feat: simplify community tables and show source dates

REFERENCE.md

@@ -26,6 +26,14 @@ flag, nullable `awaiting_response`, nullable UTC `waiting_since`, boolean
 format flag. `null` is unknown, never false. This is a read contract, not a
 second task registry. No runtime task assignments or opinions are persisted.
 
+Optional nullable `created_at` and `updated_at` fields retain source timestamps,
+normalized to UTC. Missing or malformed source dates become null; older snapshots
+may omit these fields. Both conversation tables show Updated, with an explicitly
+labelled creation-date fallback or Unavailable. These dates never substitute for
+response timing (`waiting_since`) or the snapshot's observation time. Brain's
+Community adapter accepts these additive metadata fields without changing its
+response heuristics.
+
 Each source receipt names the repo, UTC check time, verified-public flag,
 status (complete/partial/unavailable/excluded) and bounded gap descriptions.
 Only a successful repository metadata response with `private: false` permits

ears/board.py

@@ -118,47 +118,61 @@ def render_page(snapshot, theme, headline, stale, fresh_until, attention, unknow
     def section(title, key, selected, empty):
         body.append(f'<section id="{key}"><div class="section-head"><h2>{esc(title)} '
                     f'<span class="section-count">{len(selected)}</span></h2></div>')
-        md.extend(['## ' + title, '', '| Topic | Repository | Author | Type | Progress | Response |',
-                   '| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |'])
+        md.extend(['## ' + title, '', '| Topic | Repository | Author | Type | Updated | Progress | Response |',
+                   '| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |'])
         if not selected:
             body.append(f'<p class="empty">{esc(empty)}</p></section>')
             md.extend([empty, ''])
             return
-        body.append(f'<div class="table-wrap" role="region" aria-label="{esc(title)}" tabindex="0">'
-                    '<table class="community"><thead><tr><th scope="col">Conversation / repository</th>'
-                    '<th scope="col">Author</th><th scope="col">Progress</th><th scope="col">Response</th>'
+        body.append('<p class="table-hint">Scroll the table to see all columns →</p>'
+                    f'<div class="table-wrap" role="region" aria-label="{esc(title)}" tabindex="0">'
+                    '<table class="community"><thead><tr><th scope="col">Conversation</th>'
+                    '<th scope="col">Author</th><th scope="col">Updated</th>'
+                    '<th scope="col">Progress</th><th scope="col">Response</th>'
                     '<th scope="col">Actions</th></tr></thead><tbody>')
         for row in selected:
             d = linked.get(row['url'])
             label, tone = progress(row, d, stale, plans)
             timing = waiting_label(row, snapshot['generated'])
             kind = {'issue': 'Issue', 'pr': 'PR', 'discussion': 'Discussion'}[row['kind']]
             prompt = theme.portable_prompt(triage_prompt(row))
-            details = '<p><a href="' + esc(row['url'], quote=True) + '">Open ' + kind.lower() + ' ↗</a></p>'
+            timestamp = row.get('updated_at') or row.get('created_at')
+            date = utc(timestamp).strftime('%d %b %Y') if timestamp else 'Unavailable'
+            date_html = ('<time datetime="' + esc(timestamp, quote=True) + '">' + date + '</time>'
+                         if timestamp else date)
+            if timestamp and not row.get('updated_at'):
+                date += ' (created)'
+                date_html += ' (created)'
+            details = ''
             if 'follow_up' in row:
                 settled = 'Closed' if row.get('closed') else 'Open'
                 settled += ' · Answered' if row['answered'] else ''
-                details += '<p>Thread status: ' + settled + '</p>'
+                details += '<p><strong>Thread status:</strong> ' + settled + '</p>'
                 candidate = row['follow_up'].get('url')
                 if candidate:
                     details += '<p><a href="' + esc(candidate, quote=True) + '">Read follow-up ↗</a></p>'
                 details += '<p>Activity needs review; this is not a decision to reopen. Contributors may lack reopening permission.</p>'
             if row.get('waiting_since'):
-                details += '<p>Waiting since <time datetime="' + esc(row['waiting_since'], quote=True) + '">' + esc(utc(row['waiting_since']).strftime('%d %b %Y, %H:%M UTC')) + '</time></p>'
+                details += '<p><strong>Waiting since:</strong> <time datetime="' + esc(row['waiting_since'], quote=True) + '">' + esc(utc(row['waiting_since']).strftime('%d %b %Y, %H:%M UTC')) + '</time></p>'
             if stale:
                 details += '<p>Response and progress observations are stale. Refresh before acting.</p>'
             if row['category']:
