feat: render recent comments in the bulk issue list

A populated list used to look like nothing had comments, because only a single-issue refresh fetched them. The bulk and Custom View queries now pull each issue's most recent comments and render them under the Comments heading, with a marker showing how many are shown against the total: 💬 5/18, or 💬 5/25+ once the count passes the cap.

Linear's API has no comment total (no commentCount on Issue, no totalCount on the connection), so I fetch one more than pearl-list-comments-count-cap newest-first: that gives an exact total up to the cap and a "+" beyond it, in a single round trip. pearl-list-comments-shown (default 5) caps how many render. pearl-fetch-comments-in-list (default on) turns the whole thing off to keep the fetch light. The single-issue refresh still shows the full thread, uncapped and unmarked.

The marker sits on the Comments heading rather than the issue title, so it stays out of the title-sync hash. I relaxed the append locator to match a marked heading, so adding a comment still finds the existing subtree instead of creating a second one. Verified live: the capped fragment is accepted and the markers render correctly.

3 files changed, 157 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/tests/test-pearl-list-comments.el b/tests/test-pearl-list-comments.el
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..630c712
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-pearl-list-comments.el
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+;;; test-pearl-list-comments.el --- Tests for comments in the bulk list -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
+
+;; Copyright (C) 2026 Craig Jennings
+
+;; Author: Craig Jennings <c@cjennings.net>
+
+;; This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+;; it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+;; the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+;; (at your option) any later version.
+
+;; This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+;; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+;; GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+;; along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+;;; Commentary:
+
+;; Tests for rendering comments in the bulk issue list: the per-issue cap
+;; (`pearl--cap-issue-list-comments'), the `💬 shown/total' marker
+;; (`pearl--comment-count-marker', the Comments heading), and the way the
+;; append locator tolerates the marked heading so a later add-comment finds the
+;; existing subtree instead of creating a second one.
+
+;;; Code:
+
+(require 'test-bootstrap (expand-file-name "test-bootstrap.el"))
+
+(defun test-pearl--comments (n)
+  "Return N comment plists, newest-first (createdAt descending), as the fetch returns."
+  (let (out)
+    (dotimes (i n)
+      ;; i=0 is the newest; pad the index so string< orders correctly
+      (push (list :id (format "c%02d" (- n i))
+                  :author "A"
+                  :created-at (format "2026-05-%02dT00:00:00.000Z" (- n i))
+                  :body (format "comment %d" (- n i)))
+            out))
+    (nreverse out)))
+
+;;; --cap-issue-list-comments
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-cap-comments-under-shown ()
+  "Fewer comments than the shown cap keeps them all with an exact total."
+  (let ((pearl-list-comments-shown 5) (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    (let ((out (pearl--cap-issue-list-comments
+                (list :id "u" :comments (test-pearl--comments 3)))))
+      (should (= 3 (length (plist-get out :comments))))
+      (should (equal '(:shown 3 :total 3 :overflow nil)
+                     (plist-get out :comment-count))))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-cap-comments-over-shown-under-cap ()
+  "More than the shown cap but within the count cap: show 5, total exact."
+  (let ((pearl-list-comments-shown 5) (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    (let ((out (pearl--cap-issue-list-comments
+                (list :id "u" :comments (test-pearl--comments 18)))))
+      (should (= 5 (length (plist-get out :comments))))
+      (should (equal '(:shown 5 :total 18 :overflow nil)
+                     (plist-get out :comment-count))))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-cap-comments-over-count-cap-overflows ()
+  "More than the count cap: total pins to the cap and overflows."
+  (let ((pearl-list-comments-shown 5) (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    ;; the fetch pulls cap+1 = 26 to detect overflow
+    (let ((out (pearl--cap-issue-list-comments
+                (list :id "u" :comments (test-pearl--comments 26)))))
+      (should (= 5 (length (plist-get out :comments))))
+      (should (equal '(:shown 5 :total 25 :overflow t)
+                     (plist-get out :comment-count))))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-cap-comments-none-unchanged ()
+  "An issue with no fetched comments is returned untouched, with no marker."
+  (let ((issue (list :id "u" :comments nil)))
+    (let ((out (pearl--cap-issue-list-comments issue)))
+      (should-not (plist-get out :comments))
+      (should-not (plist-get out :comment-count)))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-cap-comments-keeps-the-newest ()
+  "The cap keeps the newest `shown' comments (input arrives newest-first)."
+  (let ((pearl-list-comments-shown 3) (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    (let* ((out (pearl--cap-issue-list-comments
+                 (list :id "u" :comments (test-pearl--comments 7))))
+           (ids (mapcar (lambda (c) (plist-get c :id)) (plist-get out :comments))))
+      ;; newest three are c07, c06, c05 (the head of the newest-first list)
+      (should (equal '("c07" "c06" "c05") ids)))))
+
+;;; --comment-count-marker
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-comment-count-marker-forms ()
+  "The marker renders shown/total, with a `+' past the cap and nothing for nil."
+  (should (string= " 💬 5/18" (pearl--comment-count-marker '(:shown 5 :total 18 :overflow nil))))
+  (should (string= " 💬 5/25+" (pearl--comment-count-marker '(:shown 5 :total 25 :overflow t))))
+  (should (string= " 💬 3/3" (pearl--comment-count-marker '(:shown 3 :total 3 :overflow nil))))
+  (should (string= "" (pearl--comment-count-marker nil))))
+
+;;; --format-comments with a marker
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-format-comments-renders-marker-and-oldest-first ()
+  "With count-info, the Comments heading carries the marker; bodies stay oldest-first."
+  (let* ((comments (test-pearl--comments 5))     ; newest-first as fetched
+         (out (pearl--format-comments comments '(:shown 5 :total 12 :overflow nil))))
+    (should (string-match-p "^\\*\\*\\* Comments 💬 5/12$" out))
+    ;; oldest (comment 1) renders before newest (comment 5)
+    (should (< (string-match "comment 1\\b" out) (string-match "comment 5\\b" out)))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-format-comments-no-marker-without-count ()
+  "Without count-info (the single-issue thread), the heading has no marker."
+  (let ((out (pearl--format-comments (test-pearl--comments 2))))
+    (should (string-match-p "^\\*\\*\\* Comments$" out))))
+
+;;; the marked heading is still found by the append locator
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-append-finds-marked-comments-heading ()
+  "Adding a comment to an issue whose Comments heading carries a marker reuses it."
+  (let ((pearl-state-to-todo-mapping '(("Todo" . "TODO")))
+        (pearl-list-comments-shown 5) (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    (let ((entry (pearl--format-issue-as-org-entry
+                  (pearl--cap-issue-list-comments
+                   (list :id "a" :identifier "ENG-1" :title "issue"
+                         :priority 3 :state '(:name "Todo")
+                         :comments (test-pearl--comments 8))))))
+      (with-temp-buffer
+        (insert entry)
+        (org-mode)
+        (goto-char (point-min))
+        ;; the rendered Comments heading carries the marker
+        (should (re-search-forward "^\\*\\*\\* Comments 💬 5/8$" nil t))
+        (goto-char (point-min))
+        (re-search-forward "issue")
+        (pearl--append-comment-to-issue
+         '(:id "cnew" :author "Z" :created-at "2026-06-01T00:00:00.000Z" :body "appended"))
+        ;; exactly one Comments heading, and the new comment landed under it
+        (goto-char (point-min))
+        (should (re-search-forward "^\\*\\*\\* Comments" nil t))
+        (should-not (re-search-forward "^\\*\\*\\* Comments" nil t))
+        (should (string-match-p "appended" (buffer-string)))))))
+
+(provide 'test-pearl-list-comments)
+;;; test-pearl-list-comments.el ends here
diff --git a/tests/test-pearl-query.el b/tests/test-pearl-query.el
index b5d2816..697dd9a 100644
--- a/tests/test-pearl-query.el
+++ b/tests/test-pearl-query.el
@@ -144,8 +144,16 @@
 ;;; the bulk query fetches comments so the list can render them
 
