse_skill_entries
 
+    raw_input = "python, py, Python"
+    result = parse_skill_entries(raw_input)
+    assert result == ["python"]
 parse_skills = parse_skill_entries
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_basic.py b/tests/test_basic.py
index 44738192..bad29fe0 100644
--- a/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -1338,3 +1338,11 @@ def test_ml_recommendation_prefers_relevant_python_data_project():
     recs = results.get("recommendations", [])
     titles = [project["title"] for project in recs]
     assert any("Data" in title or "Pipeline" in title for title in titles)
+
+def test_parse_skill_entries_deduplicates_synonyms():
+    """Verify parse_skill_entries and also  removes duplicate canonical tokens after alias resolution."""
+    from utils.recommender import parse_skill_entries
+
+    raw_input = "python, py, Python"
+    result = parse_skill_entries(raw_input)
+    assert result == ["python"]