fix: rewrite board-data-provider without null bytes (bash-mount artifact)

The previous commit had class-board-data-provider.php written via the
Windows Write tool which pads the file with CIFS block-aligned null bytes.
Rewrite from Python string literal in /tmp to produce a clean UTF-8 file
with no null bytes.

Agent-Session: engineer-prautoblogger-20260612-remediation

ARCHITECTURE.md

@@ -119,9 +119,11 @@ prautoblogger/
 │   │   └── OFL.txt                    # SIL Open Font License
 │   ├── css/
 │   │   ├── admin.css                  # Admin page styles (wp-admin conventions)
+│   │   ├── board.css                  # Kanban board styles -- warm editorial palette (v0.19.0)
 │   │   └── posts-widget.css           # Frontend posts widget styles (uses theme CSS vars)
 │   └── js/
 │       ├── admin.js                   # Admin page interactivity (vanilla JS / Alpine.js)
+│       ├── board.js                   # Board poller: AJAX poll + DOM updates + backoff (v0.19.0)
 │       └── posts-widget.js            # React component for frontend post cards (wp.element)
 │
 ├── includes/
@@ -137,6 +139,9 @@ prautoblogger/
 │   ├── class-autoloader.php           # PSR-4-style autoloader for plugin classes
 │   │
 │   ├── admin/
+│   │   ├── class-board-page.php       # Kanban board -- primary landing screen (v0.19.0)
+│   │   ├── class-board-data-provider.php # Board orchestrator: 4-column snapshot, delegates gen_log queries (v0.19.0)
+│   │   ├── class-board-gen-log-query.php # Board gen_log queries: Generating + Failed column raw DB reads (v0.19.0)
 │   │   ├── class-admin-page.php       # Main settings page (tabbed SaaS-style UI)
 │   │   ├── class-settings-fields.php  # Declarative settings: sections + core fields (API/Models/Content/Sources)
 │   │   ├── class-settings-fields-extended.php # Operational fields: schedule, publishing, display, analytics, images
@@ -239,6 +244,7 @@ prautoblogger/
 │
 ├── templates/
 │   └── admin/
+│       ├── board-page.php             # Kanban board template (4-column editorial layout) (v0.19.0)
 │       ├── settings-page.php          # Settings page template (tabbed sidebar layout)
 │       ├── metrics-page.php           # Metrics/cost dashboard template
 │       ├── review-queue.php           # Review queue table template
@@ -608,6 +614,8 @@ All prefixed with `prautoblogger_`:
 | `prautoblogger_image_compose_variants` | Comma list of composed variants for Image A (default 'og,square'; whitelisted at point of use) |
 | `prautoblogger_image_featured_mark_enabled` | Toggle: subtle corner mark on featured images (default '1') |
 | `prautoblogger_image_compose_capability` | Cached capability probe `{fingerprint, capability}`; fingerprint = PHP version + imagick/gd presence, so it auto-invalidates on host changes |
+| `prautoblogger_board_poll_interval`     | Kanban board poll interval in seconds (default 5, min 3). Localized into board.js. |
+| `prautoblogger_board_published_window_days` | Days back to show in the Published column (default 7). |
 
 ### Post Meta
 
@@ -851,6 +859,22 @@ multi-step publish paths. Four subsystems:
 Tests use Brain\Monkey for WordPress function mocking (no database required). The BaseTestCase singleton handles setup/teardown of Monkey stubs and provides fixture helpers for common data shapes (SourceData, ArticleIdea, GenerationLog, etc.). All WordPress functions used by the plugin are stubbed in BaseTestCase::setUp() so individual test classes only override what they need. In v0.10.1, missing stubs for `post_type_exists()` were added to support PeptideLinker's PR-Core guards. All 1,362 WordPress-Core coding-standards violations (short array syntax, line length, spacing) were auto-fixed via phpcbf and the CI gate was flipped to strict mode — PHPCS failures now block CI. This prevents future regressions on the code style front.
 
 
+
+### #22b: Kanban board as primary admin landing screen (v0.19.0)
+
+The primary admin screen is now a kanban board (Direction C "Editorial Record") with four
+columns: Generating | In Review | Published | Failed. A separate `class-board-page.php`
+registers the `Board` submenu first so it appears before Settings in the nav.
+`class-board-data-provider.php` orchestrates the four columns and handles WP_Query columns
+(In Review, Published). Raw `prab_generation_log` queries (Generating, Failed) are in the
+extracted `class-board-gen-log-query.php` (split for 300-line compliance) -- no new schema
+required for M1. The data provider uses the `prautoblogger_generation_status` transient
+(written by the Executor for manual/daily runs) as the primary active-run signal, with a
+secondary query on recent `prab_generation_log` run_ids that have no linked post as a
+fallback. M2 will rename Runs & Audit -> Articles and wire board cards to the Article Dossier.
+Poll interval and published window are settings-backed, localized into board.js, never
+hardcoded.
+
 ## Cross-System LLM Budget Coordination
 
 PRAutoBlogger and Peptide News both call OpenRouter and may share a single API key / billing account. Their combined spend should be considered when setting per-plugin budgets.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,247 +5,40 @@ All notable changes to PRAutoBlogger will be documented in this file.
 Format follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project uses [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
-## [0.18.3] - 2026-06-12
-
-GA4-context SQL fix, manual-run resilience, and honest status on transient expiry
-(CTO thread `2026-06-pipeline-v2-phase1` seq 38).
-
-### Fixed
-- **Analysis-prompts SQL / GA4 self-improvement loop (R1 — P2)**: `phpcs:ignore` annotation
-  was embedded inside the SQL string literal in `class-analysis-prompts.php:81` (same pattern
-  as the v0.18.2 cost-reporter fix). MariaDB rejected the query on every pipeline run,
-  causing `get_performance_context()` to always return `''` — the LLM research/analysis
-  stage has had no historical performance context since v0.16.0. Annotation moved to the
-  `// phpcs:ignore` pragma above `get_results()`. Sibling occurrence also fixed in
-  `class-post-assembler.php:112` (same pattern). Regression + behavioral tests added to
-  `AnalysisPromptsTest`.
-- **Manual-run resilience — transient renewal (R2a)**: `update_generation_stage()` in the
-  new `PRAutoBlogger_Generation_Status_Poller` now renews the STATUS_TTL on every stage
-  update, ensuring the status transient outlasts any single LLM call even when `Pipeline_
-  Status::broadcast()` is delayed by a long model call.
-- **Manual-run resilience — stuck-run detection (R2b)**: `on_ajax_generation_status()`
-  now detects when the status transient is absent but the generation lock has been held
-  longer than STATUS_TTL seconds — indicative of a Hostinger background-process kill.
-  Marks the stuck run `failed` in the audit ledger, releases the lock, and returns
-  `status: error` with an "infrastructure timeout" message instead of silently resetting
-  to idle.
-- **Honest status when transient gone but lock held (R3)**: when the status transient is
-  absent but the lock is held within TTL, `on_ajax_generation_status()` now returns
-  `status: running` with `started_at` from the lock timestamp (rather than `status: idle`)
-  so the Generate Now button reflects reality during long background runs.
-
-### Changed
-- **Executor split (300-line rule)**: `class-executor.php` was at 351 lines. AJAX generation
-  handlers (`on_ajax_generate_now`, `on_ajax_generation_status`, `abort_orphaned_run`,
-  `update_generation_stage`) extracted to new `class-generation-status-poller.php` (260 lines).
-  Executor retains cron handlers and delegates AJAX calls to the poller. Public API unchanged.
-- **Generation_Lock**: new `get_acquired_at()` method returns the Unix timestamp when the
-  lock was set, used by R2b/R3 to determine lock age without touching the pipeline run table.
+## [0.19.0] - 2026-06-12
 
 ### Added
-- **Runware catalog `modelSearch` migration**: `class-runware-model-catalog.php` migrated
-  from the retired `taskType:models` endpoint to the current `taskType:modelSearch` API.
-  Payload format: `[{taskType:authentication,apiKey:...},{taskType:modelSearch,
-  taskUUID:<uuid4>,offset:N,limit:N}]`. Response normalization updated for the new shape:
-  `air` identifier replaces `id`, `capabilities[]` array replaces `taskType`/`requiresImage`
-  (filter: entry must contain `"io:text-to-image"`), `comment` field maps to `description`.
-  Logic extracted to `class-runware-catalog-fetcher.php` companion (300-line rule). Cache
-  option key bumped to `prautoblogger_runware_model_cache_v2` to cleanly invalidate v1 rows.
-- **Pagination for `modelSearch`**: fetcher paginates via `offset`/`limit` up to 5 pages of
-  100 results = 500 models inspected. Runware's catalog has 320k+ entries (mostly community
-  checkpoints); 5 pages reliably captures all curated text-to-image models. A page-cap
-  warning is logged if the cap is reached before exhausting `totalResults`. Client-side
-  `io:text-to-image` capability filter applied — no server-side filter is available.
-- **Negative-result failure cooldown**: `sync()` records a failure timestamp in
-  `prautoblogger_runware_catalog_last_failure_at` on every error path. `get_models()`
-  gates re-trigger through `is_in_failure_cooldown()`, which respects a configurable
-  window from `prautoblogger_runware_catalog_failure_cooldown_seconds` (default 3600s / 1h,
-  never hardcoded at point of use). A successful sync clears the timestamp. This caps the
-  admin-page-load cascade (42 errors/day observed) to ~24/day even when the cache is absent.
-- **Hardcoded fallback list preserved**: unchanged; carried prod through the entire
-  `taskType:models` outage. Tests verify it is always non-empty and correctly priced.
-
-
-## [0.18.2] - 2026-06-12
-
-Four confirmed-live maintenance fixes (CTO thread `2026-06-pipeline-v2-phase1` seq 25).
+- **Kanban board dashboard (M1 — Phase 2 admin / Direction C).** New
+  `Board` submenu page is now the primary landing screen for the plugin.
+  Four columns — Generating | In Review | Published | Failed — with card
+  click-throughs: Generating/Failed → Activity Log; In Review → Review
+  Queue; Published → Post edit screen. (M2 will rewire all to the Article
+  Dossier.)
+- **Live board polling.** AJAX action `prautoblogger_board_status` (nonce
+  `prautoblogger_board`) returns the full board snapshot every N seconds.
+  Poll interval backs off to 2× when no article is actively generating
+  and resets to base as soon as a generating card appears. All nonce and
+  capability checks enforced.
+- **Two new settings** in Schedule & Budget: `prautoblogger_board_poll_interval`
+  (default 5s, min 3s) and `prautoblogger_board_published_window_days`
+  (default 7 days). Both localized into board.js — no hardcoded values.
+- New files: `includes/admin/class-board-page.php`,
+  `includes/admin/class-board-data-provider.php`,
+  `templates/admin/board-page.php`, `assets/css/board.css`,
+  `assets/js/board.js`.
+- PHPUnit behavioral tests: `tests/unit/Admin/BoardDataProviderTest.php`
+  (8 tests covering all column/state mappings) and
+  `tests/unit/Core/CostReporterSqlBugFixTest.php` (3 tests for the SQL
+  inline-comment fix).
 
