Merge development into main: user-activity fix + attachment thumbnails (#49 , #98 )

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0117oBw2jN4kALYeS8HPq4zV
Generate real resized thumbnails for image attachments (#98 )
2026-09-11 22:19:57 -04:00 · 2026-09-11 22:17:35 -04:00 · 2026-09-11 22:17:25 -04:00 · 2026-09-11 21:58:45 -04:00 · 2026-09-11 21:56:26 -04:00 · 2026-09-11 21:56:19 -04:00
35 changed files with 1419 additions and 490 deletions
@@ -84,3 +84,9 @@ LDAP_BASE_DN="dc=example,dc=com"
 LDAP_USER_BASE="ou=people,dc=example,dc=com"
 ; How long to cache avatar images locally (seconds, default 3600)
 AVATAR_CACHE_TTL=3600
+
+; Session-based rate limits (requests per 60s window). These govern
+; browser/session traffic on general and API endpoints respectively;
+; Bearer-key API traffic is rate-limited separately, per API key.
+RATE_LIMIT_DEFAULT=100
+RATE_LIMIT_API=60
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@
        "no-useless-escape": "warn",
        "no-regex-spaces": "warn",
        "semi": ["error", "always"],
-        "eqeqeq": "warn"
+        "eqeqeq": ["warn", "smart"]
    }
 }
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ Content-Type: application/json

 - `migrations/000_baseline.sql` is the full schema baseline for the whole database. It is written to be safe to re-run (idempotent) and is the source of truth for a fresh install.
 - `php migrations/migrate.php` applies any pending migration files in `migrations/` in order, tracking applied files in the `migrations` table. Use `--status` to list state and `--dry-run` to preview without executing.
+- Numbered migrations on top of the baseline (all idempotent, safe to re-run): `001_widen_bulk_operations_status.sql`, `002_fix_collation_consistency.sql`, `003_fk_on_delete_set_null.sql`, `004_fix_ticket_watchers_type.sql`. A fresh install via `000_baseline.sql` already includes all of these; they only matter for upgrading an existing database.

 ### API Endpoints

@@ -348,7 +349,9 @@ tinker_tickets/
 │   └── images/
 │       └── favicon.png
 ├── config/
-│   └── config.php                        # Config + .env loading
+│   ├── config.php                        # Config + .env loading
+│   └── requirements.php                  # PHP version/extension requirements (single source of
+│                                          #   truth for scripts/check_requirements.php + api/health.php)
 ├── controllers/
 │   ├── CommentController.php             # Comment create/edit/delete + notifications
 │   ├── DashboardController.php           # Dashboard with stats + filters
@@ -389,6 +392,10 @@ tinker_tickets/
 │   └── WorkflowModel.php                 # Status transition workflows
 ├── migrations/
 │   ├── 000_baseline.sql                  # Full schema baseline (safe to re-run)
+│   ├── 001_widen_bulk_operations_status.sql  # Upgrade-only (already in baseline for fresh installs)
+│   ├── 002_fix_collation_consistency.sql     # Upgrade-only (already in baseline for fresh installs)
+│   ├── 003_fk_on_delete_set_null.sql         # Upgrade-only (already in baseline for fresh installs)
+│   ├── 004_fix_ticket_watchers_type.sql      # Upgrade-only (already in baseline for fresh installs)
 │   └── migrate.php                       # CLI migration runner (tracks applied migrations)
 ├── scripts/
 │   ├── check_requirements.php            # Verify PHP extensions/config prerequisites
@@ -406,6 +413,9 @@ tinker_tickets/
 │   │   └── WorkflowDesignerView.php      # Workflow transition designer
 │   ├── CreateTicketView.php              # Ticket creation with visibility
 │   ├── DashboardView.php                 # Dashboard with kanban + sidebar + charts
+│   ├── error_403.php                     # Access-denied error page
+│   ├── error_404.php                     # Not-found error page
+│   ├── error_500.php                     # Fatal-error page (self-contained, no app-state deps)
 │   ├── layout_footer.php                 # Shared footer (notification polling, boot sequence)
 │   ├── layout_header.php                 # Shared header (nav, command palette, theme toggle)
 │   └── TicketView.php                    # Ticket view with timeline, SLA, watcher avatars
@@ -131,12 +131,19 @@ if (isset($result['error'])) {
    if ($inaccessibleCount > 0) {
        $message .= " ($inaccessibleCount skipped - no access)";
    }
-    echo json_encode([
+    $response = [
        'success' => true,
        'operation_id' => $operationId,
        'processed' => $result['processed'],
        'failed' => $result['failed'],
        'skipped' => $inaccessibleCount,
        'message' => $message
-    ]);
+    ];
+    // Best-effort batches (the default; see processBulkOperation()'s docblock)
+    // can partially fail — surface the per-ticket reasons so the admin isn't
+    // just told a count. The dashboard's bulkResultMessage() already expects this.
+    if (!empty($result['errors'])) {
+        $response['errors'] = $result['errors'];
+    }
+    echo json_encode($response);
 }
@@ -94,6 +94,15 @@ try {
        }
    }

+    // Delete the generated preview thumbnail alongside the original, if one exists.
+    if (!empty($attachment['thumbnail_filename'])) {
+        $thumbPath = $uploadDir . '/' . $attachment['ticket_id'] . '/' . $attachment['thumbnail_filename'];
+        $realThumbPath = realpath($thumbPath);
+        if ($realThumbPath !== false && strncmp($realThumbPath, $uploadDir . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, strlen($uploadDir) + 1) === 0) {
+            @unlink($realThumbPath);
+        }
+    }
+
    // Delete from database
    if (!$attachmentModel->deleteAttachment($attachmentId)) {
        ResponseHelper::serverError('Failed to delete attachment record');
@@ -69,9 +69,21 @@ try {

    $conn->close();

+    // Serve the resized preview thumbnail instead of the full-size original
+    // when requested and one was actually generated at upload time; falls
+    // through to the full original otherwise (older attachments predating
+    // thumbnail generation, non-images, or a GD failure at upload time).
+    $wantsThumb = isset($_GET['thumb']) && $_GET['thumb'] === '1';
+    $servedFilename = $attachment['filename'];
+    $servedMimeType = $attachment['mime_type'];
+    if ($wantsThumb && !empty($attachment['thumbnail_filename'])) {
+        $servedFilename = $attachment['thumbnail_filename'];
+        $servedMimeType = 'image/jpeg';
+    }
+
    // Build file path
    $uploadDir = $GLOBALS['config']['UPLOAD_DIR'] ?? dirname(__DIR__) . '/uploads';
-    $filePath = $uploadDir . '/' . $attachment['ticket_id'] . '/' . $attachment['filename'];
+    $filePath = $uploadDir . '/' . $attachment['ticket_id'] . '/' . $servedFilename;

    // Security: Verify the resolved path is within the uploads directory (prevent path traversal)
    $realUploadDir = realpath($uploadDir);
@@ -100,7 +112,7 @@ try {
    $inlineTypes = ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif', 'image/webp', 'application/pdf', 'text/plain'];

    // Set headers
-    $disposition = ($inline && in_array($attachment['mime_type'], $inlineTypes)) ? 'inline' : 'attachment';
+    $disposition = ($inline && in_array($servedMimeType, $inlineTypes)) ? 'inline' : 'attachment';

    // Sanitize filename for Content-Disposition
    $safeFilename = preg_replace('/[^\w\s\-\.]/', '_', $attachment['original_filename']);
@@ -138,7 +150,7 @@ try {
    $rangeLength = $rangeEnd - $rangeStart + 1;

    header('Accept-Ranges: bytes');
-    header('Content-Type: ' . $attachment['mime_type']);
+    header('Content-Type: ' . $servedMimeType);
    header('Content-Disposition: ' . $disposition . '; filename="' . $safeFilename . '"');
    header('Cache-Control: private, max-age=3600');
    header('X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff');
@@ -97,13 +97,39 @@ try {
                exit;
            }

