Comments join attachments on the card face — a quiet bubble-and-count chip, present-only

A card whose thread holds one comment or more now draws a second trailing chip beside the
paperclip: a secondary-tinted bubble glyph plus its count, shown only when the count is above
zero (design ruling 2026-08-09, card e729e30a). Same styling family as the attachments chip —
caption size, secondary tint, decorative and hidden outright from the accessibility tree — but
this one carries a visible count rather than staying icon-only, per the ruling's own "bubble-style
SF Symbol + count." It sits after the attachments chip at the row's trailing edge, in both the
live title row and the drag replica.

The count is a new `Card.commentCount` field the loader fills with a readdir over `comments/`'s
identity-shaped children that carry their own `index.md` — `BoardLoader.commentCount(in:)`, built
on the same `identityShapedChildren` predicate a trash entry's held-card count already uses. Never
a parse: `.draft` and `.trash/` are excluded for free, the same dot-prefixed hidden-entry skip
`CommentThread.load` documents for both, so the walk stays exactly the O(cards) shape
01-storage-format.md § Enhanced schema already commits to. Because the count rides inside the
`card: Card` parameter `CardFaceView` already takes — not a new parameter of its own — drawing the
chip costs nothing beyond a field read on an already-compared value: no new Observable read joins
the body, and the equatable gate already covers it via `Card`'s synthesized `Equatable`.

The one divergence from the comments pane's parsed count is documented rather than hidden: a
comment folder whose `index.md` exists but fails to parse is a `Stray` the thread read excludes by
opening and rejecting it, a cost this readdir does not pay. The face may then read one comment
high until that folder is fixed or removed — the trade the ruling's "cheap directory-entry count…
not a parse" asks for, over paying full parse cost on every card of every load. Every well-formed
comment, and every card with no malformed one, agrees with the pane exactly.

VoiceOver: `AccessibilityPhrases.cardValue` gains a `comments: Int` parameter, appended after
attachments and before the cut-pending phrase — the same left-to-right order the two chips draw
in, so a sighted read and a VoiceOver read never disagree about which comes first. The trashed
lane row's own call site (an opaque unit with no comments to speak of) passes `comments: 0`.

Docs: DESIGN/03-board-ui.md's card-face section describes both chips and retires the stale "closed
with no growth" sentence, honestly recording the 2026-08-09 growth (the hero banner landed hours
earlier, this chip after it) as exposure of facts the card already carries rather than a body
excerpt. DESIGN/10-accessibility.md's flattened-element sentence gains the comment count.
DESIGN/01-storage-format.md's Enhanced schema paragraph records the chip as shipped. WISHLIST #9
is marked shipped in place — not renumbered, since #10 and #11 are cross-referenced elsewhere.

Tests: CardCommentCountListingTests (BoardLoaderTests.swift) pins the readdir against a synthetic
tree — no comments/ folder, an empty one, non-identity-shaped and index-less strays excluded,
.draft/.trash/ excluded for free, agreement with CommentThread.load's parsed count in the
well-formed case, and the one documented divergence on a malformed index.md.
AccessibilityPhrasesTests covers cardValue's new parameter alone, alongside attachments, and
all three fragments together. ViewEquatableTests pins that a comment landing on a card is a gate
difference. BoardRenderPerformanceTests adds a render-cost guard: one comment added to one card
on a hosted 180-card board re-renders a handful of bodies, not the board.

Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_014PtZdPwqZuqEDLc6wZMtEy

Kanban/UI/AccessibilityPhrases.swift

@@ -128,17 +128,27 @@ enum AccessibilityPhrases {
     /// the dim is the sighted signal, this is the other one.
     static let cutPending = "cut, pending paste"
 
-    /// A card element's value — the attachment count when it has files, the cut-pending phrase when
-    /// it is staged for paste, both when both, and **the empty string when neither**.
+    /// A card element's value — the attachment count and the comment count when the card has either
+    /// (design ruling 2026-08-09, card e729e30a — the comments chip's face value gains "N comments"
+    /// beside the existing attachment wording), the cut-pending phrase when it is staged for paste,
+    /// any mix of the three, and **the empty string when none apply**.
+    ///
+    /// **Attachments before comments**, matching the chips' own left-to-right order on the face
+    /// (`CardFaceView.titleRow`: attachments, then comments) — one reading order for the two
+    /// surfaces, so a sighted user's eye and a VoiceOver user's ear never disagree about which comes
+    /// first. `commentCount` is `AccessibilityPhrases`' own — the pane's plural folding, reused
+    /// rather than restated, so a face value and the comments pane's header can never fold "1
+    /// comment" two different ways.
     ///
     /// Empty rather than `nil` on purpose: the modifier that consumes it is unconditional, because a
     /// `if` around `.accessibilityValue` would put the whole card face inside a `_ConditionalContent`
     /// that flips identity — and therefore rebuilds the face, dropping its measured height and its
-    /// marquee registration — the moment an attachment lands or a cut is pasted. An empty AXValue
-    /// speaks as nothing, which is exactly what "no value" should sound like.
-    static func cardValue(attachments: Int, isCutPending: Bool) -> String {
+    /// marquee registration — the moment an attachment lands, a comment posts, or a cut is pasted. An
+    /// empty AXValue speaks as nothing, which is exactly what "no value" should sound like.
+    static func cardValue(attachments: Int, comments: Int, isCutPending: Bool) -> String {
         var parts: [String] = []
         if attachments > 0 { parts.append(attachmentCount(attachments)) }
+        if comments > 0 { parts.append(commentCount(comments)) }
         if isCutPending { parts.append(cutPending) }
         return parts.joined(separator: ", ")
     }