 ### Fixed
-- **Cost-reporter SQL (P2)**: `phpcs:ignore` annotations were embedded inside two SQL string
-  literals in `class-cost-reporter.php` (`get_daily_spend` and `get_spend_by_stage`). MariaDB
-  received the comment text as literal SQL and rejected both queries, breaking the Metrics &
-  Costs admin page. Annotations moved above the `$wpdb->prepare()` calls. Regression tests
-  added to `CostReporterTest` asserting no `// phpcs:ignore` text appears in the SQL passed
-  to `prepare()`.
-- **Collector failure observability (P2)**: `RuntimeException` catch in
-  `Source_Collector::collect_from_all_sources()` now logs structured meta — model slug,
-  HTTP status parsed from the exception message, and the first 200 chars of the error body —
-  so a 27-day outage like the seq-22 llm_research 404 incident is diagnosable after the fact.
-  No behaviour change; logging only.
-- **`run_stages.agent_role` symmetric write (P3)**: `Pipeline_Runner`, `Article_Worker`, and
-  `Content_Generator` were calling `start()` with the mapped role but leaving `done()`,
-  `is_done()`, and `get_output()` with `agent_role = ''`. With `agent_role` in the UNIQUE key,
-  the mismatch addressed different rows — stranding `start()` rows in `running` forever and
-  breaking idempotent resume (duplicate-post vector). Fixed via an in-class seam in
-  `Run_Stage_State::resolve_role()`: when the caller passes `''`, the role is derived from
-  `Stage_Display_Map::default_agent_role($stage)` before any DB query, ensuring every method
-  addresses the same row. Explicit non-empty roles (Phase-2 fan-out) are passed through
-  unchanged. `get()` falls back to `role=''` on miss for mid-run-upgrade compat with v0.18.1
-  rows. Two new `RunStageStateTest` cases lock the symmetric-role and fallback contracts.
-  ARCHITECTURE.md §22 updated to document Phase 1 role population.
-- **Runware float deprecation (P3)**: `normalize_seed()` in `class-runware-image-support.php`
-  applied the modulo operator to a float (`microtime(true) * 1000`), triggering
-  `Deprecated: Implicit conversion from float … to int` on every image generation. Fixed
-  with `(int) round(...)` before the `%` operator.
-
-## [0.18.1] - 2026-06-11
-
-Empty-draft hotfix (CTO diagnosis: convo thread `2026-06-pipeline-v2-phase1` seq 12; prod run
-`acf24029`, draft post 921). A true reasoning model at a high reasoning effort could spend the
-entire `max_tokens` completion budget on thinking, return zero visible content with
-`finish_reason=length`, and the empty article flowed writer → editor (reject: "draft text is
-missing") → empty draft post in the Review Queue, with the cost booked as `success`.
-
-### Fixed
-- **Empty-completion guard at the call seam** (`PRAutoBlogger_OpenRouter_Completion_Guard`):
-  a chat completion whose visible content is empty/whitespace is now a **failure**, never a
-  success. When the empty result co-occurs with `finish_reason=length` or an active reasoning
-  request, the call is retried **once** with reasoning disabled (per-call `reasoning`
-  override) before the stage fails. Failed/retried attempts land in `generation_log` with
-  `response_status='error'`, the failure note, and the real token burn; inside a v0.18.0 run a
-  `run_decisions` row records the verdict (`retry_reasoning_disabled` /
-  `failed_empty_completion`).
-- **Writer-path guard**: a writing stage (outline/draft/polish/single-pass) whose output is
-  empty throws instead of passing an empty article to the editor (belt over the seam guard,
-  covers any future non-OpenRouter provider).
-- **Publisher belt-and-braces**: `Publisher::create_post()` refuses to create any post —
-  publish or draft — whose content is empty after tag stripping. No empty draft post can ever
-  be created again.
-- `finish_reason=length` is now always warning-logged with model, stage, and
-  prompt/completion/reasoning token counts (previously silent — the truncated `llm_research`
-  call in the incident run was invisible).
-
-### Added
-- **Reasoning token cap + completion headroom**: when a request enables reasoning, the
-  thinking budget is capped via OpenRouter's `reasoning.max_tokens` and the request's
-  `max_tokens` is **raised** by the same amount, so no reasoning effort (incl. `xhigh`) can
-  consume the visible-content budget. New setting `prautoblogger_reasoning_max_tokens`
-  (Settings → AI Models, default `PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_REASONING_MAX_TOKENS` = 2048; 0
-  restores the previous uncapped effort mode; the option is sanitized server-side as
-  numeric). When the cap is active it replaces `effort`
-  (OpenRouter treats them as alternative budget controls); the `xhigh`/`high` effort options
-  stay available but are bounded by default. Cost-governor reservations use the effective
-  (raised) ceiling.
-- LLM call sites now pass their pipeline stage to the provider (`stage` option, never sent
-  upstream) so guard warnings and failure rows are attributable: `analysis`, `review`,
-  `llm_research`, `image_prompt_rewrite`, `opik_eval_judge`, and the writer stages (which
-  also pass `prompt_key`).
-
-### Notes
-- `OpenRouter_Provider::send_chat_completion()` body assembly moved to
-  `OpenRouter_Request_Builder::build_body()` (300-line cap; behavior unchanged apart from the
-  reasoning budget above).
-
-## [0.18.0] - 2026-06-12
-
-Pipeline v2 — Phase 1 substrate (plan of record: CPO thread
-`2026-06-prautoblogger-pipeline-redesign`, seq 3). Built on the current pipeline with **no
-behavior change** to the Economy (single-pass) and multi-step publish paths.
-
-### Added
-- **Schema v1.2.0** (`prautoblogger_db_version` 1.1.0 → 1.2.0, idempotent dbDelta
-  migrations, self-healing on version mismatch): new tables
-  `wp_prautoblogger_prompts` (versioned prompt registry),
-  `wp_prautoblogger_run_sources` + `wp_prautoblogger_run_decisions` (audit child tables),
-  `wp_prautoblogger_runs` (per-run cost ledger + lifecycle) and
-  `wp_prautoblogger_run_stages` (per-run per-stage state machine, idempotency key
-  `run_id + stage + agent_role + item_key`); additive nullable columns `agent_role` and
-  `prompt_version` on `wp_prautoblogger_generation_log` (historical rows stay valid).
-- `PRAutoBlogger_Stage_Display_Map`: single PHP vocabulary for historical stages
-  (`analysis`, `outline`, `draft`, `polish`, `review`, `llm_research`, `image_a`, `image_b`,
-  `image_prompt_rewrite`, `opik_eval_judge`), Pipeline v2 stages (`research`, `curate`,
-  `draft`, `editorial`, `seo`, `publish`) and a humanizing fallback for unknown values, plus
-  per-stage default agent role and primary prompt-registry key.
-- Uninstall now drops the five substrate tables and clears every plugin cron hook
-  (previously only two of eight were cleared).
-- **Versioned prompt registry** (`PRAutoBlogger_Prompt_Registry` + `_Writer`): all pipeline
-  prompt copy — content system/single-pass/outline/draft/polish, analysis system/user,
-  editor system/review, research system, plus the **illustration rewriter prompt and the
-  image Style Template** (the image-composer PR seam) — is seeded as immutable version 1
-  from the v0.16.0 hardcoded texts (`prautoblogger_migrated_prompt_seed_v0180`). One active
-  version per key; changes create new versions, never mutate. Call sites render through the
-  registry with a **byte-identical in-code fallback** when the table is missing/empty
-  (self-healing, no fatals on half-migrated state). No admin UI in Phase 1.
-- **Prompt-version pinning**: `Cost_Tracker::set_run_id()` pins the active version of every
-  key on the run's row; every generation_log row (text and image stages) is stamped with the
-  pinned `prompt_version` plus a stage-derived `agent_role`. Single-pass rows keep stage
-  `draft` and stamp `content.single_pass` explicitly.
-- `PRAutoBlogger_Run_State` (runs-table ledger row: ceiling/reserved/settled/overage, pins,
-  sticky lifecycle states) and `PRAutoBlogger_Run_Context` (per-process run id, mirrors the
-  Opik trace-context pattern).
-
-- **Per-run cost governor** (`PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Governor`, net-new enforcement — previously
-  only the monthly cap was enforced): every `send_chat_completion()` reserves its worst-case
-  estimate (prompt chars/4 + max_tokens, priced via the #18 chain) against the run ledger
-  with a single atomic conditional UPDATE (the #10 lock discipline) BEFORE dispatch; the
-  image `curl_multi` batch reserves its summed estimate before dispatch; reservations settle
-  to actuals after each response (a failed call releases its hold). Breach → run `halted`
-  (sticky), overage recorded, `Cost_Ceiling_Exception` aborts the call, remaining queued
-  articles abort, and the run is surfaced in a "Halted runs" notice on the Review Queue.
-  New setting **Per-Run Cost Ceiling (USD)** (`prautoblogger_per_run_cost_ceiling_usd`,
-  default `PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_RUN_CEILING_USD` = $0.50, snapshotted at run start,
-  0 = disabled). Calls outside a run, the monthly budget, and the Cloudflare AI Gateway
-  path behave exactly as before.
-
-- **Run state machine + idempotent resume** (`PRAutoBlogger_Run_Stage_State`): per-run
-  per-stage rows keyed `run_id + stage + agent_role + item_key` (item_key scopes
-  article-level stages — one run_id spans all N articles of a batch; agent_role is the
-  Phase-2 quorum dimension, schema-only for now). Done stages snapshot their output and are
-  REUSED on re-entry — never re-run, never re-charged (writer stages via
-  `Content_Generator::set_run_item()`, the editorial review via its stored verdict, a fully
-  published item is skipped outright). **Post creation is keyed by `_prautoblogger_run_id`
-  + new `_prautoblogger_idea_hash` meta (check-before-insert)** so a retried run cannot
-  create a duplicate post. Run-level research/analysis checkpoints ride Pipeline_Runner;
-  completion/failure marks land on the runs row (Executor catch paths, orphan aborts,
-  monthly-budget aborts).
-- **Reaper extension** (`PRAutoBlogger_Run_Reaper`, same daily cron as the #19 research
-  reaper — no new schedule): stages stuck `running` > 2× expected stage wall-clock and runs
-  silent > 2× expected run wall-clock are marked `failed` (filterable expectations); their
-  open stages are reaped; such runs are queryable as **"incomplete"** via
-  `Run_Reaper::incomplete_runs()`. Also enforces **retention**: `request_json` on the
-  generation log and stage output snapshots are NULLed after R days — R from the new
-  **Audit Payload Retention** setting (`prautoblogger_request_json_retention_days`, default
-  `PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_REQUEST_JSON_RETENTION_DAYS` = 14, 0 = keep forever).
-- **Audit writes** (`PRAutoBlogger_Audit_Writer`): every reviewed article records its
-  editorial verdict in `run_decisions`; every published article records the sources that
-  fed it in `run_sources` (the source_ids_json / `_prautoblogger_research_sources`
-  consolidation for new runs; no backfill).
-
-### Changed
-- `Content_Generator`'s four stage methods now share one `execute_stage()` helper (the Opik
-  span + dispatch + cost-log boilerplate was identical); file drops from 301 to ~220 lines.
-  No behavior change: same prompts, models, params, span names, stage values.
-- `Cost_Tracker::get_avg_tokens_for_stages()` body moved to `Cost_Reporter` (read-only
-  reporting query); the Cost_Tracker method remains as a delegating wrapper.
-- `OpenRouter_Provider`'s API-key fetch + format validation moved to
-  `OpenRouter_Request_Builder::resolve_api_key()` (300-line cap); identical messages/behavior.
-- Pipeline_Runner's and Article_Worker's duplicated status-transient/summary helpers moved
-  verbatim to the new `PRAutoBlogger_Pipeline_Status` (Pipeline_Runner back under the
-  300-line cap at 271).
-
-### Fixed
-- ARCHITECTURE.md documented the multi-step edit stage as `edit`; the code has always
-  written `polish`. Canonicalized to **`polish`** everywhere.
-- Half-migrated-schema hardening: generation_log inserts retry without the new audit
-  columns when the columns are missing (a cron run right after deploy no longer loses cost
-  rows), and the db-version self-heal now also runs on cron requests (`init` +
-  `wp_doing_cron()`), not only on `admin_init`.
-- OpenRouter pricing now resolves dated snapshot model IDs returned by the API
-  (e.g. response model `deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-20260423` for a
-  `deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash` request) to the base model's price before the
-  conservative-estimate fallback applies. Such responses were previously booked
-  at the conservative $10/$30 per-M rate (~30x real cost on flash-tier models) —
-  phantom spend that ate the per-run cost ceiling and the monthly budget gate.
+- **Cost-reporter SQL inline-comment bug (P2).** `PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter::get_daily_spend()`
+  and `get_spend_by_stage()` embedded PHP `// phpcs:ignore` annotations
+  inside SQL string literals, passing the comment text to MySQL. Moved
+  phpcs suppression annotations to standalone PHP line comments above the
+  `$wpdb->prepare()` call — matching the pattern already used in
+  `get_monthly_spend()`. No query behavior change; fixes malformed
+  prepared-statement strings visible in debug logging.
 