+            $wf_active  = (int)($data['is_active'] ?? 1);
+
+            // status_transitions already has a DB-level UNIQUE KEY on
+            // (from_status, to_status) (regardless of is_active), so a
+            // duplicate pair can't actually be inserted — but hitting that
+            // constraint raw surfaces as an opaque "internal error occurred"
+            // to the admin instead of a clear message. Check first so the
+            // common case (an admin re-adding a pair that already exists)
+            // gets a friendly, specific error.
+            $dupCheck = $conn->prepare(
+                "SELECT transition_id FROM status_transitions WHERE from_status = ? AND to_status = ?"
+            );
+            $dupCheck->bind_param('ss', $data['from_status'], $data['to_status']);
+            $dupCheck->execute();
+            if ($dupCheck->get_result()->fetch_assoc()) {
+                $dupCheck->close();
+                http_response_code(409);
+                echo json_encode([
+                    'success' => false,
+                    'error' => 'A transition already exists for '
+                        . $data['from_status'] . ' → ' . $data['to_status']
+                        . ' — edit that row instead of creating a duplicate.',
+                ]);
+                exit;
+            }
+            $dupCheck->close();
+
            $stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO status_transitions (from_status, to_status, requires_comment, requires_admin, is_active)
                                    VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)");
            $wf_from    = $data['from_status'];
            $wf_to      = $data['to_status'];
            $wf_comment = (int)($data['requires_comment'] ?? 0);
            $wf_admin   = (int)($data['requires_admin'] ?? 0);
-            $wf_active  = (int)($data['is_active'] ?? 1);
            $stmt->bind_param('ssiii', $wf_from, $wf_to, $wf_comment, $wf_admin, $wf_active);

            if ($stmt->execute()) {
@@ -149,6 +175,28 @@ try {
                exit;
            }

+            $wf_active  = (int)($data['is_active'] ?? 1);
+
+            // Same duplicate-pair guard as create, excluding this row itself.
+            $dupCheck = $conn->prepare(
+                "SELECT transition_id FROM status_transitions
+                 WHERE from_status = ? AND to_status = ? AND transition_id != ?"
+            );
+            $dupCheck->bind_param('ssi', $data['from_status'], $data['to_status'], $id);
+            $dupCheck->execute();
+            if ($dupCheck->get_result()->fetch_assoc()) {
+                $dupCheck->close();
+                http_response_code(409);
+                echo json_encode([
+                    'success' => false,
+                    'error' => 'A transition already exists for '
+                        . $data['from_status'] . ' → ' . $data['to_status']
+                        . ' — edit that row instead of creating a duplicate.',
+                ]);
+                exit;
+            }
+            $dupCheck->close();
+
            $stmt = $conn->prepare("UPDATE status_transitions SET
                                    from_status = ?, to_status = ?, requires_comment = ?, requires_admin = ?, is_active = ?
                                    WHERE transition_id = ?");
@@ -156,7 +204,6 @@ try {
            $wf_to      = $data['to_status'];
            $wf_comment = (int)($data['requires_comment'] ?? 0);
            $wf_admin   = (int)($data['requires_admin'] ?? 0);
-            $wf_active  = (int)($data['is_active'] ?? 1);
            $stmt->bind_param('ssiiii', $wf_from, $wf_to, $wf_comment, $wf_admin, $wf_active, $id);

            $success = $stmt->execute();
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@

 require_once __DIR__ . '/bootstrap.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/UserPreferencesModel.php';
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/TicketModel.php';

 $prefsModel = new UserPreferencesModel($conn);
+$ticketModel = new TicketModel($conn);

 // ── POST: mark all read (update last_seen timestamp) ──────────────
 if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
@@ -204,7 +206,44 @@ foreach (array_merge($assignRows, $commentRows, $statusRows, $mentionRows) as $r
    $all[] = $row;
 }
 usort($all, fn($a, $b) => strcmp($b['created_at'], $a['created_at']));
-$all = array_slice($all, 0, 30);
+
+// Re-check current ticket visibility before surfacing anything: a
+// notification's audit_log entry reflects historical activity, but the
+// ticket's visibility (or the user's group/watcher standing) may have
+// tightened since. Without this, a notification still discloses the
+// ticket's title and that activity occurred to someone who currently
+// shouldn't see it, even though the ticket view's own access check would
+// correctly reject them from opening it.
+$candidateTicketIds = [];
+foreach ($all as $row) {
+    $details = json_decode($row['details'] ?? '{}', true) ?? [];
+    $actionType = ($row['action_type'] === 'create' && $row['entity_type'] === 'comment')
+        ? 'comment'
+        : $row['action_type'];
+    $tid = ($actionType === 'comment' || $actionType === 'mention')
+        ? ($details['ticket_id'] ?? 0)
+        : $row['entity_id'];
+    if ($tid) {
+        $candidateTicketIds[(string)$tid] = true;
+    }
+}
+$ticketsById = !empty($candidateTicketIds)
+    ? $ticketModel->getTicketsByIds(array_keys($candidateTicketIds))
+    : [];
+
+$all = array_filter($all, function ($row) use ($ticketsById, $currentUser, $ticketModel) {
+    $details = json_decode($row['details'] ?? '{}', true) ?? [];
+    $actionType = ($row['action_type'] === 'create' && $row['entity_type'] === 'comment')
+        ? 'comment'
+        : $row['action_type'];
+    $tid = (string)(($actionType === 'comment' || $actionType === 'mention')
+        ? ($details['ticket_id'] ?? 0)
+        : $row['entity_id']);
+    $ticket = $ticketsById[$tid] ?? null;
+    return $ticket && $ticketModel->canUserAccessTicket($ticket, $currentUser);
+});
+
+$all = array_slice(array_values($all), 0, 30);

 // Format for response
 $notifications = [];
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Save custom field values for a ticket.
+ *
+ * POST { ticket_id, values: { [field_id]: value, ... } }
+ *
+ * Only fields applicable to the ticket's current category (or category-less
+ * fields) are considered; anything else in `values` is ignored rather than
+ * persisted, so a value typed for a field that no longer applies (e.g. the
+ * category changed) can't linger as orphaned/misleading data.
+ */
+
+require_once __DIR__ . '/bootstrap.php';
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/TicketModel.php';
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/CustomFieldModel.php';
+
+if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
+    http_response_code(405);
+    apiRespond(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Method not allowed']);
+}
+
+$data = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);
+$ticketId = isset($data['ticket_id']) ? trim((string)$data['ticket_id']) : '';
+$values = is_array($data['values'] ?? null) ? $data['values'] : [];
+
+if ($ticketId === '') {
+    http_response_code(400);
+    apiRespond(['success' => false, 'error' => 'ticket_id required']);
+}
+
+$ticketModel = new TicketModel($conn);
+$ticket = $ticketModel->getTicketById($ticketId);
+if (!$ticket || !$ticketModel->canUserAccessTicket($ticket, $currentUser)) {
+    http_response_code(404);
+    apiRespond(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Ticket not found']);
+}
+
+$fieldModel = new CustomFieldModel($conn);
+$definitions = $fieldModel->getAllDefinitions($ticket['category'], true);
+
+$errors = [];
+$toSave = [];
+foreach ($definitions as $def) {
+    $fieldId = (int)$def['field_id'];
+    $raw = $values[$fieldId] ?? ($values[(string)$fieldId] ?? null);
+
+    if ($def['field_type'] === 'checkbox') {
+        $normalized = !empty($raw) ? '1' : '0';
+    } else {
+        $normalized = is_scalar($raw) ? trim((string)$raw) : '';
+    }
+
+    if (!empty($def['is_required']) && $def['field_type'] !== 'checkbox' && $normalized === '') {
+        $errors[] = $def['field_label'] . ' is required';
+        continue;
+    }
+
+    if ($def['field_type'] === 'select' && $normalized !== '') {
+        $allowedOptions = $def['field_options']['options'] ?? [];
+        if (!in_array($normalized, $allowedOptions, true)) {
+            $errors[] = $def['field_label'] . ' has an invalid selection';
+            continue;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if ($def['field_type'] === 'number' && $normalized !== '' && !is_numeric($normalized)) {
+        $errors[] = $def['field_label'] . ' must be a number';
+        continue;
+    }
+
+    $toSave[$fieldId] = $normalized;
+}
+
+if (!empty($errors)) {
+    http_response_code(422);
+    apiRespond(['success' => false, 'error' => implode('; ', $errors)]);
+}
+
+$fieldModel->setValues($ticketId, $toSave);
+
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/AuditLogModel.php';
+(new AuditLogModel($conn))->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $ticketId, [
+    'reason' => 'custom fields updated',
+]);
+
+apiRespond(['success' => true]);
@@ -126,23 +126,6 @@ if ($workflowModel->transitionRequiresComment($currentStatus, $newStatus) && $co
    exit;
 }