-                details += '<p>Category: ' + esc(row['category']) + '</p>'
+                details += '<p><strong>Category:</strong> ' + esc(row['category']) + '</p>'
             if row['feedback_report']:
-                details += '<p>Feedback report (format marker only)</p>'
-            for gap in row['gaps']:
-                details += '<p>' + esc(line(gap)) + '</p>'
+                details += '<p><strong>Feedback report:</strong> format marker only</p>'
+            if row['gaps']:
+                details += '<p><strong>Source gaps:</strong></p><ul>' + ''.join(
+                    '<li>' + esc(line(gap)) + '</li>' for gap in row['gaps']) + '</ul>'
             if d:
-                details += '<p>Delivery: ' + esc('unknown (stale observation)' if stale else d['state'].replace('_', ' ')) + '</p>'
-                for evidence in d['evidence']:
-                    details += '<p><a href="' + esc(evidence['url'], quote=True) + '">' + esc(evidence['kind'] + ': ' + evidence['url']) + '</a></p>'
-                for gap in d['gaps']:
-                    details += '<p>' + esc(line(gap)) + '</p>'
+                details += '<p><strong>Delivery:</strong> ' + esc('unknown (stale observation)' if stale else d['state'].replace('_', ' ')) + '</p>'
+                if d['evidence']:
+                    details += '<p><strong>Delivery evidence:</strong></p><ul>' + ''.join(
+                        '<li><a href="' + esc(evidence['url'], quote=True) + '">' +
+                        esc(evidence['kind'] + ': ' + evidence['url']) + '</a></li>'
+                        for evidence in d['evidence']) + '</ul>'
+                if d['gaps']:
+                    details += '<p><strong>Evidence gaps:</strong></p><ul>' + ''.join(
+                        '<li>' + esc(line(gap)) + '</li>' for gap in d['gaps']) + '</ul>'
                 follow = theme.portable_prompt('/community triage ' + row['url'] + ' — verify linked delivery evidence and draft a contributor update for approval; do not post')
                 details += copy_button(follow, 'Copy follow-through prompt')
             details += '<details><summary>Triage prompt</summary><pre>' + esc(prompt) + '</pre></details>'
@@ -168,15 +182,15 @@ def section(title, key, selected, empty):
             if label == 'Plan recorded':
                 details += '<p>An issued Mind record explicitly links this issue and contains a plan.</p>'
             body.append('<tr><td><details class="topic"><summary>' + esc(row['title']) +
-                        '<span class="topic-meta">' + esc(row['repo']) + ' · ' + kind + ' #' + str(row['number']) +
-                        '</span></summary><div class="topic-body">' + details + '</div></details></td><td>' + author_html +
+                        '</summary><div class="topic-body">' + details + '</div></details></td><td>' + author_html +
+                        '</td><td class="conversation-date">' + date_html +
                         '</td><td>' + pill(label, tone) + note + '</td><td>' + esc(timing) +
                         ('<span class="small-note">At last observation</span>' if stale else '') +
                         '</td><td><div class="row-actions">' + copy_button(prompt, 'Copy triage prompt') +
                         '<a class="source-action" aria-label="Open conversation on GitHub" title="Open conversation on GitHub" href="' +
                         esc(row['url'], quote=True) + '">↗</a></div></td></tr>')
             md_title = row["title"].replace("[", "&#91;").replace("]", "&#93;")
-            values = [f"[{md_title}]({row['url']})", row['repo'], row['author'] or 'Unavailable', kind, label, timing]
+            values = [f"[{md_title}]({row['url']})", row['repo'], row['author'] or 'Unavailable', kind, date, label, timing]
             md.append('| ' + ' | '.join(esc(v).replace('|', '&#124;').replace('\n', ' ') for v in values) + ' |')
         body.append('</tbody></table></div></section>')
         md.append('')
@@ -185,7 +199,6 @@ def section(title, key, selected, empty):
             'No attention items found in the observed data. Check coverage before concluding nobody is waiting.')
     section('Community activity', 'activity', [r for r in rows if r not in attention],
             'No additional conversations in the observed data.')
-    body.append('<details><summary>Recurring feedback</summary><p>Planned: evidence-backed themes across independent reports. No themes have been inferred by this collector.</p></details>')
     body.append('<p id="copy-status" role="status" aria-live="polite"></p><pre id="copy-fallback" tabindex="-1" hidden></pre>')
     body.append('<section id="coverage"><h2>Listening coverage</h2><div class="table-wrap" role="region" aria-label="Listening coverage" tabindex="0">'
                 '<table class="coverage"><thead><tr><th scope="col">Repository</th><th scope="col">Coverage</th>'

ears/collect.py

@@ -46,6 +46,14 @@ def now():
     return datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
 