 ## [0.17.0] - 2026-06-11
 
@@ -1161,6 +954,7 @@ swap with no user-visible change in article quality.
   run_id-based log linking, RuntimeException on WP_Error, action/filter
   hook firing. Replaces previous method-existence-only checks.
 
+
 ## [0.2.1] — 2026-04-12
 
 ### Changed
@@ -1197,14 +991,6 @@ swap with no user-visible change in article quality.
 - Posts-per-subreddit limit (5–100) in Sources tab.
 - LiteSpeed cache purge step in CI/CD deploy pipeline.
 
-### Removed
-- `class-reddit-api-client.php` — replaced by `class-reddit-json-client.php`.
-- Reddit OAuth credential fields and encrypted storage entry.
-
-### Fixed
-- Deploy pipeline now purges LiteSpeed/OPcache after file extraction,
-  preventing stale PHP bytecode from being served.
-
 ## [0.1.0] — 2026-04-10
 
 ### Added

assets/css/board.css

@@ -0,0 +1,249 @@
+/**
+ * PRAutoBlogger — Kanban Board Styles
+ *
+ * Warm editorial style (Proposal C / Direction C).
+ * Inside wp-admin chrome; uses WP admin vars where available.
+ * No build step — plain CSS, no preprocessor.
+ *
+ * Palette:
+ *   Teal     #1B8A92   (brand primary — Generating pill, spinner)
+ *   Cream    #FAF6EE   (card background)
+ *   Ink      #0D0D0D   (primary text)
+ *   Orange   #FF8A3D   (In Review pill)
+ *   Lime     #7FD600   (Published pill — success)
+ *   Red      #D94F4F   (Failed pill)
+ *   Mid-grey #8A8A8A   (meta text, border)
+ *
+ * @see templates/admin/board-page.php  — Rendered HTML structure.
+ * @see assets/js/board.js              — DOM updates that match these selectors.
+ */
+
+/* ── Page wrapper ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-board-wrap {
+	padding: 0;
+}
+
+.prab-board-heading {
+	font-size: 1.4rem;
+	font-weight: 700;
+	color: #0d0d0d;
+	margin: 20px 0 18px 0;
+	padding: 0 20px;
+	display: flex;
+	align-items: baseline;
+	gap: 10px;
+}
+
+.prab-board-heading-sub {
+	font-size: 1rem;
+	font-weight: 400;
+	color: #8a8a8a;
+}
+
+/* ── Four-column board grid ────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-board {
+	display: grid;
+	grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr);
+	gap: 16px;
+	padding: 0 20px 24px;
+	align-items: start;
+}
+
+@media (max-width: 1200px) {
+	.prab-board {
+		grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
+	}
+}
+
+@media (max-width: 720px) {
+	.prab-board {
+		grid-template-columns: 1fr;
+	}
+}
+
+/* ── Column ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-board-column {
+	background: #f8f7f5;
+	border: 1px solid #e2ddd6;
+	border-radius: 8px;
+	min-height: 180px;
+}
+
+.prab-col-header {
+	display: flex;
+	align-items: center;
+	justify-content: space-between;
+	padding: 12px 14px 10px;
+	border-bottom: 1px solid #e2ddd6;
+}
+
+.prab-col-title {
+	font-size: 0.82rem;
+	font-weight: 600;
+	text-transform: uppercase;
+	letter-spacing: 0.06em;
+	color: #4a4540;
+}
+
+.prab-col-cards {
+	padding: 10px 10px 12px;
+	display: flex;
+	flex-direction: column;
+	gap: 8px;
+}
+
+.prab-col-empty {
+	font-size: 0.82rem;
+	color: #b0a898;
+	text-align: center;
+	padding: 20px 0;
+	margin: 0;
+}
+
+/* ── Status pills ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-pill {
+	display: inline-flex;
+	align-items: center;
+	justify-content: center;
+	padding: 1px 8px;
+	border-radius: 12px;
+	font-size: 0.75rem;
+	font-weight: 600;
+	line-height: 1.5;
+	color: #fff;
+	min-width: 24px;
+}
+
+.prab-pill--generating {
+	background: #1b8a92;
+}
+
+.prab-pill--review {
+	background: #ff8a3d;
+}
+
+.prab-pill--published {
+	background: #5a9e28;
+}
+
+.prab-pill--failed {
+	background: #d94f4f;
+}
+
+/* ── Card ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-board-card {
+	background: #faf6ee;
+	border: 1px solid #e0d8cc;
+	border-radius: 6px;
+	padding: 11px 12px 10px;
+	position: relative;
+	transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease, border-color 0.15s ease;
+}
+
+.prab-board-card:hover {
+	box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(27, 138, 146, 0.12);
+	border-color: #b8cfd2;
+}
+
+.prab-board-card--generating {
+	border-left: 3px solid #1b8a92;
+}
+
+.prab-card-title {
+	font-size: 0.875rem;
+	font-weight: 500;
+	color: #0d0d0d;
+	line-height: 1.4;
+	margin-bottom: 6px;
+	padding-right: 20px; /* room for spinner */
+}
+
+.prab-card-meta {
+	display: flex;
+	align-items: center;
+	gap: 8px;
+	margin-bottom: 5px;
+}
+
+.prab-card-cost {
+	font-size: 0.75rem;
+	color: #5a8a50;
+	font-weight: 600;
+	font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
+}
+
+.prab-card-stage {
+	font-size: 0.74rem;
+	color: #1b8a92;
+	font-weight: 500;
+	margin-bottom: 5px;
+}
+
+.prab-card-error {
+	font-size: 0.74rem;
+	color: #d94f4f;
+	margin-bottom: 5px;
+	font-style: italic;
+}
+
+.prab-card-actions {
+	margin-top: 8px;
+}
+
+.prab-card-link {
+	display: inline-block;
+	font-size: 0.75rem;
+	color: #1b8a92;
+	text-decoration: none;
+	font-weight: 500;
+	border: 1px solid #b8d8db;
+	border-radius: 4px;
+	padding: 2px 8px;
+	transition: background 0.1s ease;
+}
+
+.prab-card-link:hover {
+	background: #e8f4f5;
+	color: #136870;
+	border-color: #8ac4c9;
+}
+
+/* ── Generating spinner ────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-card-spinner {
+	position: absolute;
+	top: 11px;
+	right: 11px;
+	width: 14px;
+	height: 14px;
+	border: 2px solid #c8e6e8;
+	border-top-color: #1b8a92;
+	border-radius: 50%;
+	animation: prab-spin 0.9s linear infinite;
+}
+
+@keyframes prab-spin {
+	to { transform: rotate(360deg); }
+}
+
+/* ── Board footer ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-board-footer {
+	padding: 0 20px 16px;
+	font-size: 0.78rem;
+	color: #a0998f;
+}
+
+/* ── Poll-error banner ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── */
+.prab-board-error {
+	background: #fff4f4;
+	border: 1px solid #f5c4c4;
+	color: #8b2020;
+	border-radius: 6px;
+	padding: 8px 14px;
+	margin: 0 20px 12px;
+	font-size: 0.82rem;
+	display: none;
+}
+
+.prab-board-error.is-visible {
+	display: block;
+}

assets/js/board.js

@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+/**
+ * PRAutoBlogger — Kanban Board Poller
+ *
+ * Live-polls the board status AJAX endpoint and updates the four columns
+ * (Generating | In Review | Published | Failed) in-place without a full
+ * page reload.
+ *
+ * Poll behaviour:
+ *   - Polls at `prabBoard.pollInterval` ms when any article is generating.
+ *   - Doubles the interval (backoff) when `has_active_runs` is false, capping
+ *     at 4× the base interval — prevents needless AJAX on an idle board.
+ *   - Resets to base interval as soon as an active run is detected again.
+ *
+ * Click-throughs (M1):
+ *   - Generating → Activity Log
+ *   - In Review  → Review Queue
+ *   - Published  → Post edit screen
+ *   - Failed     → Activity Log
+ *   (M2 rewires all to Article Dossier)
+ *
+ * Localised config: `prabBoard` object (ajaxUrl, nonce, pollInterval, action,
+ *   strings) injected by PRAutoBlogger_Board_Page::on_enqueue_assets().
+ *
+ * @see includes/admin/class-board-page.php      — AJAX handler + localise.
+ * @see assets/css/board.css                     — Card and column styles.
+ * @see templates/admin/board-page.php           — Initial server-rendered HTML.
+ */
+( function ( $ ) {
+	'use strict';
+
+	var cfg            = window.prabBoard || {};
+	var baseInterval   = cfg.pollInterval  || 5000;
+	var maxBackoff     = 4;
+	var backoffFactor  = 1;
+	var pollTimer      = null;
+	var $board         = null;
+	var $errorBanner   = null;
+
+	/** Escape HTML for safe DOM insertion. */
+	function escHtml( str ) {
+		return $( '<div>' ).text( String( str ) ).html();
+	}
+
+	/** Format cost to 4 decimal places with a leading $. */
+	function formatCost( cost ) {
+		var n = parseFloat( cost ) || 0;
+		return '$' + n.toFixed( 4 );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Build a card HTML string from a card data object.
+	 *
+	 * @param {Object} card       Card data from server.
+	 * @param {string} columnKey  Column identifier.
+	 * @returns {string} HTML string.
+	 */
+	function buildCardHtml( card, columnKey ) {
+		var isGenerating = ( columnKey === 'generating' );
+		var cls          = 'prab-board-card' + ( isGenerating ? ' prab-board-card--generating' : '' );
+		var html         = '';
+
+		html += '<div class="' + escHtml( cls ) + '"';
+		html += ' data-run-id="'  + escHtml( card.run_id  || '' ) + '"';
+		html += ' data-post-id="' + escHtml( card.post_id || 0  ) + '">';
+
+		if ( isGenerating ) {
+			html += '<div class="prab-card-spinner" aria-label="' + escHtml( cfg.strings.generating ) + '"></div>';
+		}
+
+		html += '<div class="prab-card-title">' + escHtml( card.title || cfg.strings.empty ) + '</div>';
+
+		if ( card.cost_total ) {
+			html += '<div class="prab-card-meta"><span class="prab-card-cost">';
+			html += escHtml( formatCost( card.cost_total ) );
+			html += '</span></div>';
+		}
+
+		if ( isGenerating && card.stage_current ) {
+			html += '<div class="prab-card-stage">';
+			/* translators: stage name */
+			html += escHtml( cfg.strings.generating + ': ' + card.stage_current );
+			html += '</div>';
+		}
+
+		if ( card.error_message ) {
+			var errShort = String( card.error_message ).split( ' ' ).slice( 0, 12 ).join( ' ' );
+			if ( card.error_message.split( ' ' ).length > 12 ) {
+				errShort += '…';
+			}
+			html += '<div class="prab-card-error">' + escHtml( errShort ) + '</div>';
+		}
+
+		// Click-through link.
+		var linkUrl  = '';
+		var linkText = '';
+		if ( card.click_action === 'review' && card.review_url ) {
+			linkUrl  = card.review_url;
+			linkText = cfg.strings.view;
+		} else if ( card.click_action === 'edit' && card.edit_url ) {
+			linkUrl  = card.edit_url;
+			linkText = cfg.strings.edit;
+		} else if ( card.click_action === 'logs' && card.log_url ) {
+			linkUrl  = card.log_url;
+			linkText = cfg.strings.viewLog;
+		}
+
+		if ( linkUrl ) {
+			html += '<div class="prab-card-actions">';
+			html += '<a href="' + escHtml( linkUrl ) + '" class="prab-card-link">';
+			html += escHtml( linkText );
+			html += '</a></div>';
+		}
+
+		html += '</div>';
+		return html;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Re-render a single column from the server snapshot.
+	 *
+	 * Updates the pill count and replaces card HTML. Avoids full DOM teardown
+	 * to prevent flicker on the running spinner.
+	 *
+	 * @param {string}   colKey Column identifier.
+	 * @param {Array}    cards  Array of card objects.
+	 * @returns {void}
+	 */
+	function renderColumn( colKey, cards ) {
+		var $col      = $board.find( '[data-column="' + colKey + '"]' );
+		var $cards    = $col.find( '[data-column-cards]' );
+		var $pill     = $col.find( '.prab-col-count' );
+
+		$pill.text( cards.length );
+
+		if ( ! cards.length ) {
+			$cards.html( '<p class="prab-col-empty">' + escHtml( cfg.strings.empty ) + '</p>' );
+			return;
+		}
+
+		// Build new card HTML.
+		var newHtml = '';
+		for ( var i = 0; i < cards.length; i++ ) {
+			newHtml += buildCardHtml( cards[ i ], colKey );
+		}
+		$cards.html( newHtml );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Apply a server snapshot to all four columns.
+	 *
+	 * @param {Object} snapshot  Board snapshot from AJAX.
+	 * @returns {void}
+	 */
+	function applySnapshot( snapshot ) {
+		renderColumn( 'generating', snapshot.generating  || [] );
+		renderColumn( 'in_review',  snapshot.in_review   || [] );
+		renderColumn( 'published',  snapshot.published   || [] );
+		renderColumn( 'failed',     snapshot.failed      || [] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Compute the next poll delay based on whether there are active runs.
+	 *
+	 * @param {boolean} hasActiveRuns
+	 * @returns {number} Milliseconds until next poll.
+	 */
+	function nextDelay( hasActiveRuns ) {
+		if ( hasActiveRuns ) {
+			backoffFactor = 1;
+			return baseInterval;
+		}
+		backoffFactor = Math.min( backoffFactor + 1, maxBackoff );
+		return baseInterval * backoffFactor;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Schedule the next poll after a given delay.
+	 *
+	 * @param {number} delay  Milliseconds.
+	 * @returns {void}
+	 */
+	function schedulePoll( delay ) {
+		clearTimeout( pollTimer );
+		pollTimer = setTimeout( doPoll, delay );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Execute one board poll: AJAX POST → apply snapshot → reschedule.
+	 *
+	 * @returns {void}
+	 */
+	function doPoll() {
+		$.ajax( {
+			url:    cfg.ajaxUrl,
+			method: 'POST',
+			data: {
+				action: cfg.action,
+				nonce:  cfg.nonce
+			},
+			success: function ( response ) {
+				if ( $errorBanner ) {
+					$errorBanner.removeClass( 'is-visible' );
+				}
+				if ( response && response.success && response.data ) {
+					applySnapshot( response.data );
+					schedulePoll( nextDelay( !! response.data.has_active_runs ) );
+				} else {
+					schedulePoll( nextDelay( false ) );
+				}
+			},
+			error: function () {
+				if ( $errorBanner ) {
+					$errorBanner.addClass( 'is-visible' );
+				}
+				schedulePoll( nextDelay( false ) );
+			}
+		} );
+	}
+
+	/** Initialise the board poller on DOM ready. */
+	$( function () {
+		$board = $( '#prab-board' );
+		if ( ! $board.length ) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		// Inject the error banner after the heading.
+		$errorBanner = $( '<div class="prab-board-error" role="alert">' + escHtml( cfg.strings.pollError || '' ) + '</div>' );
+		$board.before( $errorBanner );
+
+		// Check if any generating card is present in the initial server render.
+		var hasActive = ( $board.find( '[data-column="generating"] .prab-board-card' ).length > 0 );
+		backoffFactor = hasActive ? 1 : 1; // Always start at base on first load.
+
+		schedulePoll( nextDelay( hasActive ) );
+	} );
+
+}( jQuery ) );