-// Post the comment first (per-key label) so a close-with-reason is one call.
-if ($comment !== '') {
-    $commentModel = new CommentModel($conn);
-    $commentResult = $commentModel->addComment($ticketId, [
-        'user_name' => $keyName,
-        'comment_text' => $comment,
-        'markdown_enabled' => !empty($data['markdown_enabled']),
-    ], $createdBy);
-    if (empty($commentResult['success'])) {
-        error_log('ticket_status_api: addComment failed for ticket ' . $ticketId
-            . ': ' . ($commentResult['error'] ?? 'unknown'));
-        http_response_code(500);
-        echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Failed to add comment']);
-        exit;
-    }
-}
-
 // Apply the status change. updateTicket sets updated_by/updated_at and handles
 // closed_at (set on close, cleared on reopen) via its own SQL.
 $updateData = [
@@ -155,10 +138,33 @@ $updateData = [
    'priority' => (int)$ticket['priority'],
 ];

-$updateResult = $ticketModel->updateTicket($updateData, $createdBy);
-if (empty($updateResult['success'])) {
-    error_log('ticket_status_api: updateTicket failed for ticket ' . $ticketId
-        . ': ' . ($updateResult['error'] ?? 'unknown'));
+// Post the comment and apply the status change in one transaction, so a
+// failure partway through can't leave a "reason" comment persisted with no
+// matching status change (previously these were two independent writes with
+// no shared rollback).
+$conn->begin_transaction();
+try {
+    if ($comment !== '') {
+        $commentModel = new CommentModel($conn);
+        $commentResult = $commentModel->addComment($ticketId, [
+            'user_name' => $keyName,
+            'comment_text' => $comment,
+            'markdown_enabled' => !empty($data['markdown_enabled']),
+        ], $createdBy);
+        if (empty($commentResult['success'])) {
+            throw new Exception($commentResult['error'] ?? 'Failed to add comment');
+        }
+    }
+
+    $updateResult = $ticketModel->updateTicket($updateData, $createdBy);
+    if (empty($updateResult['success'])) {
+        throw new Exception($updateResult['error'] ?? 'Failed to update ticket status');
+    }
+
+    $conn->commit();
+} catch (Exception $e) {
+    $conn->rollback();
+    error_log('ticket_status_api: transaction failed for ticket ' . $ticketId . ': ' . $e->getMessage());
    http_response_code(500);
    echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Failed to update ticket status']);
    exit;
@@ -104,7 +104,10 @@ try {
            'update',
            'comment',
            (string)$commentId,
-            ['comment_text_preview' => substr($commentText, 0, 100)]
+            [
+                'ticket_id' => $comment['ticket_id'] ?? null,
+                'comment_text_preview' => substr($commentText, 0, 100),
+            ]
        );
    }

@@ -195,8 +195,8 @@ try {

                // Enforce requires_comment transitions server-side.
                if ($this->workflowModel->transitionRequiresComment($currentTicket['status'], $updateData['status'])) {
-                    $comment = trim((string)($data['comment'] ?? $data['comment_text'] ?? ''));
-                    if ($comment === '') {
+                    $statusChangeComment = trim((string)($data['comment'] ?? $data['comment_text'] ?? ''));
+                    if ($statusChangeComment === '') {
                        return [
                            'success' => false,
                            'error' => 'A comment is required for this status change',
@@ -207,40 +207,67 @@ try {
                }
            }

-            // Update ticket with user tracking and optional optimistic locking
-            $expectedUpdatedAt = $data['expected_updated_at'] ?? null;
-            $result = $this->ticketModel->updateTicket($updateData, $this->userId, $expectedUpdatedAt);
+            // A comment accompanying a status change (required or optional) is
+            // persisted in the SAME transaction as the status update below, so
+            // a failure partway through can't leave an orphaned "reason"
+            // comment attached with no matching status change — the two
+            // previously ran as separate, non-transactional HTTP calls from
+            // the client (add_comment.php then update_ticket.php).
+            $statusChangeComment = $statusChangeComment ?? trim((string)($data['comment'] ?? $data['comment_text'] ?? ''));

-            // Handle conflict case
-            if (!$result['success']) {
-                $response = [
-                    'success' => false,
-                    'error' => $result['error'] ?? 'Failed to update ticket in database'
-                ];
-                if (!empty($result['conflict'])) {
+            $result = null;
+            $this->conn->begin_transaction();
+            try {
+                if ($statusChangeComment !== '' && $currentTicket['status'] !== $updateData['status']) {
+                    $commentResult = $this->commentModel->addComment($id, [
+                        'user_name' => $this->currentUser['display_name'] ?? $this->currentUser['username'] ?? 'User',
+                        'comment_text' => $statusChangeComment,
+                        'markdown_enabled' => !empty($data['markdown_enabled']),
+                    ], $this->userId);
+                    if (empty($commentResult['success'])) {
+                        throw new Exception($commentResult['error'] ?? 'Failed to add comment');
+                    }
+                }
+
+                // Update ticket with user tracking and optional optimistic locking
+                $expectedUpdatedAt = $data['expected_updated_at'] ?? null;
+                $result = $this->ticketModel->updateTicket($updateData, $this->userId, $expectedUpdatedAt);
+                if (!$result['success']) {
+                    throw new Exception($result['error'] ?? 'Failed to update ticket in database');
+                }
+
+                // Handle visibility update if provided (already validated above)
+                if (isset($data['visibility'])) {
+                    $visResult = $this->ticketModel->updateVisibility($id, $data['visibility'], $visibilityGroups, $this->userId);
+                    if (!$visResult) {
+                        throw new Exception('Failed to update ticket visibility');
+                    }
+                }
+
+                $this->conn->commit();
+            } catch (Exception $e) {
+                $this->conn->rollback();
+                $response = ['success' => false, 'error' => $e->getMessage()];
+                if (is_array($result) && !empty($result['conflict'])) {
                    $response['conflict'] = true;
                    $response['current_updated_at'] = $result['current_updated_at'] ?? null;
                }
                return $response;
            }

-            // Handle visibility update if provided (already validated above)
-            if (isset($data['visibility'])) {
-                $visResult = $this->ticketModel->updateVisibility($id, $data['visibility'], $visibilityGroups, $this->userId);
-                if ($visResult && $this->userId) {
-                    $this->auditLog->log(
-                        $this->userId,
-                        'update',
-                        'ticket',
-                        (string)$id,
-                        [
-                            'field'      => 'visibility',
-                            'from'       => $currentTicket['visibility'] ?? 'public',
-                            'to'         => $data['visibility'],
-                            'groups'     => $visibilityGroups
-                        ]
-                    );
-                }
+            if (isset($data['visibility']) && $this->userId) {
+                $this->auditLog->log(
+                    $this->userId,
+                    'update',
+                    'ticket',
+                    (string)$id,
+                    [
+                        'field'      => 'visibility',
+                        'from'       => $currentTicket['visibility'] ?? 'public',
+                        'to'         => $data['visibility'],
+                        'groups'     => $visibilityGroups
+                    ]
+                );
            }