 
+def source_timestamp(value):
+    """Keep valid public source dates; absent or malformed metadata is unknown."""
+    try:
+        return utc(value).isoformat()
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        return None
+
+
 def line(value):
     return " ".join(str(value or "").split())[:500]
 
@@ -381,6 +389,8 @@ def conversation(api, repo, raw, kind, config, deliveries=None, pending=None):
         "closed": raw.get("state") == "closed",
         "author": line((raw.get("user") or {}).get("login")),
         "category": line(category), "answered": answered,
+        "created_at": source_timestamp(raw.get("created_at")),
+        "updated_at": source_timestamp(raw.get("updated_at")),
         "awaiting_response": awaiting, "waiting_since": since,
         "review_requested": bool(selves.intersection(reviewers)),
         "coverage": "complete" if complete and awaiting is not None else "partial",
@@ -506,7 +516,7 @@ def validate(snapshot):
     for row in rows:
         if not isinstance(row, dict):
             raise ValueError("invalid conversation")
-        if set(row) - {"closed", "follow_up"} != {"id", "repo", "number", "kind", "url", "title", "author", "category", "answered",
+        if set(row) - {"closed", "follow_up", "created_at", "updated_at"} != {"id", "repo", "number", "kind", "url", "title", "author", "category", "answered",
                         "awaiting_response", "waiting_since", "review_requested", "coverage", "gaps", "cached", "feedback_report"}:
             raise ValueError("unknown conversation fields; raw content must not be published")
         if "closed" in row and type(row["closed"]) is not bool:
@@ -528,6 +538,9 @@ def validate(snapshot):
             raise ValueError("invalid awaiting-response state")
         if row.get("waiting_since"):
             utc(row["waiting_since"])
+        for key in ("created_at", "updated_at"):
+            if row.get(key) is not None:
+                utc(row[key])
         if row.get("coverage") not in {"complete", "partial"}:
             raise ValueError("invalid conversation coverage")
         for key in ("title", "author", "category"):

ears/presentation.py

@@ -155,13 +155,14 @@ def triage_prompt(row):
 .checkin details{margin-top:14px}.checkin textarea{min-height:170px;line-height:1.55;resize:vertical}
 .section-head{display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px}.section-head h2{flex:1;margin-bottom:12px}.section-count{font-size:.8rem;border-radius:20px;padding:2px 9px;background:var(--tint);color:var(--accent)}
 .table-wrap{width:100%;overflow-x:auto;border:1px solid var(--line);border-radius:12px}
+.table-hint{display:none}
 table.community,table.coverage{width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;text-align:left;table-layout:fixed;font-size:.88rem}
 th{padding:12px 14px;color:var(--muted);font-size:.73rem;letter-spacing:.04em;text-transform:uppercase;background:var(--btn);font-weight:650}
 td{padding:14px;border-top:1px solid var(--line);vertical-align:top}tbody tr:hover{background:var(--tint)}
-.community th:nth-child(1){width:38%}.community th:nth-child(2){width:17%}.community th:nth-child(3){width:17%}.community th:nth-child(4){width:16%}.community th:nth-child(5){width:12%}
+.community th:nth-child(1){width:32%}.community th:nth-child(2){width:14%}.community th:nth-child(3){width:13%}.community th:nth-child(4){width:15%}.community th:nth-child(5){width:14%}.community th:nth-child(6){width:12%}
 .topic summary{padding:0;color:var(--fg);font-weight:650;line-height:1.5}.topic summary::marker{color:var(--accent)}
-.topic-meta{display:block;font-size:.78rem;color:var(--muted);font-weight:400;margin:5px 0 0 17px}
-.topic-body{padding:12px 0 0 17px;font-size:.85rem}.topic-body p{margin:7px 0}.topic-body ul{padding-left:17px}
+.topic-body{padding:4px 0 0 17px;font-size:.88rem;line-height:1.65}.topic-body p{margin:12px 0}.topic-body strong{font-weight:700}.topic-body ul{padding-left:18px;margin:6px 0 16px}.topic-body li+li{margin-top:8px}.topic-body>details{margin-top:16px}
+.conversation-date{font-variant-numeric:tabular-nums}.conversation-date time{white-space:nowrap}
 .topic-body pre{padding:12px;background:var(--btn);border:1px solid var(--line);border-radius:8px;white-space:pre-wrap;font-size:.8rem}
 .author{font-weight:600}.author-empty{color:var(--muted)}.badge{display:inline-block;padding:4px 8px;border:1px solid currentColor;border-radius:6px;font-size:.75rem;font-weight:600;line-height:1.4;background:var(--bg)}
 .small-note{display:block;margin-top:6px;font-size:.75rem;color:var(--muted)}.owed-note{color:var(--accent);font-weight:600}
@@ -172,5 +173,6 @@ def triage_prompt(row):
 #copy-status{position:fixed;bottom:18px;left:50%;transform:translateX(-50%);z-index:10;max-width:90vw;border-radius:10px;background:var(--fg);color:var(--bg);box-shadow:0 4px 24px #0003;padding:12px 18px;margin:0}#copy-status:empty{display:none}
 #copy-fallback{white-space:pre-wrap;padding:16px;border:1px solid var(--edge);background:var(--btn)}
 @media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){.blue{color:#83b4ff}.purple{color:#c4a0ff}}
-@media(max-width:760px){body{padding:0 16px 32px}.checkin{padding:18px}.checkin-head{display:block}.hub-link{margin:0 0 16px}.checkin-controls{display:block}.checkin-controls button{margin-top:12px;width:100%}table.community{min-width:740px}table.coverage{min-width:650px}.table-wrap:focus-visible{outline-offset:2px}}
+@media(max-width:960px){table.community{min-width:860px}.table-hint{display:block;font-size:.8rem;margin:0 0 8px}}
+@media(max-width:760px){body{padding:0 16px 32px}.checkin{padding:18px}.checkin-head{display:block}.hub-link{margin:0 0 16px}.checkin-controls{display:block}.checkin-controls button{margin-top:12px;width:100%}table.coverage{min-width:650px}.table-wrap:focus-visible{outline-offset:2px}}
 '''