 (ert-deftest test-pearl-issues-query-requests-comments ()
-  "The bulk issues query selects comments, so a populated list shows them."
-  (should (string-match-p "comments[[:space:]]*{[[:space:]]*nodes" pearl--issues-query)))
+  "The bulk issues query selects capped, newest-first comments by default."
+  (let ((pearl-fetch-comments-in-list t)
+        (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    (should (string-match-p "comments(first: 26, orderBy: createdAt)[[:space:]]*{[[:space:]]*nodes"
+                            (pearl--issues-query)))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-pearl-issues-query-omits-comments-when-disabled ()
+  "With list comments disabled, the bulk query carries no comments selection."
+  (let ((pearl-fetch-comments-in-list nil))
+    (should-not (string-match-p "comments" (pearl--issues-query)))))
 
 ;;; malformed remote page shapes
 
diff --git a/tests/test-pearl-views.el b/tests/test-pearl-views.el
index 2a5d6bd..2f2adfd 100644
--- a/tests/test-pearl-views.el
+++ b/tests/test-pearl-views.el
@@ -123,8 +123,11 @@
 ;;; the view query fetches comments too
 
 (ert-deftest test-pearl-view-issues-query-requests-comments ()
-  "The Custom View query selects comments, so a view-populated list shows them."
-  (should (string-match-p "comments[[:space:]]*{[[:space:]]*nodes" pearl--view-issues-query)))
+  "The Custom View query selects capped, newest-first comments by default."
+  (let ((pearl-fetch-comments-in-list t)
+        (pearl-list-comments-count-cap 25))
+    (should (string-match-p "comments(first: 26, orderBy: createdAt)[[:space:]]*{[[:space:]]*nodes"
+                            (pearl--view-issues-query)))))
 
 (provide 'test-pearl-views)
 ;;; test-pearl-views.el ends here