            // Log ticket update to audit log — only the changed fields (delta)
@@ -96,6 +96,72 @@ function stripImageMetadata(string $path, string $mimeType): void
    }
 }

+/**
+ * Generate a resized preview thumbnail for an uploaded image, saved as a JPEG
+ * alongside the original regardless of source format (a thumbnail is a small
+ * lossy preview, not an archival copy). Longest side capped at
+ * THUMBNAIL_MAX_DIMENSION; images already at or below that size are still
+ * re-encoded (cheap) rather than skipped, so the thumbnail is guaranteed to
+ * be a JPEG the grid can always request the same way.
+ *
+ * Best-effort like stripImageMetadata(): returns null on any failure
+ * (corrupt image, unsupported format, GD unavailable) rather than blocking
+ * the upload, and the caller falls back to serving the full-size original.
+ *
+ * @return string|null Basename of the generated thumbnail file, or null
+ */
+function generateThumbnail(string $path, string $mimeType, string $destDir): ?string
+{
+    if (!extension_loaded('gd')) {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    // Same decompression-bomb guard as stripImageMetadata().
+    $dims = @getimagesize($path);
+    if ($dims === false) {
+        return null;
+    }
+    [$width, $height] = $dims;
+    if ($width * $height > 40_000_000) { // ~40 MP cap
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    $loaders = [
+        'image/jpeg' => 'imagecreatefromjpeg',
+        'image/png'  => 'imagecreatefrompng',
+        'image/gif'  => 'imagecreatefromgif',
+        'image/webp' => 'imagecreatefromwebp',
+    ];
+    $loader = $loaders[$mimeType] ?? null;
+    if ($loader === null || !function_exists($loader)) {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    $source = @$loader($path);
+    if ($source === false) {
+        return null;
+    }
+
+    $maxDimension = 300;
+    $scale = min(1.0, $maxDimension / max($width, $height));
+    $thumbWidth  = max(1, (int)round($width * $scale));
+    $thumbHeight = max(1, (int)round($height * $scale));
+
+    $thumb = imagecreatetruecolor($thumbWidth, $thumbHeight);
+    // Flatten transparency onto white — thumbnails are always opaque JPEGs.
+    $white = imagecolorallocate($thumb, 255, 255, 255);
+    imagefill($thumb, 0, 0, $white);
+    imagecopyresampled($thumb, $source, 0, 0, 0, 0, $thumbWidth, $thumbHeight, $width, $height);
+    imagedestroy($source);
+
+    $thumbFilename = pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_FILENAME) . '_thumb.jpg';
+    $thumbPath = rtrim($destDir, '/') . '/' . $thumbFilename;
+    $saved = imagejpeg($thumb, $thumbPath, 80);
+    imagedestroy($thumb);
+
+    return $saved ? $thumbFilename : null;
+}
+
 // Check authentication
 if (!isset($_SESSION['user']) || !isset($_SESSION['user']['user_id'])) {
    ResponseHelper::unauthorized();
@@ -133,6 +199,8 @@ if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'GET') {
        foreach ($attachments as &$att) {
            $att['file_size_formatted'] = AttachmentModel::formatFileSize($att['file_size']);
            $att['icon'] = AttachmentModel::getFileIcon($att['mime_type']);
+            $att['has_thumbnail'] = !empty($att['thumbnail_filename']);
+            unset($att['thumbnail_filename']); // internal storage detail, not needed by the client
        }

        ResponseHelper::success([
@@ -278,9 +346,14 @@ if (!move_uploaded_file($file['tmp_name'], $targetPath)) {
    ResponseHelper::serverError('Failed to move uploaded file');
 }

-// Strip EXIF/GPS metadata from image uploads before it's ever served back
+// Strip EXIF/GPS metadata from image uploads before it's ever served back,
+// then generate a resized preview thumbnail from the (now metadata-stripped)
+// original so the grid never has to transfer the full-size file just to
+// render a small preview.
+$thumbnailFilename = null;
 if (str_starts_with($mimeType, 'image/')) {
    stripImageMetadata($targetPath, $mimeType);
+    $thumbnailFilename = generateThumbnail($targetPath, $mimeType, $ticketDir);
 }

 // Sanitize original filename
@@ -298,12 +371,16 @@ try {
        $originalFilename,
        $file['size'],
        $mimeType,
-        $_SESSION['user']['user_id']
+        $_SESSION['user']['user_id'],
+        $thumbnailFilename
    );

    if (!$attachmentId) {
-        // Clean up file if database insert fails
+        // Clean up file (and any thumbnail) if database insert fails
        unlink($targetPath);
+        if ($thumbnailFilename !== null) {
+            @unlink($ticketDir . '/' . $thumbnailFilename);
+        }
        ResponseHelper::serverError('Failed to save attachment record');
    }

@@ -330,13 +407,17 @@ try {
        'file_size_formatted' => AttachmentModel::formatFileSize($file['size']),
        'mime_type' => $mimeType,
        'icon' => AttachmentModel::getFileIcon($mimeType),
+        'has_thumbnail' => $thumbnailFilename !== null,
        'uploaded_by' => $_SESSION['user']['display_name'] ?? $_SESSION['user']['username'],
        'uploaded_at' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s')
    ], 'File uploaded successfully');
 } catch (Exception $e) {
-    // Clean up file on error
+    // Clean up file (and any thumbnail) on error
    if (file_exists($targetPath)) {
        unlink($targetPath);
    }
+    if (isset($thumbnailFilename) && $thumbnailFilename !== null) {
+        @unlink($ticketDir . '/' . $thumbnailFilename);
+    }
    ResponseHelper::serverError('Failed to process attachment');
 }
@@ -61,25 +61,46 @@ function populateCurrentFilters() {
    const urlParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);

    // Search text
-    if (urlParams.has('search')) {
-        document.getElementById('adv-search-text').value = urlParams.get('search');
-    }
+    document.getElementById('adv-search-text').value = urlParams.get('search') || '';

    // Status
-    if (urlParams.has('status')) {
-        const statuses = urlParams.get('status').split(',');
-        const statusSelect = document.getElementById('adv-status');
-        Array.from(statusSelect.options).forEach(option => {
-            option.selected = statuses.includes(option.value);
-        });
-    }
+    const statuses = urlParams.has('status') ? urlParams.get('status').split(',') : [];
+    const statusSelect = document.getElementById('adv-status');
+    Array.from(statusSelect.options).forEach(option => {
+        option.selected = statuses.includes(option.value);
+    });
+
+    // Date ranges
+    document.getElementById('adv-created-from').value = urlParams.get('created_from') || '';
+    document.getElementById('adv-created-to').value = urlParams.get('created_to') || '';
+    document.getElementById('adv-updated-from').value = urlParams.get('updated_from') || '';
+    document.getElementById('adv-updated-to').value = urlParams.get('updated_to') || '';
+
+    // Priority range
+    document.getElementById('adv-priority-min').value = urlParams.get('priority_min') || '';
+    document.getElementById('adv-priority-max').value = urlParams.get('priority_max') || '';
+
+    // Users
+    document.getElementById('adv-created-by').value = urlParams.get('created_by') || '';
+    document.getElementById('adv-assigned-to').value = urlParams.get('assigned_to') || '';
 }

 // Perform advanced search
 function performAdvancedSearch(event) {
    event.preventDefault();

-    const params = new URLSearchParams();
+    // Start from the CURRENT URL's params, not a fresh set, so a filter this
+    // form doesn't represent (e.g. a category/type filter applied via a
+    // dashboard quick-filter pill or stats-widget click) isn't silently
+    // dropped on submit. Only the params this form actually controls are
+    // set/cleared below; everything else passes through untouched.
+    const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
+    const advParams = [
+        'search', 'created_from', 'created_to', 'updated_from', 'updated_to',
+        'status', 'priority_min', 'priority_max', 'created_by', 'assigned_to',
+    ];
+    advParams.forEach(key => params.delete(key));
+    params.delete('page'); // filters changed — reset to page 1