tests/board_browser.py

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ def main():
     # Use realistic public-metadata lengths without making live network reads.
     snapshot['conversations'][0]['title'] = 'Help configuring multi-band galaxy models'
     snapshot['conversations'][0]['waiting_since'] = (stamp - timedelta(days=3)).isoformat()
+    snapshot['conversations'][0]['updated_at'] = stamp.isoformat()
     snapshot['conversations'][1]['title'] = 'Add a tutorial for the new fitting workflow'
     followup = candidate_snapshot()['conversations'][0]
     followup.update(number=13, id='example/hub/discussions/13',
@@ -107,7 +108,15 @@ def main():
             assert page.evaluate('window.getSelection().toString()') == page.locator('#copy-fallback').inner_text()
             for width in (390, 1280):
                 page.set_viewport_size({'width': width, 'height': 900})
-                assert not page.evaluate('document.documentElement.scrollWidth > innerWidth')
+                for scheme in ('light', 'dark'):
+                    page.emulate_media(color_scheme=scheme)
+                    assert not page.evaluate('document.documentElement.scrollWidth > innerWidth')
+                    assert page.locator('#attention th', has_text='Updated').count() == 1
+                    assert page.locator('#activity th', has_text='Updated').count() == 1
+                    assert page.locator('.topic-meta').count() == 0
+                    assert page.get_by_text('Recurring feedback', exact=True).count() == 0
+                    assert page.locator('.topic-body strong', has_text='Delivery:').first.is_visible()
+                    page.screenshot(path=str(output / f'expanded-{width}-{scheme}.png'), full_page=True)
             # Re-opening an expired page must suppress current delivery claims.
             page.evaluate("Date.now = () => Date.parse(expires) + 1; window.dispatchEvent(new Event('pageshow'))")
             assert page.locator('#freshness').is_visible()

tests/test_ears.py

@@ -61,6 +61,31 @@ def fixture():
     return s
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('kind', ['issue', 'pr', 'discussion'])
+def test_source_dates_are_normalized_independently_of_response_timing(kind):
+    raw = thread(created_at='2026-10-01T13:00:00+01:00', updated_at=STAMP)
+    if kind == 'pr':
+        raw['pull_request'] = {}
+    repo = 'example/hub' if kind == 'discussion' else 'example/lib'
+    endpoint = 'discussions' if kind == 'discussion' else 'issues'
+    snapshot = collect.collect(API({listing(repo, endpoint): [raw]}), ['example/lib'], CONFIG)
+    row = snapshot['conversations'][0]
+    assert row['kind'] == kind
+    assert row['created_at'] == '2026-10-01T12:00:00+00:00'
+    assert row['updated_at'] == '2026-10-03T12:00:00+00:00'
+    collect.validate(snapshot)
+    row['updated_at'] = '<script>bad date</script>'
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        collect.validate(snapshot)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('value', [None, '', 'not a date', '2026-10-01T12:00:00', 42])
+def test_unusable_source_dates_are_unknown(value):
+    snapshot = collect.collect(API({listing(): [thread(updated_at=value)]}), ['example/lib'], CONFIG)
+    assert snapshot['conversations'][0]['updated_at'] is None
+    collect.validate(snapshot)
+
+
 def test_public_only_and_failed_metadata_never_leak_titles():
     api = API({"repos/private/lib": {"private": True},
                "repos/unknown/lib": collect.ReadError("read unavailable"),