fix(mobile): keep comment authors and threads when the phone rewrites a sidecar

docs/releases/v1.1.18/PLAY_STORE_METADATA.md

@@ -39,5 +39,17 @@ task lines, theme colors); no note bodies and nothing off the device.
   within seconds; `npm test` 50/50; `npm run typecheck` clean at the pin;
   `testDebugUnitTest`, `lintDebug` and `assembleDebug` pass. Not verified
   on a device or below API 31.
-- Matching ports: iOS ZenNotes/zennotesios `release/1.9.9` (build 20);
+- Comment sidecar fix (2026-09-09, after the merge): between the 1.1.16
+  pin and a3e638fc, desktop `vault.ts` dropped its private comment
+  normalizer for the shared `@shared/note-comments`, which keeps the 2.46
+  `author` and `parentId` fields. `MobileVault.writeNoteComments` still
+  rebuilt each record from a fixed field list, and app-core hands over the
+  whole list on every comment action, so one reply, resolve, or delete on
+  the phone would have flattened every thread and dropped every name the
+  desktop or an assistant wrote. `src/bridge/vault-fs.ts` now reads and
+  writes the sidecar through the shared normalizer, as desktop does.
+  Verified by `npm run typecheck`, `npm run build`, and `npm test`;
+  `MobileVault` cannot run under `node --test` (path aliases), and the
+  fix was not re-run on the AVD. Same fix as iPhone 1.9.8.
+- Matching ports: iOS ZenNotes/zennotesios `release/1.9.8` (build 19);
   desktop ZenNotes/zennotes 2.46.0.

docs/releases/v1.1.18/RELEASE_NOTES.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # ZenNotes for Android 1.1.18: widgets
 
-Home Screen widgets, in step with iPhone 1.9.9. Three of them, zero
+Home Screen widgets, in step with iPhone 1.9.8. Three of them, zero
 configuration, wearing whatever theme the app wears.
 
 ## What changes on the phone
@@ -44,4 +44,4 @@ configuration, wearing whatever theme the app wears.
 No new permissions, services, or data collection. On-device and folder
 vaults continue to work without an account; self-hosted and ZenNotes
 Cloud vaults remain optional. The same widgets ship on iPhone and iPad as
-ZenNotes 1.9.9.
+ZenNotes 1.9.8.

src/bridge/vault-fs.ts

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import type { CustomTemplateFile, WriteTemplateInput } from '@bridge-contract/te
 import type { VaultTask } from '@shared/tasks'
 import { parseTaskFile, parseTasksFromBody } from '@shared/tasks'
 import { normalizeHarperVaultState } from '@shared/harper-settings'
+import { normalizeNoteComments } from '@shared/note-comments'
 import { isFormDirName, isDatabaseInternalPath } from '@shared/databases'
 import { emptyExcalidrawDocument } from '@shared/excalidraw'
 import { DEMO_TOUR_ASSETS, DEMO_TOUR_NOTES } from '@desktop-main/demo-tour-data'
@@ -937,14 +938,11 @@ export class MobileVault {
   }
 
   async readNoteComments(relPath: string): Promise<NoteComment[]> {
-    const raw = await this.fs.readTextOrNull(this.commentsPathFor(resolveSafeRel(relPath)))
+    const rel = resolveSafeRel(relPath)
+    const raw = await this.fs.readTextOrNull(this.commentsPathFor(rel))
     if (!raw) return []
     try {
-      const parsed = JSON.parse(raw) as { comments?: NoteComment[] } | NoteComment[]
-      const list = Array.isArray(parsed) ? parsed : (parsed.comments ?? [])
-      return list
-        .filter((c) => c && typeof c === 'object')
-        .sort((a, b) => a.createdAt - b.createdAt || a.id.localeCompare(b.id))
+      return normalizeNoteComments(JSON.parse(raw), rel)
     } catch {
       return []
     }
@@ -961,18 +959,11 @@ export class MobileVault {
 
   async writeNoteComments(relPath: string, inputs: NoteCommentInput[]): Promise<NoteComment[]> {
     const rel = resolveSafeRel(relPath)
-    const now = Date.now()
-    const comments: NoteComment[] = inputs.map((input) => ({
-      id: input.id ?? uuid(),
-      notePath: rel,
-      anchorStart: Math.max(0, Math.min(input.anchorStart, input.anchorEnd)),
-      anchorEnd: Math.max(0, Math.max(input.anchorStart, input.anchorEnd)),
-      anchorText: (input.anchorText ?? '').slice(0, 500),
-      body: input.body ?? '',
-      createdAt: input.createdAt ?? now,
-      updatedAt: input.updatedAt ?? now,
-      resolvedAt: input.resolvedAt ?? null
-    }))
+    // Desktop's own normalizer (shared since app core 2.46). App-core always
+    // hands over the whole list, so the writer must keep the optional `author`
+    // and `parentId` a desktop or an assistant wrote, or one comment action on
+    // the phone flattens every thread and drops every name in the sidecar.
+    const comments = normalizeNoteComments(inputs, rel)
     await this.writeCommentsFile(rel, comments)
     emitVaultChange({
       kind: 'change',