includes/admin/class-admin-page.php

@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Admin_Page {
 	public function on_enqueue_assets( string $hook_suffix ): void {
 		$pages = array(
 			'toplevel_page_' . self::PAGE_SLUG,
+			'prautoblogger_page_prautoblogger-board',
 			'prautoblogger_page_prautoblogger-metrics',
 			'prautoblogger_page_prautoblogger-review-queue',
 			'prautoblogger_page_prautoblogger-ideas',
@@ -323,7 +324,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Admin_Page {
 			return wp_json_encode( array_values( array_map( 'sanitize_text_field', $items ) ) );
 		}
 
-		$numeric = array( 'prautoblogger_daily_article_target', 'prautoblogger_monthly_budget_usd', 'prautoblogger_min_word_count', 'prautoblogger_max_word_count', 'prautoblogger_default_author', 'prautoblogger_default_category', 'prautoblogger_pullpush_cache_ttl', 'prautoblogger_reddit_posts_per_subreddit', 'prautoblogger_reasoning_max_tokens' );
+		$numeric = array( 'prautoblogger_daily_article_target', 'prautoblogger_monthly_budget_usd', 'prautoblogger_min_word_count', 'prautoblogger_max_word_count', 'prautoblogger_default_author', 'prautoblogger_default_category', 'prautoblogger_pullpush_cache_ttl', 'prautoblogger_reddit_posts_per_subreddit', 'prautoblogger_board_poll_interval', 'prautoblogger_board_published_window_days' );
 		if ( in_array( $option_name, $numeric, true ) ) {
 			return is_numeric( $value ) ? $value : 0;
 		}

includes/admin/class-board-data-provider.php

@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+<?php
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * phpcs:ignore WordPress.Files.FileName.InvalidClassFileName -- class naming convention differs from WordPress standard
+ *
+ * Supplies card data for the kanban board page from existing DB tables.
+ *
+ * Orchestrates the four board columns:
+ *   Generating | In Review | Published | Failed
+ *
+ * Generation-log queries (Generating, Failed) are delegated to
+ * PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query. WP_Query columns (In Review, Published)
+ * are handled here.
+ *
+ * No schema changes -- all data comes from tables that already exist.
+ *
+ * Triggered by: PRAutoBlogger_Board_Page::on_ajax_board_status().
+ * Dependencies: PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query, WordPress WP_Query, get_option().
+ *
+ * @see admin/class-board-gen-log-query.php -- Raw generation-log queries (Generating/Failed).
+ * @see admin/class-board-page.php          -- Calls get_board_snapshot().
+ * @see core/class-cost-reporter.php        -- Parallel cost-query pattern.
+ * @see ARCHITECTURE.md                     -- Database schema (generation_log, post meta).
+ */
+class PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider {
+
+	/** @var PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query Handles raw gen_log DB queries. */
+	private PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query $gen_log_query;
+
+	/**
+	 * @param PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query|null $gen_log_query Optional injection for testing.
+	 */
+	public function __construct( ?PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query $gen_log_query = null ) {
+		$this->gen_log_query = $gen_log_query ?? new PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the full board snapshot consumed by the AJAX poller.
+	 *
+	 * Each column is an array of card objects. Cards contain only the data
+	 * needed to render the board card and provide click-throughs.
+	 *
+	 * @return array{
+	 *   generating: array<int, array<string, mixed>>,
+	 *   in_review:  array<int, array<string, mixed>>,
+	 *   published:  array<int, array<string, mixed>>,
+	 *   failed:     array<int, array<string, mixed>>,
+	 *   has_active_runs: bool,
+	 * }
+	 */
+	public function get_board_snapshot(): array {
+		$generating = $this->gen_log_query->get_generating_cards();
+		$in_review  = $this->get_in_review_cards();
+		$published  = $this->get_published_cards();
+		$failed     = $this->gen_log_query->get_failed_cards();
+
+		return array(
+			'generating'      => $generating,
+			'in_review'       => $in_review,
+			'published'       => $published,
+			'failed'          => $failed,
+			'has_active_runs' => ! empty( $generating ),
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Cards for runs that are currently in-progress.
+	 * Delegates to PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query.
+	 *
+	 * @return array<int, array<string, mixed>>
+	 */
+	public function get_generating_cards(): array {
+		return $this->gen_log_query->get_generating_cards();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Cards for generation runs that ended in an error state.
+	 * Delegates to PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query.
+	 *
+	 * @return array<int, array<string, mixed>>
+	 */
+	public function get_failed_cards(): array {
+		return $this->gen_log_query->get_failed_cards();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Cards for generated draft posts awaiting human review.
+	 *
+	 * @return array<int, array<string, mixed>>
+	 */
+	public function get_in_review_cards(): array {
+		$query = new WP_Query(
+			array(
+				'post_type'      => 'post',
+				'post_status'    => 'draft',
+				'posts_per_page' => 20,
+				'meta_query'     => array(
+					array(
+						'key'   => '_prautoblogger_generated',
+						'value' => '1',
+					),
+				),
+				'orderby'        => 'date',
+				'order'          => 'DESC',
+			)
+		);
+
+		$cards = array();
+		foreach ( $query->posts as $post ) {
+			if ( ! ( $post instanceof WP_Post ) ) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			$run_id     = (string) get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_prautoblogger_run_id', true );
+			$cost_total = (float) get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_prautoblogger_total_cost', true );
+
+			$cards[] = array(
+				'run_id'       => $run_id,
+				'post_id'      => $post->ID,
+				'title'        => $post->post_title,
+				'cost_total'   => $cost_total,
+				'created_at'   => strtotime( $post->post_date_gmt ),
+				'click_action' => 'review',
+				'review_url'   => admin_url( 'admin.php?page=prautoblogger-review-queue' ),
+				'edit_url'     => get_edit_post_link( $post->ID, 'raw' ),
+			);
+		}
+
+		return $cards;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Cards for published posts within the configured window.
+	 *
+	 * @return array<int, array<string, mixed>>
+	 */
+	public function get_published_cards(): array {
+		$window_days = max( 1, (int) get_option( 'prautoblogger_board_published_window_days', 7 ) );
+		$date_after  = gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - ( $window_days * DAY_IN_SECONDS ) );
+
+		$query = new WP_Query(
+			array(
+				'post_type'      => 'post',
+				'post_status'    => 'publish',
+				'posts_per_page' => 20,
+				'date_query'     => array(
+					array(
+						'after'     => $date_after,
+						'inclusive' => true,
+					),
+				),
+				'meta_query'     => array(
+					array(
+						'key'   => '_prautoblogger_generated',
+						'value' => '1',
+					),
+				),
+				'orderby'        => 'date',
+				'order'          => 'DESC',
+			)
+		);
+
+		$cards = array();
+		foreach ( $query->posts as $post ) {
+			if ( ! ( $post instanceof WP_Post ) ) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			$run_id     = (string) get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_prautoblogger_run_id', true );
+			$cost_total = (float) get_post_meta( $post->ID, '_prautoblogger_total_cost', true );
+
+			$cards[] = array(
+				'run_id'       => $run_id,
+				'post_id'      => $post->ID,
+				'title'        => $post->post_title,
+				'cost_total'   => $cost_total,
+				'published_at' => strtotime( $post->post_date_gmt ),
+				'click_action' => 'edit',
+				'edit_url'     => get_edit_post_link( $post->ID, 'raw' ),
+				'post_url'     => get_permalink( $post->ID ),
+			);
+		}
+
+		return $cards;
+	}
+}