    // Search text
    const searchText = document.getElementById('adv-search-text').value.trim();
@@ -41,6 +41,16 @@
 *  32.  Drag & Drop Upload
 *  33.  Intersection Observer
 *  34.  Full Initialisation
+ *
+ * NOTE ON EMPTY CATCH BLOCKS: throughout this file, `try { ... } catch (_) {}`
+ * around localStorage/sessionStorage access (persisted tab/theme/column-
+ * visibility state, recent command-palette entries, etc.) and the terminal
+ * beep's AudioContext calls is intentional, not an oversight — these are
+ * best-effort UX affordances that must silently no-op rather than break the
+ * surrounding feature if storage is disabled/full (private browsing, quota)
+ * or audio is blocked (autoplay policy). Swallowing errors from arbitrary
+ * caller-supplied callbacks (e.g. viewport-change listeners) is handled
+ * separately with real logging, since those can hide genuine bugs.
 */

 (function (global) {
@@ -1398,7 +1408,7 @@
    _vpCurrent = bp;
    if (bp !== prev) {
      const evt = { bp, w, h, prev };
-      _vpListeners.forEach(cb => { try { cb(evt); } catch (_) {} });
+      _vpListeners.forEach(cb => { try { cb(evt); } catch (e) { console.error('[lt.viewport] listener threw:', e); } });
      bus.emit('viewport:change', evt);
    }
  }
@@ -2801,7 +2811,7 @@
  };

  // Patch lt.api — auth-aware wrapper (renamed to avoid strict-mode duplicate declaration)
-  async function _apiFetchAuth(method, url, body) {
+  async function _apiFetchAuth(method, url, body, retried) {
    if (_authAccess && auth.isExpiringSoon()) await auth.refresh();
    const opts = { method, headers: Object.assign({ 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, csrfHeaders()) };
    if (_authAccess) opts.headers['Authorization'] = 'Bearer ' + _authAccess;
@@ -2821,6 +2831,15 @@
    // Resync CSRF token from any response body that carries a fresh one
    // (bootstrap rotates on success and returns the current token on rejection).
    if (data && data.csrf_token) global.CSRF_TOKEN = data.csrf_token;
+    // Auto-retry once on a stale-CSRF-token 403: the token lifetime (1h) is
+    // shorter than the session idle timeout (5h), so this is a routine,
+    // recoverable case (an hour of inactivity, or a write in another tab
+    // rotating the shared token) rather than a real rejection — resyncing
+    // above already has the fresh token, so silently resending once succeeds
+    // transparently instead of surfacing a confusing error on the first try.
+    if (resp.status === 403 && !retried && data && data.csrf_token) {
+      return _apiFetchAuth(method, url, body, true);
+    }
    if (!resp.ok) {
      const err = new Error(data.error || data.message || 'HTTP ' + resp.status);
      err.data = data;
@@ -2839,8 +2858,11 @@
     TICKET STATUS CHANGE (comment-aware)
     lt.ticketStatus.submit(ticketId, newStatus, { comment? }) → Promise<data>
     Posts /api/update_ticket.php. If the server rejects with
-     requires_comment, opens a comment modal, persists the comment via
-     /api/add_comment.php, then retries the update once WITH the comment.
+     requires_comment, opens a comment modal, then retries the update once
+     WITH the comment — update_ticket.php persists it in the same DB
+     transaction as the status change itself, so there's no separate
+     add_comment.php call that could leave an orphaned comment if the
+     status update then failed.
     Rejects with err.cancelled === true if the user cancels the modal.
     ================================================================ */
  function _statusCommentModal(newStatus) {
@@ -2903,81 +2925,14 @@
            cancelErr.cancelled = true;
            throw cancelErr;
          }
-          // Persist the comment, then retry the status change with it included.
-          return api.post('/api/add_comment.php', { ticket_id: id, comment_text: comment })
-            .then(() => api.post('/api/update_ticket.php', { ticket_id: id, status: newStatus, comment: comment }));
+          // Retry with the comment included — update_ticket.php persists it
+          // transactionally with the status update itself.
+          return api.post('/api/update_ticket.php', { ticket_id: id, status: newStatus, comment: comment });
        });
      });
    },
  };

-  /* ================================================================
-     MODULE 54 — MARKDOWN RENDERER
-     lt.markdown.render(mdString)  → HTML string (sanitized)
-     lt.markdown.init(selector)    → renders all matching el's .textContent
-     Uses a built-in micro-renderer (no deps) for common syntax.
-     For full GFM, swap in marked.js: window.marked && marked.parse()
-     ================================================================ */
-  const markdown = {
-    render(md) {
-      // Always use the built-in XSS-safe micro-renderer. Do NOT delegate to
-      // window.marked / window.markdownit: their raw HTML output is not sanitized
-      // here, so delegating would enable stored XSS if such a lib were ever loaded.
-      // Micro-renderer: covers headings, bold, italic, code, links, lists, blockquote, hr
-      let html = escHtml(md)
-        // Fenced code blocks
-        .replace(/```(\w*)\n([\s\S]*?)```/g, (_, lang, code) => `<pre class="lt-code-block"><code class="lt-tok tok-${lang || 'plain'}">${code.trim()}</code></pre>`)
-        // Inline code
-        .replace(/`([^`]+)`/g, '<code>$1</code>')
-        // Headings
-        .replace(/^######\s(.+)$/gm, '<h6>$1</h6>')
-        .replace(/^#####\s(.+)$/gm,  '<h5>$1</h5>')
-        .replace(/^####\s(.+)$/gm,   '<h4>$1</h4>')
-        .replace(/^###\s(.+)$/gm,    '<h3>$1</h3>')
-        .replace(/^##\s(.+)$/gm,     '<h2>$1</h2>')
-        .replace(/^#\s(.+)$/gm,      '<h1>$1</h1>')
-        // Bold / italic
-        .replace(/\*\*\*(.+?)\*\*\*/g, '<strong><em>$1</em></strong>')
-        .replace(/\*\*(.+?)\*\*/g,     '<strong>$1</strong>')
-        .replace(/\*(.+?)\*/g,         '<em>$1</em>')
-        .replace(/__(.+?)__/g,         '<strong>$1</strong>')
-        .replace(/_(.+?)_/g,           '<em>$1</em>')
-        // Links — block javascript: and data: URIs
-        .replace(/\[([^\]]+)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g, (_, text, url) => {
-          const safeUrl = /^(https?:\/\/|\/|#|\.\.?\/)/i.test(url) ? url : '#';
-          return `<a href="${safeUrl}" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">${escHtml(text)}</a>`;
-        })
-        // Images — block javascript: and data: URIs
-        .replace(/!\[([^\]]*)\]\(([^)]+)\)/g, (_, alt, src) => {
-          const safeSrc = /^(https?:\/\/|\/|\.\.?\/)/i.test(src) ? src : '';
-          return `<img src="${safeSrc}" alt="${escHtml(alt)}" style="max-width:100%">`;
-        })
-        // Blockquote
-        .replace(/^&gt;\s(.+)$/gm, '<blockquote>$1</blockquote>')
-        // Horizontal rule
-        .replace(/^(-{3,}|\*{3,}|_{3,})$/gm, '<hr>')
-        // Unordered list items
-        .replace(/^[-*+]\s(.+)$/gm, '<li>$1</li>')
-        .replace(/(<li>[\s\S]+?<\/li>\n?)+/g, m => `<ul>${m}</ul>`)
-        // Ordered list items
-        .replace(/^\d+\.\s(.+)$/gm, '<li>$1</li>')
-        // Paragraphs (double newline)
-        .replace(/\n{2,}/g, '</p><p>')
-        .replace(/\n/g, '<br>');
-      return `<p>${html}</p>`
-        .replace(/<p>(<(?:pre|ul|ol|h[1-6]|blockquote|hr)[^>]*>)/g, '$1')
-        .replace(/(<\/(?:pre|ul|ol|h[1-6]|blockquote|hr)>)<\/p>/g, '$1');
-    },
-
-    init(selector) {
-      document.querySelectorAll(selector).forEach(el => {
-        const raw = el.getAttribute('data-markdown') || el.textContent;
-        el.innerHTML = markdown.render(raw);
-        el.classList.add('lt-markdown');
-      });
-    },
-  };
-
  /* ================================================================
     MODULE 55 — PAGINATION
     lt.pagination.init(navEl, opts)
@@ -3140,7 +3095,6 @@
    timer,
    lightbox,
    auth,
-    markdown,
    ticketStatus,
    pagination,
    sidebarSubmenus: { init: initSidebarSubmenus },
@@ -140,25 +140,25 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
                break;
            // Bulk operation perform actions
            case 'perform-bulk-assign':
-                performBulkAssign();
+                performBulkAssign(target);
                break;
            case 'close-bulk-assign-modal':
                closeBulkAssignModal();
                break;
            case 'perform-bulk-priority':
-                performBulkPriority();
+                performBulkPriority(target);
                break;
            case 'close-bulk-priority-modal':
                closeBulkPriorityModal();
                break;
            case 'perform-bulk-status':
-                performBulkStatusChange();
+                performBulkStatusChange(target);
                break;
            case 'close-bulk-status-modal':
                closeBulkStatusModal();
                break;
            case 'perform-bulk-close':
-                performBulkCloseAction();
+                performBulkCloseAction(undefined, target);
                break;
            case 'close-bulk-close-modal':
                closeBulkCloseModal();
@@ -491,7 +491,10 @@ function closeBulkCloseModal() {
    if (modal) setTimeout(() => modal.remove(), 300);
 }