Kanban/UI/Board/BoardMetrics.swift

@@ -185,11 +185,20 @@ enum BoardMetrics {
         em(0.75, bodyPointSize: bodyPointSize)
     }
 
-    /// Between the icon, the title and the attachments chip.
+    /// Between the icon, the title and the two trailing chips — attachments, then comments
+    /// (`CardFaceView.titleRow`; the comments chip joined 2026-08-09).
     static func cardRowSpacing(bodyPointSize: CGFloat) -> CGFloat {
         em(0.45, bodyPointSize: bodyPointSize)
     }
 
+    /// Inside the comments chip only: between its bubble glyph and its count text
+    /// (`CardFaceView.commentsIndicator`) — tighter than `cardRowSpacing`, which separates the
+    /// face's own row items, because this is one chip's internal rhythm, closer to a badge's own
+    /// glyph-to-digit spacing than to a row gap.
+    static func chipGlyphSpacing(bodyPointSize: CGFloat) -> CGFloat {
+        em(0.2, bodyPointSize: bodyPointSize)
+    }
+
     /// The masonry's spacing — between interior columns and between stacked cards within a column.
     ///
     /// The lane registers this into `LaneDropRegistry.Grid`, so the drop model's analytic resting

Kanban/UI/Board/CardFaceView.swift

@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ enum CardFaceRole: Sendable {
 // MARK: - Card face
 
 /// The card face: a rounded plate carrying a leading SF Symbol, the title (or its quiet "Untitled"
-/// placeholder), a quiet trailing attachments indicator, and a left-edge colour accent stripe
-/// (03-board-ui.md § Card face, § Styling ▸ Capabilities).
+/// placeholder), two quiet trailing chips — attachments and comments, each present-only — and a
+/// left-edge colour accent stripe (03-board-ui.md § Card face, § Styling ▸ Capabilities). The
+/// comments chip joined 2026-08-09 (design ruling, card e729e30a).
 ///
 /// ### One face, two containers
 ///
@@ -96,10 +97,13 @@ enum CardFaceRole: Sendable {
 ///
 /// ### Title-only, deliberately
 ///
-/// **No body excerpt** — settled, "the face stays title-only … the old 'iterate on the card face
-/// later' item is closed with no growth". The only face chip in scope is attachments, "a quiet
-/// indicator when the card has files — the title dominates", which is why the paperclip is a
-/// secondary-tinted caption and not a count pill: the eye should land on the title.
+/// **No body excerpt** — settled, and still true after 2026-08-09's growth (the hero banner, the
+/// comments chip): the face never draws a preview of the card's own prose, and never will — what
+/// grew is exposure of facts the card already carries structurally (an attachment named as hero, a
+/// folder count), not content. Two face chips are in scope: **attachments**, "a quiet indicator when
+/// the card has files — the title dominates", and **comments**, its same-vocabulary twin — a
+/// secondary-tinted glyph (plus a count, for comments — see `commentsIndicator`) rather than a count
+/// pill, so the eye still lands on the title first.
 ///
 /// ### Two lenient fields, two different fallbacks
 ///
@@ -356,11 +360,12 @@ struct CardFaceView: View, Equatable {
         // `isRenaming` is (`CardFaceRole`).
         .accessibilityElement(children: isRenaming ? .contain : .ignore)
         .accessibilityLabel(AccessibilityPhrases.cardLabel(title: card.title.value))
-        // The attachment count, the deferred cut's "cut, pending paste", or both — and the empty
-        // string when neither, which speaks as nothing (see `AccessibilityPhrases.cardValue` for why
-        // it is not a conditional modifier).
+        // The attachment count, the comment count, the deferred cut's "cut, pending paste", or any
+        // mix of the three — and the empty string when none apply, which speaks as nothing (see
+        // `AccessibilityPhrases.cardValue` for why it is not a conditional modifier).
         .accessibilityValue(AccessibilityPhrases.cardValue(
             attachments: card.attachments.count,
+            comments: card.commentCount,
             isCutPending: store.transient.pendingCut.ids.contains(card.id)
         ))
         // "Selection state is always readable from the element (trait)" — the other half of "state
@@ -652,6 +657,7 @@ struct CardFaceView: View, Equatable {
                     .lineLimit(4)
                     .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, alignment: .leading)
                 attachmentsIndicator
+                commentsIndicator
             }
             .padding(BoardMetrics.cardContentPadding(bodyPointSize: pointSize))
             .padding(.leading, stripeWidth)
@@ -861,10 +867,11 @@ struct CardFaceView: View, Equatable {
                 .foregroundStyle(iconTint)
                 .imageScale(.medium)
             titleOrEditor
-                // The title takes the row's width so the indicator sits hard against the trailing
+                // The title takes the row's width so the chips sit hard against the trailing
                 // edge — and so the rename field fills the same span the title occupied.
                 .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, alignment: .leading)
             attachmentsIndicator
+            commentsIndicator
         }
     }
 