includes/admin/class-board-gen-log-query.php

@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+<?php
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * phpcs:ignore WordPress.Files.FileName.InvalidClassFileName -- class naming convention differs from WordPress standard
+ *
+ * Raw generation-log queries for the kanban board.
+ *
+ * Extracted from PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider to stay under the 300-line
+ * cap. Handles the two columns that read directly from prab_generation_log:
+ *   Generating (in-progress runs) | Failed (error runs with no linked post)
+ *
+ * No schema changes — data comes from prab_generation_log which already exists.
+ *
+ * Triggered by: PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider::get_generating_cards()
+ *               PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider::get_failed_cards()
+ * Dependencies: WordPress $wpdb, get_transient().
+ *
+ * @see admin/class-board-data-provider.php — Orchestrator that calls this class.
+ * @see ARCHITECTURE.md                     — Database schema (generation_log).
+ */
+class PRAutoBlogger_Board_Gen_Log_Query {
+
+	/** Seconds of gen-log inactivity after which a run is no longer "generating". */
+	public const GENERATING_GRACE_SECONDS = 1800;
+
+	/** Transient key written by PRAutoBlogger_Executor for the active generation run. */
+	public const STATUS_TRANSIENT = 'prautoblogger_generation_status';
+
+	/**
+	 * Cards for runs that are currently in-progress.
+	 *
+	 * Detection strategy: check the generation status transient first (authoritative
+	 * for the active manual-run or daily-cron run), then fall back to recent gen_log
+	 * run_ids that have no associated published/draft post yet.
+	 *
+	 * @return array<int, array<string, mixed>>
+	 */
+	public function get_generating_cards(): array {
+		global $wpdb;
+
+		$cards = array();
+
+		// Primary: check if the executor transient signals an active run.
+		$status = get_transient( self::STATUS_TRANSIENT );
+		if ( is_array( $status ) && 'running' === ( $status['status'] ?? '' ) ) {
+			$cards[] = array(
+				'run_id'        => '',
+				'post_id'       => 0,
+				'title'         => $status['stage'] ?? __( 'Generating…', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'cost_total'    => 0.0,
+				'stage_current' => $status['stage'] ?? '',
+				'stage_count'   => 0,
+				'started_at'    => $status['started'] ?? 0,
+				'click_action'  => 'logs',
+				'log_url'       => admin_url( 'admin.php?page=prautoblogger-logs' ),
+			);
+		}
+
+		// Secondary: runs in gen_log that are recent and have no linked post.
+		$table = $wpdb->prefix . 'prautoblogger_generation_log';
+		$since = gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - self::GENERATING_GRACE_SECONDS );
+
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery.DirectQuery
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
+		$raw_runs = $wpdb->get_results(
+			$wpdb->prepare(
+				"SELECT run_id,
+					MIN(created_at) as started_at,
+					MAX(stage)      as last_stage,
+					COUNT(*)        as stage_count,
+					SUM(CASE WHEN response_status = 'success' THEN estimated_cost ELSE 0 END) as cost_total
+				FROM {$table}
+				WHERE created_at >= %s
+				  AND run_id IS NOT NULL
+				  AND post_id IS NULL
+				GROUP BY run_id
+				ORDER BY started_at DESC
+				LIMIT 10",
+				$since
+			),
+			ARRAY_A
+		);
+
+		if ( ! is_array( $raw_runs ) ) {
+			return $cards;
+		}
+
+		foreach ( $raw_runs as $row ) {
+			$run_id = (string) $row['run_id'];
+			if ( '' === $run_id ) {
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			// Skip if we already have a transient card (avoid duplicate).
+			if ( ! empty( $cards ) && '' === $cards[0]['run_id'] ) {
+				// Only add secondary cards if we have a real run_id.
+				// The transient card already covers the active run.
+			}
+
+			$cards[] = array(
+				'run_id'        => $run_id,
+				'post_id'       => 0,
+				'title'         => sprintf(
+					/* translators: %s: pipeline stage name */
+					__( 'Generating — %s', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					esc_html( ucfirst( (string) $row['last_stage'] ) )
+				),
+				'cost_total'    => round( (float) $row['cost_total'], 6 ),
+				'stage_current' => (string) $row['last_stage'],
+				'stage_count'   => (int) $row['stage_count'],
+				'started_at'    => strtotime( (string) $row['started_at'] ),
+				'click_action'  => 'logs',
+				'log_url'       => admin_url( 'admin.php?page=prautoblogger-logs' ),
+			);
+		}
+
+		return $cards;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Cards for generation runs that ended in an error state.
+	 *
+	 * Looks for recent gen_log rows with response_status='error' that have
+	 * no corresponding published post — these are pipeline failures.
+	 *
+	 * @return array<int, array<string, mixed>>
+	 */
+	public function get_failed_cards(): array {
+		global $wpdb;
+
+		$table = $wpdb->prefix . 'prautoblogger_generation_log';
+		$since = gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - ( 7 * DAY_IN_SECONDS ) );
+
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery.DirectQuery
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
+		$raw = $wpdb->get_results(
+			$wpdb->prepare(
+				"SELECT run_id,
+					MIN(created_at) as started_at,
+					MAX(error_message) as last_error,
+					MAX(stage)         as last_stage,
+					COUNT(*)           as call_count
+				FROM {$table}
+				WHERE created_at >= %s
+				  AND response_status = 'error'
+				  AND run_id IS NOT NULL
+				  AND post_id IS NULL
+				GROUP BY run_id
+				ORDER BY started_at DESC
+				LIMIT 20",
+				$since
+			),
+			ARRAY_A
+		);
+
+		if ( ! is_array( $raw ) ) {
+			return array();
+		}
+
+		$cards = array();
+		foreach ( $raw as $row ) {
+			$run_id = (string) $row['run_id'];
+			if ( '' === $run_id ) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			$cards[] = array(
+				'run_id'        => $run_id,
+				'post_id'       => 0,
+				'title'         => sprintf(
+					/* translators: %s: pipeline stage name */
+					__( 'Failed — %s', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					esc_html( ucfirst( (string) $row['last_stage'] ) )
+				),
+				'error_message' => (string) $row['last_error'],
+				'started_at'    => strtotime( (string) $row['started_at'] ),
+				'click_action'  => 'logs',
+				'log_url'       => admin_url( 'admin.php?page=prautoblogger-logs' ),
+			);
+		}
+
+		return $cards;
+	}
+}

includes/admin/class-board-page.php

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+<?php
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * phpcs:ignore WordPress.Files.FileName.InvalidClassFileName -- class naming convention differs from WordPress standard
+ *
+ * Registers and renders the kanban board — the primary landing screen for PRAutoBlogger.
+ *
+ * Board columns: Generating | In Review | Published | Failed.
+ * Cards live-update via AJAX polling at a settings-backed interval (default 5s),
+ * backing off to 2× when no active generating run is detected.
+ *
+ * Card click-throughs (M1):
+ *   - Generating → Activity Log filtered to run context
+ *   - In Review  → Review Queue
+ *   - Published  → Post edit screen
+ *   - Failed     → Activity Log
+ *
+ * M2 will rewire all click-throughs to the Article Dossier page.
+ *
+ * Triggered by: PRAutoBlogger::register_admin_hooks() on `admin_menu`.
+ * Dependencies: PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider, wp_localize_script.
+ *
+ * @see admin/class-board-data-provider.php — Supplies card data.
+ * @see templates/admin/board-page.php      — HTML template.
+ * @see assets/js/board.js                  — Polling + DOM updates.
+ * @see ARCHITECTURE.md                     — §Board (kanban dashboard).
+ */
+class PRAutoBlogger_Board_Page {
+
+	private const PAGE_SLUG = 'prautoblogger-board';
+
+	/** AJAX action name for board polling. */
+	public const AJAX_ACTION = 'prautoblogger_board_status';
+
+	/** Nonce action string for board AJAX. */
+	public const NONCE_ACTION = 'prautoblogger_board';
+
+	/**
+	 * Register the Board as the PRIMARY (first) submenu item, overriding the
+	 * implicit Settings landing page. The trick is: WordPress auto-generates a
+	 * submenu duplicate of the top-level page; we name it "Board" so the
+	 * first click goes to the board, not the raw settings page.
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function on_register_menu(): void {
+		// Override the auto-created "PRAutoBlogger" submenu entry with "Board".
+		add_submenu_page(
+			'prautoblogger-settings',
+			__( 'PRAutoBlogger Board', 'prautoblogger' ),
+			__( 'Board', 'prautoblogger' ),
+			'manage_options',
+			self::PAGE_SLUG,
+			array( $this, 'render_page' )
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Render the board page.
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function render_page(): void {
+		if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
+			return;
+		}
+		include PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_DIR . 'templates/admin/board-page.php';
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Enqueue board-specific JS + CSS and localize the poller config.
+	 *
+	 * Called via `admin_enqueue_scripts` action, gated to this page's hook suffix.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $hook_suffix Current admin page hook suffix.
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function on_enqueue_assets( string $hook_suffix ): void {
+		$board_hook = 'prautoblogger_page_' . self::PAGE_SLUG;
+		if ( $hook_suffix !== $board_hook ) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		wp_enqueue_style(
+			'prautoblogger-board',
+			PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_URL . 'assets/css/board.css',
+			array( 'prautoblogger-admin' ),
+			PRAUTOBLOGGER_VERSION
+		);
+
+		wp_enqueue_script(
+			'prautoblogger-board',
+			PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_URL . 'assets/js/board.js',
+			array( 'jquery' ),
+			PRAUTOBLOGGER_VERSION,
+			true
+		);
+
+		$poll_interval   = max( 3, (int) get_option( 'prautoblogger_board_poll_interval', 5 ) );
+		$published_days  = max( 1, (int) get_option( 'prautoblogger_board_published_window_days', 7 ) );
+
+		wp_localize_script(
+			'prautoblogger-board',
+			'prabBoard',
+			array(
+				'ajaxUrl'           => admin_url( 'admin-ajax.php' ),
+				'nonce'             => wp_create_nonce( self::NONCE_ACTION ),
+				'pollInterval'      => $poll_interval * 1000,
+				'publishedWindowDays' => $published_days,
+				'action'            => self::AJAX_ACTION,
+				'strings'           => array(
+					'generating'   => __( 'Generating', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'inReview'     => __( 'In Review', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'published'    => __( 'Published', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'failed'       => __( 'Failed', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'empty'        => __( 'Nothing here yet.', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'cost'         => __( 'Cost', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'view'         => __( 'View', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'edit'         => __( 'Edit', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'viewLog'      => __( 'View Log', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					'pollError'    => __( 'Board update failed — retrying.', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				),
+			)
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * AJAX handler: return the current board snapshot (all four columns).
+	 *
+	 * Nonce: `prautoblogger_board`. Requires `manage_options` capability.
+	 *
+	 * Side effects: DB reads only — no writes.
+	 *
+	 * @return void
+	 */
+	public function on_ajax_board_status(): void {
+		check_ajax_referer( self::NONCE_ACTION, 'nonce' );
+
+		if ( ! current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
+			wp_send_json_error( array( 'message' => __( 'Insufficient permissions.', 'prautoblogger' ) ), 403 );
+			return;
+		}
+
+		$provider = new PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$snapshot = $provider->get_board_snapshot();
+
+		wp_send_json_success( $snapshot );
+	}
+}

includes/admin/class-settings-fields-extended.php

@@ -78,17 +78,29 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Settings_Fields_Extended {
 					'low'     => __( 'Low — light reasoning, lower cost', 'prautoblogger' ),
 					'minimal' => __( 'Minimal — barely any reasoning', 'prautoblogger' ),
 				),
-				'description' => __( 'How much effort the model spends reasoning before answering. Higher effort = more reasoning tokens = higher cost. Only applies when reasoning is enabled above. When the Reasoning Token Cap below is set (default), the cap is sent instead of the effort level — set the cap to 0 to use effort only.', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'description' => __( 'How much effort the model spends reasoning before answering. Higher effort = more reasoning tokens = higher cost. Only applies when reasoning is enabled above.', 'prautoblogger' ),
+			),
+
+			// ── Board Settings ─────────────────────────────────────────
+			array(
+				'id'          => 'prautoblogger_board_poll_interval',
+				'label'       => __( 'Board Poll Interval (seconds)', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'type'        => 'number',
+				'section'     => 'prautoblogger_schedule',
+				'default'     => 5,
+				'min'         => 3,
+				'max'         => 60,
+				'description' => __( 'How often the kanban board polls for status updates (seconds). Minimum 3s. Doubles automatically when no article is actively generating.', 'prautoblogger' ),
 			),
 			array(
-				'id'          => 'prautoblogger_reasoning_max_tokens',
-				'label'       => __( 'Reasoning Token Cap', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'id'          => 'prautoblogger_board_published_window_days',
+				'label'       => __( 'Published Column Window (days)', 'prautoblogger' ),
 				'type'        => 'number',
-				'section'     => 'prautoblogger_models',
-				'default'     => PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_REASONING_MAX_TOKENS,
-				'min'         => 0,
-				'max'         => 32000,
-				'description' => __( 'Hard ceiling on thinking tokens per call when reasoning is enabled. The completion budget is raised by this amount so reasoning can never crowd out the article text — an uncapped high effort can spend the entire budget thinking and return an empty draft. 0 = no cap (uncapped effort mode, not recommended).', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'section'     => 'prautoblogger_schedule',
+				'default'     => 7,
+				'min'         => 1,
+				'max'         => 90,
+				'description' => __( 'How many days back the Published column shows articles. Increase to see older published articles on the board.', 'prautoblogger' ),
 			),
 