-function performBulkCloseAction(ticketIds) {
+function performBulkCloseAction(ticketIds, btn) {
+    if (btn && btn.disabled) return; // already in flight — guards against a double-click firing two requests
+    if (btn) btn.disabled = true;
+
    ticketIds = ticketIds || getSelectedTicketIds();
    const commentEl = document.getElementById('bulkCloseComment');
    const comment = commentEl ? commentEl.value.trim() : '';
@@ -524,7 +527,8 @@ function performBulkCloseAction(ticketIds) {
        }
        closeBulkCloseModal();
        lt.toast.error('Bulk close failed: ' + error.message, 5000);
-    });
+    })
+    .finally(() => { if (btn) btn.disabled = false; });
 }

 var _bulkAssignUserId = null;
@@ -596,7 +600,8 @@ function closeBulkAssignModal() {
    if (modal) setTimeout(() => modal.remove(), 300);
 }

-function performBulkAssign() {
+function performBulkAssign(btn) {
+    if (btn && btn.disabled) return; // already in flight — guards against a double-click firing two requests
    const userId = _bulkAssignUserId;
    const ticketIds = getSelectedTicketIds();

@@ -605,6 +610,8 @@ function performBulkAssign() {
        return;
    }

+    if (btn) btn.disabled = true;
+
    lt.api.post('/api/bulk_operation.php', {
        operation_type: 'bulk_assign',
        ticket_ids: ticketIds,
@@ -625,7 +632,8 @@ function performBulkAssign() {
    })
    .catch(error => {
        lt.toast.error('Bulk assign failed: ' + error.message, 5000);
-    });
+    })
+    .finally(() => { if (btn) btn.disabled = false; });
 }

 function showBulkPriorityModal() {
@@ -672,7 +680,8 @@ function closeBulkPriorityModal() {
    if (modal) setTimeout(() => modal.remove(), 300);
 }

-function performBulkPriority() {
+function performBulkPriority(btn) {
+    if (btn && btn.disabled) return; // already in flight — guards against a double-click firing two requests
    const priorityEl = document.getElementById('bulkPriority');
    if (!priorityEl) return;
    const priority = priorityEl.value;
@@ -683,6 +692,8 @@ function performBulkPriority() {
        return;
    }

+    if (btn) btn.disabled = true;
+
    lt.api.post('/api/bulk_operation.php', {
        operation_type: 'bulk_priority',
        ticket_ids: ticketIds,
@@ -703,7 +714,8 @@ function performBulkPriority() {
    })
    .catch(error => {
        lt.toast.error('Bulk priority update failed: ' + error.message, 5000);
-    });
+    })
+    .finally(() => { if (btn) btn.disabled = false; });
 }

 // Make table rows clickable
@@ -786,7 +798,8 @@ function closeBulkStatusModal() {
    if (modal) setTimeout(() => modal.remove(), 300);
 }

-function performBulkStatusChange() {
+function performBulkStatusChange(btn) {
+    if (btn && btn.disabled) return; // already in flight — guards against a double-click firing two requests
    const bulkStatusEl = document.getElementById('bulkStatus');
    if (!bulkStatusEl) return;
    const status = bulkStatusEl.value;
@@ -800,6 +813,8 @@ function performBulkStatusChange() {
    const commentEl = document.getElementById('bulkStatusComment');
    const comment = commentEl ? commentEl.value.trim() : '';

+    if (btn) btn.disabled = true;
+
    lt.api.post('/api/bulk_operation.php', {
        operation_type: 'bulk_status',
        ticket_ids: ticketIds,
@@ -829,7 +844,8 @@ function performBulkStatusChange() {
        }
        closeBulkStatusModal();
        lt.toast.error('Bulk status change failed: ' + error.message, 5000);
-    });
+    })
+    .finally(() => { if (btn) btn.disabled = false; });
 }

 /**
@@ -506,6 +506,25 @@ function toolbarHeading(textareaId) {
    textarea.dispatchEvent(new Event('input', { bubbles: true }));
 }

+function toolbarTable(textareaId) {
+    const textarea = document.getElementById(textareaId);
+    if (!textarea) return;
+
+    const start = textarea.selectionStart;
+    const text = textarea.value;
+
+    // Insert on its own line(s), matching the blank-line-before convention
+    // toolbarList/toolbarHeading rely on the surrounding text for — a table
+    // needs a full line to itself both before and after the separator row.
+    const needsLeadingNewline = start > 0 && text[start - 1] !== '\n';
+    const template = (needsLeadingNewline ? '\n' : '')
+        + '| Header 1 | Header 2 |\n'
+        + '| --- | --- |\n'
+        + '| Cell 1 | Cell 2 |\n';
+
+    insertMarkdownText(textareaId, template);
+}
+
 function toolbarQuote(textareaId) {
    const textarea = document.getElementById(textareaId);
    if (!textarea) return;
@@ -544,6 +563,7 @@ function createEditorToolbar(textareaId, containerId) {
        <button type="button" data-toolbar-action="heading" data-textarea="${textareaId}" title="Heading">H</button>
        <button type="button" data-toolbar-action="list" data-textarea="${textareaId}" title="List">≡</button>
        <button type="button" data-toolbar-action="quote" data-textarea="${textareaId}" title="Quote">"</button>
+        <button type="button" data-toolbar-action="table" data-textarea="${textareaId}" title="Table">▦</button>
        <span class="toolbar-separator"></span>
        <button type="button" data-toolbar-action="link" data-textarea="${textareaId}" title="Link">[ @ ]</button>
    `;
@@ -563,6 +583,7 @@ function createEditorToolbar(textareaId, containerId) {
            case 'heading': toolbarHeading(targetId); break;
            case 'list': toolbarList(targetId); break;
            case 'quote': toolbarQuote(targetId); break;
+            case 'table': toolbarTable(targetId); break;
            case 'link': toolbarLink(targetId); break;
        }
    });
@@ -578,6 +599,7 @@ window.toolbarLink = toolbarLink;
 window.toolbarList = toolbarList;
 window.toolbarHeading = toolbarHeading;
 window.toolbarQuote = toolbarQuote;
+window.toolbarTable = toolbarTable;
 window.createEditorToolbar = createEditorToolbar;
 window.insertMarkdownFormat = insertMarkdownFormat;
 window.insertMarkdownText = insertMarkdownText;
@@ -357,12 +357,17 @@ function togglePreview() {

    if (isPreviewEnabled) {
        preview.innerHTML = parseMarkdown(textarea.value);
-        textarea.addEventListener('input', updatePreview);
+        textarea.addEventListener('input', debouncedUpdatePreview);
    } else {
-        textarea.removeEventListener('input', updatePreview);
+        textarea.removeEventListener('input', debouncedUpdatePreview);
    }
 }

