fix: kanban title fallback chain and board visual improvements

packages/plugin-kanban/src/KanbanImpl.tsx

@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ function SortableCard({ card, onCardClick, conditionalFormatting }: { card: Kanb
     <div ref={setNodeRef} style={style} {...attributes} {...listeners} role="listitem" aria-label={card.title}
       onClick={() => onCardClick?.(card)}
     >
-      <Card className="mb-2 cursor-grab active:cursor-grabbing border-border bg-card/60 hover:border-primary/40 hover:shadow-lg hover:shadow-primary/10 transition-all duration-300 group touch-manipulation" style={cardStyles}>
+      <Card className="mb-2 cursor-grab active:cursor-grabbing border-border border-l-4 border-l-primary/40 bg-card/60 hover:border-primary/40 hover:shadow-lg hover:shadow-primary/10 transition-all duration-300 group touch-manipulation" style={cardStyles}>
         {card.coverImage && (
           <div className="w-full h-32 overflow-hidden rounded-t-lg">
             <img
@@ -260,14 +260,14 @@ function KanbanColumnView({
         column.className
       )}
     >
-      <div className="p-3 sm:p-4 border-b border-border/50 bg-muted/20">
+      <div className="p-3 sm:p-4 border-b border-border/50 bg-muted/30 rounded-t-lg">
         <div className="flex items-center justify-between">
           <h3 id={`kanban-col-${column.id}`} className="font-mono text-xs sm:text-sm font-semibold tracking-wider text-primary/90 uppercase truncate">{column.title}</h3>
           <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
-            <span className="font-mono text-xs text-muted-foreground" aria-label={`${safeCards.length} cards${column.limit ? ` of ${column.limit} maximum` : ''}`}>
+            <Badge variant="secondary" className="text-xs font-mono tabular-nums">
               {safeCards.length}
               {column.limit && ` / ${column.limit}`}
-            </span>
+            </Badge>
             {isLimitExceeded && (
               <Badge variant="destructive" className="text-xs">
                 Full
@@ -282,6 +282,11 @@ function KanbanColumnView({
           strategy={verticalListSortingStrategy}
         >
           <div className="space-y-2" role="list" aria-label={`${column.title} cards`}>
+            {safeCards.length === 0 && (
+              <div className="flex flex-col items-center justify-center py-8 text-muted-foreground/50">
+                <span className="text-xs font-mono">No cards</span>
+              </div>
+            )}
             {safeCards.map((card) => (
               <SortableCard key={card.id} card={card} onCardClick={onCardClick} conditionalFormatting={conditionalFormatting} />
             ))}
@@ -567,7 +572,7 @@ function KanbanBoardInner({ columns, onCardMove, onCardClick, className, dnd, qu
         </div>
       ) : (
         /* Standard flat layout */
-        <div className={cn("flex gap-3 sm:gap-4 overflow-x-auto snap-x snap-mandatory p-2 sm:p-4 [-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch]", className)} role="region" aria-label="Kanban board">
+        <div className={cn("flex gap-3 sm:gap-4 overflow-x-auto snap-x snap-mandatory p-2 sm:p-4 bg-muted/10 rounded-lg [-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch]", className)} role="region" aria-label="Kanban board">
           {boardColumns.map((column) => (
             <KanbanColumnView
               key={column.id}

packages/plugin-kanban/src/ObjectKanban.tsx

@@ -122,16 +122,31 @@ export const ObjectKanban: React.FC<ObjectKanbanProps> = ({
        } 
     }
 
-    // Default to 'name'
-    const finalTitleField = titleField || 'name';
-
-    return rawData.map(item => ({
-      ...item,
-      // Ensure id exists
-      id: item.id || item._id,
-      // Map title
-      title: item[finalTitleField] || item.title || 'Untitled',
-    }));
+    // Common title field names to try as fallback
+    const TITLE_FALLBACK_FIELDS = ['name', 'title', 'subject', 'label', 'display_name'];
+
+    return rawData.map(item => {
+      // If a specific title field was configured, try it first
+      let resolvedTitle = titleField ? item[titleField] : undefined;
+
+      // Fallback: try common field names
+      if (!resolvedTitle) {
+        for (const field of TITLE_FALLBACK_FIELDS) {
+          if (item[field]) {
+            resolvedTitle = item[field];
+            break;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      return {
+        ...item,
+        // Ensure id exists
+        id: item.id || item._id,
+        // Map title
+        title: resolvedTitle || 'Untitled',
+      };
+    });
   }, [rawData, schema, objectDef]);
 
   // Generate columns if missing but groupBy is present

packages/plugin-kanban/src/__tests__/ObjectKanbanTitle.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/**
+ * ObjectUI
+ * Copyright (c) 2024-present ObjectStack Inc.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { renderHook } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { useMemo } from 'react';
+
+/**
+ * Tests for the title resolution fallback chain in ObjectKanban.
+ *
+ * The effectiveData logic tries fields in this order:
+ *   1. Explicit cardTitle / titleField from schema
+ *   2. objectDef.titleFormat (e.g. "{subject}")
+ *   3. objectDef.NAME_FIELD_KEY
+ *   4. Fallback chain: name → title → subject → label → display_name
+ *   5. 'Untitled'
+ */
+
+// Extract the title resolution logic from ObjectKanban to test it in isolation
+const TITLE_FALLBACK_FIELDS = ['name', 'title', 'subject', 'label', 'display_name'];
+
+function resolveTitle(item: Record<string, any>, titleField?: string): string {
+  let resolvedTitle = titleField ? item[titleField] : undefined;
+
+  if (!resolvedTitle) {
+    for (const field of TITLE_FALLBACK_FIELDS) {
+      if (item[field]) {
+        resolvedTitle = item[field];
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return resolvedTitle || 'Untitled';
+}
+
+describe('ObjectKanban title resolution', () => {
+  it('uses explicit titleField when value exists', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', custom_title: 'My Custom Title', name: 'Fallback Name' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item, 'custom_title')).toBe('My Custom Title');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to common fields when titleField value is empty', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', custom_title: '', name: 'Name Field' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item, 'custom_title')).toBe('Name Field');
+  });
+
+  it('resolves name field first in fallback chain', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', name: 'Name Value', title: 'Title Value', subject: 'Subject Value' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Name Value');
+  });
+
+  it('resolves title field second in fallback chain', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', title: 'Title Value', subject: 'Subject Value' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Title Value');
+  });
+
+  it('resolves subject field third in fallback chain', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', subject: 'Subject Value', label: 'Label Value' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Subject Value');
+  });
+
+  it('resolves label field fourth in fallback chain', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', label: 'Label Value', display_name: 'Display Name' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Label Value');
+  });
+
+  it('resolves display_name field fifth in fallback chain', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', display_name: 'Display Name' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Display Name');
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to Untitled when no common fields exist', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', status: 'open', priority: 'high' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Untitled');
+  });
+
+  it('skips falsy field values in fallback chain', () => {
+    const item = { id: '1', name: '', title: null, subject: 'Bug Report' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(item)).toBe('Bug Report');
+  });
+
+  it('handles todo_task objects with subject field', () => {
+    // This is the exact scenario from the bug report
+    const todoTask = { id: '1', status: 'in_progress', subject: 'Fix login bug', priority: 'high' };
+    expect(resolveTitle(todoTask)).toBe('Fix login bug');
+  });
+});