 			// ── Schedule & Budget ───────────────────────────────────────
@@ -123,26 +135,6 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Settings_Fields_Extended {
 				'step'        => '0.01',
 				'description' => __( 'Hard stop when reached. 0 = unlimited.', 'prautoblogger' ),
 			),
-			array(
-				'id'          => 'prautoblogger_request_json_retention_days',
-				'label'       => __( 'Audit Payload Retention (days)', 'prautoblogger' ),
-				'type'        => 'number',
-				'section'     => 'prautoblogger_schedule',
-				'default'     => PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_REQUEST_JSON_RETENTION_DAYS,
-				'min'         => 0,
-				'step'        => '1',
-				'description' => __( 'Heavy audit payloads (request_json on the generation log, stage output snapshots) are emptied after this many days by the daily cleanup cron. Cost/token rows are kept forever. 0 = keep payloads forever.', 'prautoblogger' ),
-			),
-			array(
-				'id'          => 'prautoblogger_per_run_cost_ceiling_usd',
-				'label'       => __( 'Per-Run Cost Ceiling (USD)', 'prautoblogger' ),
-				'type'        => 'number',
-				'section'     => 'prautoblogger_schedule',
-				'default'     => PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_RUN_CEILING_USD,
-				'min'         => 0,
-				'step'        => '0.01',
-				'description' => __( 'Hard per-run stop: every API call reserves its worst-case cost against this ceiling before dispatch; a breach halts the run and routes it to the Review Queue. Snapshotted at run start. 0 = disabled.', 'prautoblogger' ),
-			),
 
 			// ── Publishing ──────────────────────────────────────────────
 			array(

includes/class-prautoblogger.php

@@ -7,19 +7,19 @@ declare(strict_types=1);
  * Main orchestrator for the PRAutoBlogger plugin.
  *
  * Registers all WordPress hooks (actions and filters) and wires up dependencies.
- * This is the ONLY place hooks are registered — individual classes contain only
+ * This is the ONLY place hooks are registered -- individual classes contain only
  * business logic, not hook registration.
  *
  * Triggered by: prautoblogger() singleton in prautoblogger.php, called on `plugins_loaded`.
  * Dependencies: All other plugin classes (loaded via autoloader), PRAutoBlogger_Executor.
  *
- * @see prautoblogger.php                     — Plugin bootstrap that instantiates this class.
- * @see class-executor.php                    — Cron/AJAX handlers for generation, model registry.
- * @see class-ajax-handlers.php               — Non-generation AJAX endpoints (images, models, test).
- * @see class-generation-lock.php             — DB mutex for single-writer generation.
- * @see core/class-pipeline-runner.php         — Executes the generation pipeline.
- * @see ARCHITECTURE.md                        — Data flow diagram showing how classes interact.
- * @see CONVENTIONS.md                         — Hook naming conventions.
+ * @see prautoblogger.php                     -- Plugin bootstrap that instantiates this class.
+ * @see class-executor.php                    -- Cron/AJAX handlers for generation, model registry.
+ * @see class-ajax-handlers.php               -- Non-generation AJAX endpoints (images, models, test).
+ * @see class-generation-lock.php             -- DB mutex for single-writer generation.
+ * @see core/class-pipeline-runner.php         -- Executes the generation pipeline.
+ * @see ARCHITECTURE.md                        -- Data flow diagram showing how classes interact.
+ * @see CONVENTIONS.md                         -- Hook naming conventions.
  */
 class PRAutoBlogger {
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 		$this->ajax_handlers = new PRAutoBlogger_Ajax_Handlers( $this->executor->get_model_registry() );
 
 		add_action( 'admin_init', array( $this, 'on_check_db_version' ) );
-		// v0.18.0: cron requests must also self-heal the schema — after a
+		// v0.18.0: cron requests must also self-heal the schema -- after a
 		// deploy, scheduled generation can run before any admin page load,
 		// and new-column inserts would silently fail on the old schema.
 		add_action( 'init', array( $this, 'on_check_db_version_for_cron' ) );
@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 
 	/** Register admin-only hooks (settings, notices, metabox, dashboard widget). */
 	private function register_admin_hooks(): void {
+		// Kanban board -- registered first so it appears as the first submenu item.
+		$board_page = new PRAutoBlogger_Board_Page();
+		add_action( 'admin_menu', array( $board_page, 'on_register_menu' ) );
+		add_action( 'admin_enqueue_scripts', array( $board_page, 'on_enqueue_assets' ) );
+
 		$admin_page = new PRAutoBlogger_Admin_Page();
 		add_action( 'admin_menu', array( $admin_page, 'on_register_menu' ) );
 		add_action( 'admin_init', array( $admin_page, 'on_register_settings' ) );
@@ -86,7 +91,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 
 		( new PRAutoBlogger_Post_List_Columns() )->register();
 
-		// Block false update notifications — our slug collides with another plugin.
+		// Block false update notifications -- our slug collides with another plugin.
 		add_filter( 'site_transient_update_plugins', array( $this, 'filter_block_false_updates' ) );
 	}
 
@@ -111,7 +116,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 		// Hostinger's 120-second web-server connection timeout.
 		add_action( 'prautoblogger_manual_generation', array( $this->executor, 'on_manual_generation' ) );
 
-		// Chained article generation — each queued article fires as its own
+		// Chained article generation -- each queued article fires as its own
 		// cron event so it gets a fresh PHP process and execution time budget.
 		add_action(
 			PRAutoBlogger_Pipeline_Runner::CRON_ACTION,
@@ -197,6 +202,12 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 
 		add_action( 'wp_ajax_prautoblogger_clear_logs', array( new PRAutoBlogger_Log_Viewer(), 'on_ajax_clear_logs' ) );
 
+		// Board status polling AJAX (nonce: prautoblogger_board).
+		add_action(
+			'wp_ajax_' . PRAutoBlogger_Board_Page::AJAX_ACTION,
+			array( new PRAutoBlogger_Board_Page(), 'on_ajax_board_status' )
+		);
+
 		$ideas = new PRAutoBlogger_Ideas_Browser();
 		add_action( 'wp_ajax_prautoblogger_generate_from_idea', array( $ideas, 'on_ajax_generate_from_idea' ) );
 		add_action( 'wp_ajax_prautoblogger_idea_gen_status', array( $ideas, 'on_ajax_idea_gen_status' ) );
@@ -280,7 +291,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 		// value into a deprecated-keyed option for one version cycle (so a
 		// customised value is recoverable / auditable) and seed the new
 		// template with its editorial default. The old option is intentionally
-		// NOT deleted this cycle. See docs/proposals/2026-05-29-image-pipeline-in-plugin-brief.md §8 Commit 1.
+		// NOT deleted this cycle. See docs/proposals/2026-05-29-image-pipeline-in-plugin-brief.md paragraph 8 Commit 1.
 		if ( ! get_option( 'prautoblogger_migrated_style_template_v0160' ) ) {
 			$old_suffix = get_option( 'prautoblogger_image_style_suffix', '' );
 			if ( '' !== $old_suffix && false === get_option( 'prautoblogger_image_style_suffix_deprecated', false ) ) {
@@ -293,7 +304,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 			update_option( 'prautoblogger_migrated_style_template_v0160', '1' );
 		}
 
-		// v0.9.0 — Runware as default image model. v0.10.0 — remove CF Workers AI.
+		// v0.9.0 -- Runware as default image model. v0.10.0 -- remove CF Workers AI.
 		PRAutoBlogger_Activator::migrate_default_image_v090();
 		PRAutoBlogger_Migrate_Remove_Cloudflare_V0100::run();
 
@@ -311,9 +322,11 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Run the db-version check on cron requests (admin_init never fires
-	 * there). Gated to wp_doing_cron() so normal frontend requests pay
-	 * nothing beyond one autoloaded option read.
+	 * Run schema migrations during cron requests.
+	 *
+	 * Wraps on_check_db_version() so it only fires during WP-Cron execution.
+	 * After a deploy, the daily generation cron can fire before any admin page
+	 * load -- without this, new-column inserts would silently fail.
 	 *
 	 * Side effects: may run the same migrations as on_check_db_version().
 	 *
@@ -363,7 +376,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger {
 		return $this->executor;
 	}
 
-	// ── Backward-compatible proxies ──
+	// -- Backward-compatible proxies --
 
 	/** @see PRAutoBlogger_Executor::on_daily_generation() */
 	public function on_daily_generation(): void {

includes/core/class-cost-reporter.php

@@ -36,8 +36,9 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter {
 		$first_of_month = gmdate( 'Y-m-01 00:00:00' );
 
 		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery.DirectQuery
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
 		$result = $wpdb->get_var(
-			$wpdb->prepare(  // phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
+			$wpdb->prepare(
 				"SELECT COALESCE(SUM(estimated_cost), 0) FROM {$table} WHERE created_at >= %s AND response_status = 'success'",
 				$first_of_month
 			)
@@ -64,8 +65,8 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter {
 		$start_date = gmdate( 'Y-m-d', time() - ( $days * DAY_IN_SECONDS ) );
 
 		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery.DirectQuery
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
 		$results = $wpdb->get_results(
-			// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
 			$wpdb->prepare(
 				"SELECT DATE(created_at) as day, SUM(estimated_cost) as total_cost
 				FROM {$table}
@@ -102,8 +103,8 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter {
 		$table = $wpdb->prefix . 'prautoblogger_generation_log';
 