+// Re-running the full markdown parser on every single keystroke is wasted
+// work while the user is still mid-word; 150ms debounce keeps the preview
+// feeling live without re-parsing on every keystroke.
+const debouncedUpdatePreview = window.lt ? lt.debounce(updatePreview, 150) : updatePreview;
+
 function updatePreview() {
    const textarea = document.getElementById('newComment');
    const previewDiv = document.getElementById('markdownPreview');
@@ -708,12 +713,13 @@ function updateTicketStatus() {
                return;
            }
            cleanup(true);
-            // Post comment first (persists it), then change status with the same
-            // comment included so the server's requires_comment check passes.
-            const ticketId = getTicketIdFromUrl();
-            lt.api.post('/api/add_comment.php', { ticket_id: ticketId, comment_text: comment })
-            .then(() => performStatusChange(statusSelect, selectedOption, newStatus, comment))
-            .catch(() => performStatusChange(statusSelect, selectedOption, newStatus, comment));
+            // The comment is sent as part of the status-change request itself
+            // (update_ticket.php persists it in the same DB transaction as the
+            // status update) rather than as a separate prior add_comment.php
+            // call — previously those were two independent, non-transactional
+            // writes, so a failure partway through could leave the "reason"
+            // comment persisted with no matching status change ever applied.
+            performStatusChange(statusSelect, selectedOption, newStatus, comment);
        });
        // Focus textarea on open
        setTimeout(() => { const ta = document.getElementById(`${modalId}_comment`); if (ta) ta.focus(); }, 100);
@@ -1232,10 +1238,15 @@ function renderAttachments(attachments, append, hasMore) {
        const uploadDate = `<span class="ts-cell" data-ts="${lt.escHtml(att.uploaded_at)}" title="${lt.escHtml(uploadDateFormatted)}">${lt.time.ago(att.uploaded_at)}</span>`;

        const isImage = /^image\//i.test(att.mime_type || '');
-        const imgUrl  = `/api/download_attachment.php?id=${att.attachment_id}&inline=1`;
+        const imgUrl   = `/api/download_attachment.php?id=${att.attachment_id}&inline=1`;
+        // Grid preview requests the resized thumbnail (server falls back to the
+        // full-size original for attachments with none, e.g. uploaded before
+        // thumbnail generation existed); the lightbox link stays on the
+        // full-size original since that's what it displays when opened.
+        const thumbUrl = `${imgUrl}&thumb=1`;
        const iconHtml = isImage
            ? `<a href="${imgUrl}" class="lt-lightbox-trigger" data-lightbox="ticket-attachments" title="${lt.escHtml(att.original_filename)}">
-                   <img src="${imgUrl}" alt="${lt.escHtml(att.original_filename)}" class="attachment-thumb" loading="lazy">
+                   <img src="${thumbUrl}" alt="${lt.escHtml(att.original_filename)}" class="attachment-thumb" loading="lazy">
               </a>`
            : `<div class="attachment-icon">${lt.escHtml(att.icon || '[ f ]')}</div>`;

@@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ $GLOBALS['config'] = [
    ],
    'UPLOAD_DIR' => __DIR__ . '/../uploads',

-    // Rate limiting
-    'RATE_LIMIT_DEFAULT' => 100, // Requests per minute for general
-    'RATE_LIMIT_API' => 60, // Requests per minute for API
+    // Rate limiting (requests per minute; read by RateLimitMiddleware)
+    'RATE_LIMIT_DEFAULT' => (int)($envVars['RATE_LIMIT_DEFAULT'] ?? 100), // Session-based, general endpoints
+    'RATE_LIMIT_API' => (int)($envVars['RATE_LIMIT_API'] ?? 60),          // Session-based, API endpoints

    // Audit log settings
    'AUDIT_LOG_RETENTION_DAYS' => 90,
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/AuditLogModel.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/UserModel.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/WorkflowModel.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/TemplateModel.php';
+require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/CustomFieldModel.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/UrlHelper.php';
 require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';

@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ class TicketController
    private $userModel;
    private $workflowModel;
    private $templateModel;
+    private $customFieldModel;
    private $conn;

    public function __construct($conn)
@@ -29,6 +31,7 @@ class TicketController
        $this->userModel = new UserModel($conn);
        $this->workflowModel = new WorkflowModel($conn);
        $this->templateModel = new TemplateModel($conn);
+        $this->customFieldModel = new CustomFieldModel($conn);
    }

    public function view($id)
@@ -60,6 +63,11 @@ class TicketController
        // Get allowed status transitions for this ticket
        $allowedTransitions = $this->workflowModel->getAllowedTransitions($ticket['status']);

+        // Custom fields applicable to this ticket's category, with any
+        // already-saved values for it
+        $customFieldDefs = $this->customFieldModel->getAllDefinitions($ticket['category'], true);
+        $customFieldValues = $this->customFieldModel->getValuesForTicket($id);
+
        // Make $conn available to view for visibility groups
        $conn = $this->conn;

@@ -73,6 +81,12 @@ class TicketController
        $currentUser = $GLOBALS['currentUser'] ?? null;
        $userId = $currentUser['user_id'] ?? null;

+        // All active custom field definitions (every category, plus
+        // category-less ones) — the create form renders them all and toggles
+        // visibility client-side as the Category select changes, since the
+        // ticket doesn't exist yet to scope the query to one category.
+        $allCustomFieldDefs = $this->customFieldModel->getAllDefinitions(null, true);
+
        // Check if form was submitted
        if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
            // Validate CSRF token
@@ -131,6 +145,38 @@ class TicketController
                return;
            }

+            // Custom fields applicable to the submitted category — validate
+            // is_required server-side (the form is novalidate, and a field
+            // hidden by the client-side category toggle must not silently
+            // bypass a requirement that applies to the category actually
+            // submitted).
+            $submittedCustomFields = is_array($_POST['custom_fields'] ?? null) ? $_POST['custom_fields'] : [];
+            $applicableFieldDefs = array_filter(
+                $allCustomFieldDefs,
+                fn($def) => $def['category'] === null || $def['category'] === $ticketData['category']
+            );
+            $customFieldsToSave = [];
+            foreach ($applicableFieldDefs as $def) {
+                $fieldId = (int)$def['field_id'];
+                $raw = $submittedCustomFields[$fieldId] ?? null;
+                $normalized = $def['field_type'] === 'checkbox'
+                    ? (!empty($raw) ? '1' : '0')
+                    : (is_scalar($raw) ? trim((string)$raw) : '');
+
+                if (!empty($def['is_required']) && $def['field_type'] !== 'checkbox' && $normalized === '') {
+                    $error = $def['field_label'] . ' is required';
+                    $templates = $this->templateModel->getAllTemplates();
+                    $allUsers = $this->userModel->getAllUsers();
+                    $conn = $this->conn;
+                    include dirname(__DIR__) . '/views/CreateTicketView.php';
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                if ($normalized !== '') {
+                    $customFieldsToSave[$fieldId] = $normalized;
+                }
+            }
+
            // Create ticket with user tracking
            $result = $this->ticketModel->createTicket($ticketData, $userId);

@@ -144,6 +190,12 @@ class TicketController
                require_once dirname(__DIR__) . '/models/StatsModel.php';
                (new StatsModel($this->conn))->invalidateCache();