@@ -908,8 +915,8 @@ struct CardFaceView: View, Equatable {
         }
     }
 
-    /// The one face chip in scope — shown only when the card actually has files, and quiet enough
-    /// that the title still dominates (03-board-ui.md § Card face). The count goes to the
+    /// One of the two face chips in scope — shown only when the card actually has files, and quiet
+    /// enough that the title still dominates (03-board-ui.md § Card face). The count goes to the
     /// accessibility *value* rather than onto the face: it is useful to know, not to look at.
     ///
     /// **Decorative, and hidden outright** (10-accessibility.md): "face icon and chips are
@@ -927,6 +934,37 @@ struct CardFaceView: View, Equatable {
         }
     }
 
+    /// The comments chip — attachments' twin, joined 2026-08-09 (design ruling, card e729e30a):
+    /// shown only when the card has one comment or more, same secondary-tinted, decorative,
+    /// present-only vocabulary as `attachmentsIndicator`. **Carries a visible count**, unlike the
+    /// paperclip, because the ruling asks for "a quiet indicator (bubble-style SF Symbol + count)" —
+    /// still quiet (caption size, secondary tint, no pill background), just not icon-only; the count
+    /// answers "how many" the way a lane's own card-count badge does one level up, without spending a
+    /// tap to find out.
+    ///
+    /// **`card.commentCount` is the one and only source** — a snapshot field the loader fills with a
+    /// readdir (`BoardLoader.commentCount(in:)`, `Card.commentCount`'s own doc comment), never a
+    /// per-face parse — so drawing this chip costs nothing beyond reading a field already on the
+    /// compared `card` parameter (RENDER-INSTRUMENTATION.md ▸ Selection is O(board) in card bodies:
+    /// no new Observable read joins this body, and no new `CardFaceView` parameter was needed either,
+    /// since the count already rides inside `card`).
+    ///
+    /// **Decorative and hidden outright**, `attachmentsIndicator`'s exact reasons: the flattened
+    /// element carries the comment count in its value (`AccessibilityPhrases.cardValue`), so a label
+    /// here would be redundant even before the flattening drops it.
+    @ViewBuilder
+    private var commentsIndicator: some View {
+        if card.commentCount > 0 {
+            HStack(spacing: BoardMetrics.chipGlyphSpacing(bodyPointSize: pointSize)) {
+                Image(systemName: "bubble")
+                Text("\(card.commentCount)")
+            }
+            .boardFont(.caption)
+            .foregroundStyle(.secondary)
+            .accessibilityHidden(true)
+        }
+    }
+
     /// K1 · left edge stripe, painted with the resolved `background` — "a card's [colour paints] a
     /// stripe along its left edge; the surfaces themselves keep the standard chrome, so coloured
     /// title text never sits on a coloured fill" (03-board-ui.md § Styling ▸ Capabilities).

Kanban/UI/Board/TrashLaneRowView.swift

@@ -168,9 +168,11 @@ struct TrashLaneRowView: View, Equatable {
         .accessibilityElement(children: .ignore)
         .accessibilityLabel(AccessibilityPhrases.trashedLaneLabel(title: lane.title.value, cards: lane.heldCards))
         // The cut-pending phrase, on the row's value — the card element's rule, minus the attachment
-        // count an opaque unit has no answer for.
+        // and comment counts an opaque unit has no answer for (comments are card-level only, and a
+        // trashed lane's cards are not individually addressable).
         .accessibilityValue(AccessibilityPhrases.cardValue(
             attachments: 0,
+            comments: 0,
             isCutPending: store.transient.pendingCut.ids.contains(lane.id)
         ))
         .accessibilityAddTraits(isSelected ? [.isSelected] : [])