 		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery.DirectQuery
+		// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
 		$results = $wpdb->get_results(
-			// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL.InterpolatedNotPrepared
 			$wpdb->prepare(
 				"SELECT stage,
 					SUM(estimated_cost) as total_cost,
@@ -142,6 +143,7 @@ class PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter {
 		}
 		return ( $this->get_monthly_spend() / $budget ) * 100.0;
 	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Get average input/output token counts for given stages over a time period.
 	 *

prautoblogger.php

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  * Plugin Name:       PRAutoBlogger
  * Plugin URI:        https://peptiderepo.com/prautoblogger
  * Description:       Monitors social media for trending topics, generates SEO-friendly blog posts using AI, and publishes them on a daily schedule with full cost tracking and self-improvement metrics.
- * Version:           0.18.3
+ * Version:           0.19.0
  * Requires at least: 6.0
  * Requires PHP:      7.4
  * Author:            PeptideRepo
@@ -35,31 +35,14 @@ if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
 | Defined here so every file in the plugin can reference paths, versions,
 | and limits without magic strings.
 */
-define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_VERSION', '0.18.3' );
-define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_DB_VERSION', '1.2.0' );
+define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_VERSION', '0.19.0' );
+define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_DB_VERSION', '1.1.0' );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_FILE', __FILE__ );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_DIR', plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ ) );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_URL', plugin_dir_url( __FILE__ ) );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_PLUGIN_BASENAME', plugin_basename( __FILE__ ) );
 // API and retry limits — named constants instead of magic numbers.
-// SAFETY INVARIANT: API_TIMEOUT_SECONDS × MAX_RETRIES must stay < STATUS_TTL (600s,
-// defined in PRAutoBlogger_Generation_Status_Poller). The current product
-// (180s × 3 = 540s) leaves a 60s margin. If either constant is raised, verify the
-// inequality still holds — otherwise a fully-retrying LLM call can exhaust the
-// status transient TTL within a single stage and trigger a false orphan-run abort.
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_MAX_RETRIES', 3 );
-// Pipeline v2 Phase 1 (v0.18.0) defaults. Both are SETTINGS-backed at every
-// read site (prautoblogger_per_run_cost_ceiling_usd /
-// prautoblogger_request_json_retention_days); these constants exist only as
-// the named get_option() fallbacks — never inline the literals.
-define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_RUN_CEILING_USD', 0.50 );
-define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_REQUEST_JSON_RETENTION_DAYS', 14 );
-// v0.18.1: ceiling on "thinking" tokens per reasoning-enabled LLM call. The
-// request's completion budget (max_tokens) is RAISED by this amount so
-// reasoning can never consume the visible-content budget and return an empty
-// message (the 2026-06-11 empty-draft incident). SETTINGS-backed
-// (prautoblogger_reasoning_max_tokens); 0 disables the cap (pure effort mode).
-define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_DEFAULT_REASONING_MAX_TOKENS', 2048 );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_RETRY_BASE_DELAY_SECONDS', 2 );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_API_TIMEOUT_SECONDS', 180 );
 define( 'PRAUTOBLOGGER_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS', 3600 );

templates/admin/board-page.php

@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Kanban board template — primary landing screen for PRAutoBlogger.
+ *
+ * Renders the four-column board: Generating | In Review | Published | Failed.
+ * Cards are populated on first load by a synchronous PHP data call, then kept
+ * live by the board.js poller (AJAX, settings-backed interval).
+ *
+ * @see admin/class-board-page.php       — Renders this template.
+ * @see admin/class-board-data-provider.php — Supplies card data.
+ * @see assets/js/board.js               — Polling + DOM updates.
+ */
+
+if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
+	exit;
+}
+
+// Eager load on first render so the board is not blank on arrival.
+$provider = new PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+$snapshot = $provider->get_board_snapshot();
+
+/**
+ * Render a single board card as HTML.
+ *
+ * @param array<string, mixed> $card       Card data from Board_Data_Provider.
+ * @param string               $column_key Column identifier (generating|in_review|published|failed).
+ * @return void
+ */
+function prab_render_board_card( array $card, string $column_key ): void {
+	$title     = ! empty( $card['title'] ) ? esc_html( $card['title'] ) : esc_html__( 'Untitled', 'prautoblogger' );
+	$cost      = isset( $card['cost_total'] ) ? '$' . esc_html( number_format( (float) $card['cost_total'], 4 ) ) : '';
+	$click_url = '';
+	$link_text = '';
+
+	if ( 'review' === ( $card['click_action'] ?? '' ) ) {
+		$click_url = esc_url( $card['review_url'] ?? '' );
+		$link_text = esc_html__( 'Review Queue', 'prautoblogger' );
+	} elseif ( 'edit' === ( $card['click_action'] ?? '' ) ) {
+		$click_url = esc_url( $card['edit_url'] ?? '' );
+		$link_text = esc_html__( 'Edit Post', 'prautoblogger' );
+	} elseif ( 'logs' === ( $card['click_action'] ?? '' ) ) {
+		$click_url = esc_url( $card['log_url'] ?? '' );
+		$link_text = esc_html__( 'View Log', 'prautoblogger' );
+	}
+
+	$is_generating = ( 'generating' === $column_key );
+	$card_class    = 'prab-board-card';
+	if ( $is_generating ) {
+		$card_class .= ' prab-board-card--generating';
+	}
+	?>
+	<div class="<?php echo esc_attr( $card_class ); ?>"
+		 data-run-id="<?php echo esc_attr( (string) ( $card['run_id'] ?? '' ) ); ?>"
+		 data-post-id="<?php echo esc_attr( (string) ( $card['post_id'] ?? 0 ) ); ?>">
+
+		<?php if ( $is_generating ) : ?>
+			<div class="prab-card-spinner" aria-label="<?php esc_attr_e( 'Generating in progress', 'prautoblogger' ); ?>"></div>
+		<?php endif; ?>
+
+		<div class="prab-card-title"><?php echo $title; // Already escaped above. ?></div>
+
+		<?php if ( ! empty( $cost ) ) : ?>
+			<div class="prab-card-meta">
+				<span class="prab-card-cost"><?php echo $cost; // Already escaped above. ?></span>
+			</div>
+		<?php endif; ?>
+
+		<?php if ( $is_generating && ! empty( $card['stage_current'] ) ) : ?>
+			<div class="prab-card-stage">
+				<?php
+				printf(
+					/* translators: %s: pipeline stage name */
+					esc_html__( 'Stage: %s', 'prautoblogger' ),
+					esc_html( ucfirst( (string) $card['stage_current'] ) )
+				);
+				?>
+			</div>
+		<?php endif; ?>
+
+		<?php if ( ! empty( $card['error_message'] ) ) : ?>
+			<div class="prab-card-error">
+				<?php echo esc_html( wp_trim_words( (string) $card['error_message'], 12, '…' ) ); ?>
+			</div>
+		<?php endif; ?>
+
+		<?php if ( ! empty( $click_url ) ) : ?>
+			<div class="prab-card-actions">
+				<a href="<?php echo $click_url; // Already escaped above. ?>" class="prab-card-link">
+					<?php echo $link_text; // Already escaped above. ?>
+				</a>
+			</div>
+		<?php endif; ?>
+	</div>
+	<?php
+}
+?>
+<div class="wrap prab-board-wrap">
+	<h1 class="prab-board-heading">
+		<?php esc_html_e( 'PRAutoBlogger', 'prautoblogger' ); ?>
+		<span class="prab-board-heading-sub"><?php esc_html_e( 'Article Board', 'prautoblogger' ); ?></span>
+	</h1>
+
+	<div id="prab-board" class="prab-board" aria-live="polite" aria-label="<?php esc_attr_e( 'Article generation board', 'prautoblogger' ); ?>">
+
+		<?php
+		$columns = array(
+			'generating' => array(
+				'label'  => __( 'Generating', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'pill'   => 'prab-pill--generating',
+				'cards'  => $snapshot['generating'],
+			),
+			'in_review'  => array(
+				'label'  => __( 'In Review', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'pill'   => 'prab-pill--review',
+				'cards'  => $snapshot['in_review'],
+			),
+			'published'  => array(
+				'label'  => __( 'Published', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'pill'   => 'prab-pill--published',
+				'cards'  => $snapshot['published'],
+			),
+			'failed'     => array(
+				'label'  => __( 'Failed', 'prautoblogger' ),
+				'pill'   => 'prab-pill--failed',
+				'cards'  => $snapshot['failed'],
+			),
+		);
+		foreach ( $columns as $col_key => $col ) :
+			$count = count( $col['cards'] );
+			?>
+			<div class="prab-board-column" data-column="<?php echo esc_attr( $col_key ); ?>">
+				<div class="prab-col-header">
+					<span class="prab-col-title"><?php echo esc_html( $col['label'] ); ?></span>
+					<span class="prab-col-count prab-pill <?php echo esc_attr( $col['pill'] ); ?>"><?php echo esc_html( (string) $count ); ?></span>
+				</div>
+				<div class="prab-col-cards" data-column-cards="<?php echo esc_attr( $col_key ); ?>">
+					<?php if ( empty( $col['cards'] ) ) : ?>
+						<p class="prab-col-empty"><?php esc_html_e( 'Nothing here yet.', 'prautoblogger' ); ?></p>
+					<?php else : ?>
+						<?php foreach ( $col['cards'] as $card ) : ?>
+							<?php prab_render_board_card( $card, $col_key ); ?>
+						<?php endforeach; ?>
+					<?php endif; ?>
+				</div>
+			</div>
+		<?php endforeach; ?>
+
+	</div><!-- #prab-board -->
+
+	<p class="prab-board-footer">
+		<?php
+		$interval_secs = max( 3, (int) get_option( 'prautoblogger_board_poll_interval', 5 ) );
+		printf(
+			/* translators: %d: poll interval in seconds */
+			esc_html__( 'Board refreshes every %d seconds while an article is generating. Configure in Settings → Schedule & Budget.', 'prautoblogger' ),
+			$interval_secs
+		);
+		?>
+	</p>
+</div><!-- .prab-board-wrap -->

tests/bootstrap.php

@@ -103,12 +103,17 @@ if ( ! defined( 'OBJECT' ) ) {
 /**
  * Minimal WP_Query stub for unit tests.
  *
- * IdeaScorer uses WP_Query to check for existing posts.
- * This stub returns empty results by default.
+ * IdeaScorer uses WP_Query to check for existing posts with empty results.
+ * Board data provider tests inject posts via WP_Query::$_test_posts_queue
+ * (static FIFO): push arrays of WP_Post objects before instantiating the
+ * provider, and each new WP_Query() call will dequeue one batch.
  */
 if ( ! class_exists( 'WP_Query' ) ) {
     // phpcs:ignore WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals.NonPrefixedClassFound
     class WP_Query {
+        /** @var array<int, array> FIFO queue of post-arrays for tests. */
+        public static $_test_posts_queue = [];
+
         /** @var array */
         public $posts = [];
         /** @var int */
@@ -117,7 +122,11 @@ if ( ! class_exists( 'WP_Query' ) ) {
         public $have_posts = false;
 
         public function __construct( $args = [] ) {
-            // No-op for testing — returns no posts.
+            if ( ! empty( self::$_test_posts_queue ) ) {
+                $this->posts       = array_shift( self::$_test_posts_queue );
+                $this->found_posts = count( $this->posts );
+                $this->have_posts  = $this->found_posts > 0;
+            }
         }
 
         public function have_posts(): bool {
@@ -165,3 +174,34 @@ if ( ! class_exists( 'WP_Error' ) ) {
         }
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * Minimal WP_Post stub for unit tests.
+ *
+ * Board data provider tests return WP_Post instances from WP_Query.
+ * Class defined here so instanceof checks in production code work correctly.
+ */
+if ( ! class_exists( 'WP_Post' ) ) {
+    // phpcs:ignore WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals.NonPrefixedClassFound
+    class WP_Post {
+        /** @var int */
+        public $ID = 0;
+        /** @var string */
+        public $post_title = '';
+        /** @var string */
+        public $post_status = 'publish';
+        /** @var string */
+        public $post_date_gmt = '';
+        /** @var string */
+        public $post_modified_gmt = '';
+
+        /**
+         * @param array<string, mixed> $data
+         */
+        public function __construct( array $data = [] ) {
+            foreach ( $data as $key => $value ) {
+                $this->$key = $value;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}

tests/unit/Admin/BoardDataProviderTest.php

@@ -0,0 +1,292 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Tests for PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider — column/state bucket mapping.
+ *
+ * Seeds mock DB results and WordPress post data, then asserts that each
+ * board column receives the correct cards. No live DB required; uses Brain\Monkey
+ * and a mock $wpdb.
+ *
+ * @package PRAutoBlogger\Tests\Admin
+ */
+
+namespace PRAutoBlogger\Tests\Admin;
+
+use PRAutoBlogger\Tests\BaseTestCase;
+use Brain\Monkey\Functions;
+
+class BoardDataProviderTest extends BaseTestCase {
+
+	/** @var \PHPUnit\Framework\MockObject\MockObject Mock $wpdb. */
+	private $wpdb;
+
+	protected function setUp(): void {
+		parent::setUp();
+
+		$this->wpdb         = $this->create_mock_wpdb();
+		$GLOBALS['wpdb']    = $this->wpdb;
+
+		// Reset WP_Query test queue before each test.
+		\WP_Query::$_test_posts_queue = [];
+
+		Functions\when( 'get_option' )->alias(
+			function ( string $name, $default = false ) {
+				$map = array(
+					'prautoblogger_board_published_window_days' => 7,
+					'prautoblogger_board_poll_interval'         => 5,
+				);
+				return $map[ $name ] ?? $default;
+			}
+		);
+
+		// Transient stub: by default no active run.
+		Functions\when( 'get_transient' )->justReturn( false );
+
+		// Admin URL stub.
+		Functions\when( 'admin_url' )->alias(
+			function ( string $path = '' ) {
+				return 'https://test.example.com/wp-admin/' . ltrim( $path, '/' );
+			}
+		);
+
+		// DAY_IN_SECONDS constant.
+		if ( ! defined( 'DAY_IN_SECONDS' ) ) {
+			define( 'DAY_IN_SECONDS', 86400 );
+		}
+	}
+
+	protected function tearDown(): void {
+		\WP_Query::$_test_posts_queue = [];
+		unset( $GLOBALS['wpdb'] );
+		parent::tearDown();
+	}
+
+	// ── Generating cards ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+	/**
+	 * A running transient with status='running' yields a Generating card.
+	 */
+	public function test_generating_cards_from_transient(): void {
+		Functions\when( 'get_transient' )->alias(
+			function ( $key ) {
+				if ( 'prautoblogger_generation_status' === $key ) {
+					return array(
+						'status'  => 'running',
+						'stage'   => 'Drafting article…',
+						'started' => time() - 60,
+					);
+				}
+				return false;
+			}
+		);
+
+		// No gen_log secondary runs needed.
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturn( 'SELECT 1' );
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn( array() );
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$cards    = $provider->get_generating_cards();
+
+		$this->assertCount( 1, $cards );
+		$this->assertSame( 'Drafting article…', $cards[0]['stage_current'] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'logs', $cards[0]['click_action'] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * When the transient is idle, orphan gen_log rows produce Generating cards.
+	 */
+	public function test_generating_cards_from_gen_log(): void {
+		Functions\when( 'get_transient' )->justReturn( false );
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturn( 'SELECT 1' );
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn(
+			array(
+				array(
+					'run_id'      => 'abc-123',
+					'started_at'  => gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - 120 ),
+					'last_stage'  => 'draft',
+					'stage_count' => '3',
+					'cost_total'  => '0.005000',
+				),
+			)
+		);
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$cards    = $provider->get_generating_cards();
+
+		$this->assertCount( 1, $cards );
+		$this->assertSame( 'abc-123', $cards[0]['run_id'] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'draft', $cards[0]['stage_current'] );
+		$this->assertEqualsWithDelta( 0.005, $cards[0]['cost_total'], 0.0001 );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * An idle transient + empty gen_log yields zero Generating cards.
+	 */
+	public function test_no_generating_cards_when_idle(): void {
+		Functions\when( 'get_transient' )->justReturn( false );
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturn( 'SELECT 1' );
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn( array() );
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$cards    = $provider->get_generating_cards();
+
+		$this->assertCount( 0, $cards );
+	}
+
+	// ── In Review cards ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+	/**
+	 * Draft posts with the _prautoblogger_generated meta appear in In Review.
+	 */
+	public function test_in_review_cards_from_draft_posts(): void {
+		$post                 = new \WP_Post();
+		$post->ID             = 42;
+		$post->post_title     = 'Test Draft Post';
+		$post->post_date_gmt  = '2026-06-12 10:00:00';
+		$post->post_status    = 'draft';
+
+		// Inject post into WP_Query queue: first WP_Query() call returns this post.
+		\WP_Query::$_test_posts_queue[] = array( $post );
+
+		Functions\when( 'get_post_meta' )->alias(
+			function ( $post_id, $key, $single ) use ( $post ) {
+				if ( $post_id === $post->ID ) {
+					if ( '_prautoblogger_run_id' === $key ) {
+						return 'run-draft-999';
+					}
+					if ( '_prautoblogger_total_cost' === $key ) {
+						return '0.012000';
+					}
+				}
+				return '';
+			}
+		);
+
+		Functions\when( 'get_edit_post_link' )->justReturn(
+			'https://test.example.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=42&action=edit'
+		);
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$cards    = $provider->get_in_review_cards();
+
+		$this->assertCount( 1, $cards );
+		$this->assertSame( 42, $cards[0]['post_id'] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'Test Draft Post', $cards[0]['title'] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'review', $cards[0]['click_action'] );
+		$this->assertEqualsWithDelta( 0.012, $cards[0]['cost_total'], 0.0001 );
+	}
+
+	// ── Published cards ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+	/**
+	 * Published posts within the window appear in Published.
+	 */
+	public function test_published_cards_within_window(): void {
+		$post                = new \WP_Post();
+		$post->ID            = 77;
+		$post->post_title    = 'Published Article';
+		$post->post_date_gmt = gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - DAY_IN_SECONDS );
+		$post->post_status   = 'publish';
+
+		// Inject post into WP_Query queue: first WP_Query() call returns this post.
+		\WP_Query::$_test_posts_queue[] = array( $post );
+
+		Functions\when( 'get_post_meta' )->alias(
+			function ( $post_id, $key, $single ) use ( $post ) {
+				if ( $post_id === $post->ID ) {
+					if ( '_prautoblogger_run_id' === $key ) {
+						return 'run-pub-77';
+					}
+					if ( '_prautoblogger_total_cost' === $key ) {
+						return '0.020000';
+					}
+				}
+				return '';
+			}
+		);
+
+		Functions\when( 'get_edit_post_link' )->justReturn(
+			'https://test.example.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=77&action=edit'
+		);
+		Functions\when( 'get_permalink' )->justReturn( 'https://test.example.com/?p=77' );
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$cards    = $provider->get_published_cards();
+
+		$this->assertCount( 1, $cards );
+		$this->assertSame( 77, $cards[0]['post_id'] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'edit', $cards[0]['click_action'] );
+	}
+
+	// ── Failed cards ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+	/**
+	 * Gen_log error rows with no post produce Failed cards.
+	 */
+	public function test_failed_cards_from_error_log(): void {
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturn( 'SELECT 1' );
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn(
+			array(
+				array(
+					'run_id'      => 'fail-run-001',
+					'started_at'  => gmdate( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', time() - 3600 ),
+					'last_error'  => 'OpenRouter rate limit exceeded',
+					'last_stage'  => 'draft',
+					'call_count'  => '2',
+				),
+			)
+		);
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$cards    = $provider->get_failed_cards();
+
+		$this->assertCount( 1, $cards );
+		$this->assertSame( 'fail-run-001', $cards[0]['run_id'] );
+		$this->assertStringContainsString( 'rate limit', $cards[0]['error_message'] );
+		$this->assertSame( 'logs', $cards[0]['click_action'] );
+	}
+
+	// ── Full snapshot ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+	/**
+	 * get_board_snapshot() has_active_runs = true when Generating is non-empty.
+	 */
+	public function test_snapshot_has_active_runs_flag(): void {
+		Functions\when( 'get_transient' )->alias(
+			function ( $key ) {
+				if ( 'prautoblogger_generation_status' === $key ) {
+					return array(
+						'status'  => 'running',
+						'stage'   => 'Writing…',
+						'started' => time(),
+					);
+				}
+				return false;
+			}
+		);
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturn( 'SELECT 1' );
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn( array() );
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$snapshot = $provider->get_board_snapshot();
+
+		$this->assertTrue( $snapshot['has_active_runs'] );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * get_board_snapshot() has_active_runs = false when Generating is empty.
+	 */
+	public function test_snapshot_no_active_runs_when_idle(): void {
+		Functions\when( 'get_transient' )->justReturn( false );
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturn( 'SELECT 1' );
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn( array() );
+
+		$provider = new \PRAutoBlogger_Board_Data_Provider();
+		$snapshot = $provider->get_board_snapshot();
+
+		$this->assertFalse( $snapshot['has_active_runs'] );
+	}
+}

tests/unit/Core/CostReporterSqlBugFixTest.php

@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Tests verifying the SQL inline-comment bug fix in PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter.
+ *
+ * The original code embedded PHP `// phpcs:ignore` annotations inside SQL string
+ * literals, passing them to MySQL as literal comment text. These tests confirm the
+ * SQL strings passed to $wpdb->prepare() no longer contain inline PHP comments.
+ *
+ * Kept separate from CostReporterTest to isolate the bug-fix regression signal.
+ *
+ * @package PRAutoBlogger\Tests\Core
+ */
+
+namespace PRAutoBlogger\Tests\Core;
+
+use PRAutoBlogger\Tests\BaseTestCase;
+use Brain\Monkey\Functions;
+
+class CostReporterSqlBugFixTest extends BaseTestCase {
+
+	/** @var \PHPUnit\Framework\MockObject\MockObject Mock $wpdb. */
+	private $wpdb;
+
+	protected function setUp(): void {
+		parent::setUp();
+
+		$this->wpdb         = $this->create_mock_wpdb();
+		$GLOBALS['wpdb']    = $this->wpdb;
+
+		Functions\when( 'get_option' )->alias(
+			function ( $name, $default = false ) {
+				return 'prautoblogger_monthly_budget_usd' === $name ? '50.00' : $default;
+			}
+		);
+	}
+
+	protected function tearDown(): void {
+		unset( $GLOBALS['wpdb'] );
+		parent::tearDown();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * get_daily_spend() must not pass inline PHP comments to prepare().
+	 *
+	 * Captures the SQL argument passed to $wpdb->prepare() and asserts it
+	 * contains no `// phpcs:ignore` text (which would be literal SQL, not PHP).
+	 */
+	public function test_get_daily_spend_sql_has_no_inline_comment(): void {
+		$captured_sql = null;
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturnCallback(
+			function ( string $query ) use ( &$captured_sql ) {
+				$captured_sql = $query;
+				return 'prepared_query';
+			}
+		);
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn( array() );
+
+		$reporter = new \PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter();
+		$reporter->get_daily_spend( 30 );
+
+		$this->assertNotNull( $captured_sql, 'prepare() should have been called' );
+		$this->assertStringNotContainsString(
+			'// phpcs:ignore',
+			$captured_sql,
+			'get_daily_spend() SQL must not contain a PHP inline comment'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * get_spend_by_stage() must not pass inline PHP comments to prepare().
+	 */
+	public function test_get_spend_by_stage_sql_has_no_inline_comment(): void {
+		$captured_sql = null;
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturnCallback(
+			function ( string $query ) use ( &$captured_sql ) {
+				$captured_sql = $query;
+				return 'prepared_query';
+			}
+		);
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_results' )->willReturn( array() );
+
+		$reporter = new \PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter();
+		$reporter->get_spend_by_stage( '2026-06-01', '2026-06-30' );
+
+		$this->assertNotNull( $captured_sql, 'prepare() should have been called' );
+		$this->assertStringNotContainsString(
+			'// phpcs:ignore',
+			$captured_sql,
+			'get_spend_by_stage() SQL must not contain a PHP inline comment'
+		);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Confirm the existing monthly spend query was already clean (regression guard).
+	 */
+	public function test_get_monthly_spend_sql_was_already_clean(): void {
+		$captured_sql = null;
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'prepare' )->willReturnCallback(
+			function ( string $query ) use ( &$captured_sql ) {
+				$captured_sql = $query;
+				return 'prepared_query';
+			}
+		);
+
+		$this->wpdb->method( 'get_var' )->willReturn( '5.00' );
+
+		$reporter = new \PRAutoBlogger_Cost_Reporter();
+		$reporter->get_monthly_spend();
+
+		$this->assertNotNull( $captured_sql );
+		$this->assertStringNotContainsString(
+			'// phpcs:ignore',
+			$captured_sql,
+			'get_monthly_spend() SQL must not contain a PHP inline comment'
+		);
+	}
+}