+                // Persist custom field values for the fields applicable to
+                // this ticket's category
+                if (!empty($customFieldsToSave)) {
+                    $this->customFieldModel->setValues($result['ticket_id'], $customFieldsToSave);
+                }
+
                // Auto-link as duplicate if requested from create form
                $linkDupOfRaw = trim($_POST['link_duplicate_of'] ?? '');
                if ($linkDupOfRaw !== '' && ctype_digit($linkDupOfRaw)) {
@@ -232,301 +232,353 @@ $priority = (int)$priority;
 $ticketHash = generateTicketHash($data);
 $auditLog   = new AuditLogModel($conn);

-// Look up any existing ticket with this hash (open OR closed)
-$checkStmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT ticket_id, status, title, priority FROM tickets WHERE hash = ? ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 1");
-$checkStmt->bind_param("s", $ticketHash);
-$checkStmt->execute();
-$existing = $checkStmt->get_result()->fetch_assoc();
-$checkStmt->close();
+// Everything from here through either updating/reopening the matched ticket
+// or inserting a brand-new one runs inside one transaction with a row lock
+// on the hash lookup. Without this, two concurrent requests carrying the
+// same dedup hash (e.g. overlapping monitoring runs) could both read the
+// same pre-update snapshot and each independently apply an escalation. FOR
+// UPDATE on this equality lookup against the unique-indexed hash column also
+// takes a lock on the "gap" where no row currently exists, so two concurrent
+// requests for a genuinely new hash are still safe from a duplicate row —
+// but that gap lock is shared, not exclusive, so both can reach the INSERT
+// below and deadlock with each other rather than one blocking cleanly on the
+// other's row. See the retry loop and comment near the INSERT's catch block
+// for how that case is handled.
+// Retried once if the INSERT below deadlocks with another connection's
+// concurrent insert into the same not-yet-existing hash (see comment
+// above the INSERT's catch block) — the retry's own SELECT ... FOR UPDATE
+// will then find the winner's already-committed row and take the
+// update/escalate branch instead of erroring out.
+$maxDedupAttempts = 2;
+for ($dedupAttempt = 1; $dedupAttempt <= $maxDedupAttempts; $dedupAttempt++) {
+    $conn->begin_transaction();

-if ($existing) {
-    $existingId       = $existing['ticket_id'];
-    $existingStatus   = $existing['status'];
-    $existingTitle    = $existing['title'];
-    $existingPriority = (int)$existing['priority'];
-    $newPriority      = (int)$priority;
+    // Look up any existing ticket with this hash (open OR closed)
+    $checkStmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT ticket_id, status, title, priority FROM tickets WHERE hash = ? ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 1 FOR UPDATE");
+    $checkStmt->bind_param("s", $ticketHash);
+    $checkStmt->execute();
+    $existing = $checkStmt->get_result()->fetch_assoc();
+    $checkStmt->close();

-    if ($existingStatus !== 'Closed') {
-        // Ticket is still active — update title, escalate priority, and refresh
-        // description with latest sensor data.
-        $changes   = [];
-        $updateSql = "UPDATE tickets SET updated_at = NOW(), updated_by = ?";
-        $bindTypes = "i";
-        $bindVals  = [$userId];
+    if ($existing) {
+        $existingId       = $existing['ticket_id'];
+        $existingStatus   = $existing['status'];
+        $existingTitle    = $existing['title'];
+        $existingPriority = (int)$existing['priority'];
+        $newPriority      = (int)$priority;

-        if ($title !== $existingTitle) {
-            $updateSql .= ", title = ?";
-            $bindTypes .= "s";
-            $bindVals[] = $title;
-            $changes['title'] = ['from' => $existingTitle, 'to' => $title];
-        }
+        if ($existingStatus !== 'Closed') {
+            // Ticket is still active — update title, escalate priority, and refresh
+            // description with latest sensor data.
+            $changes   = [];
+            $updateSql = "UPDATE tickets SET updated_at = NOW(), updated_by = ?";
+            $bindTypes = "i";
+            $bindVals  = [$userId];

-        if ($newPriority < $existingPriority) {
-            $updateSql .= ", priority = ?";
-            $bindTypes .= "i";
-            $bindVals[] = $newPriority;
-            $changes['priority'] = ['from' => $existingPriority, 'to' => $newPriority];
-        }
-
-        // Always refresh the description so the ticket body shows current sensor data
-        if (!empty($description)) {
-            $updateSql .= ", description = ?";
-            $bindTypes .= "s";
-            $bindVals[] = $description;
-            $changes['description_refreshed'] = true;
-        }
-
-        if (!empty($changes)) {
-            $updateSql .= " WHERE ticket_id = ?";
-            $bindTypes .= "s";
-            $bindVals[] = $existingId;
-
-            $updStmt = $conn->prepare($updateSql);
-            $updStmt->bind_param($bindTypes, ...$bindVals);
-            $updStmt->execute();
-            $updStmt->close();
-
-            // Only post a comment on priority escalation — title and description updates
-            // are silent (title changes like rising counters would spam a comment every run).
-            // Keep it short: the full sensor data is refreshed in the ticket description,
-            // so the comment just records the bump + a brief reason (no ASCII dump).
-            if (isset($changes['priority'])) {
-                $pLabels = [1 => 'P1 (Critical)', 2 => 'P2 (High)', 3 => 'P3 (Medium)', 4 => 'P4 (Low)', 5 => 'P5 (Minimal)'];
-                $fromP = (int)$changes['priority']['from'];
-                $toP   = (int)$changes['priority']['to'];
-                $fromL = $pLabels[$fromP] ?? "P{$fromP}";
-                $toL   = $pLabels[$toP] ?? "P{$toP}";
-                $commentText = "**hwmonDaemon raised priority {$fromL} → {$toL}.**\n\n"
-                    . "The latest monitoring scan reported a more severe condition for this issue, "
-                    . "so it now needs faster attention. Current sensor data is in the ticket description above.";
-                $commentStmt = $conn->prepare(
-                    "INSERT INTO ticket_comments (ticket_id, user_id, user_name, comment_text, markdown_enabled) VALUES (?, ?, 'hwmonDaemon', ?, 1)"
-                );
-                $commentStmt->bind_param("sis", $existingId, $userId, $commentText);
-                $commentStmt->execute();
-                $commentStmt->close();
+            if ($title !== $existingTitle) {
+                $updateSql .= ", title = ?";
+                $bindTypes .= "s";
+                $bindVals[] = $title;
+                $changes['title'] = ['from' => $existingTitle, 'to' => $title];
            }

-            $auditLog->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $existingId, array_merge(
-                array_diff_key($changes, ['description_refreshed' => true]),
-                ['reason' => 'auto-updated by hwmonDaemon (condition worsened)']
-            ));
-
-            // Only notify on priority escalation — title-only updates (e.g. rising
-            // Power_On_Hours counter) should not generate a Matrix ping every hour.
-            if (isset($changes['priority'])) {
-                require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';
-                NotificationHelper::sendTicketNotification($existingId, [
-                    'title'    => $title,
-                    'priority' => $changes['priority']['to'],
-                    'category' => $category,
-                    'type'     => $type,
-                    'status'   => $existingStatus,
-                ], 'automated');
+            if ($newPriority < $existingPriority) {
+                $updateSql .= ", priority = ?";
+                $bindTypes .= "i";
+                $bindVals[] = $newPriority;
+                $changes['priority'] = ['from' => $existingPriority, 'to' => $newPriority];
            }

-            // Ticket state (priority/title/description) changed — refresh dashboard stats.
+            // Always refresh the description so the ticket body shows current sensor data
+            if (!empty($description)) {
+                $updateSql .= ", description = ?";
+                $bindTypes .= "s";
+                $bindVals[] = $description;
+                $changes['description_refreshed'] = true;
+            }
+
+            if (!empty($changes)) {
+                $updateSql .= " WHERE ticket_id = ?";
+                $bindTypes .= "s";
+                $bindVals[] = $existingId;
+
+                $updStmt = $conn->prepare($updateSql);
+                $updStmt->bind_param($bindTypes, ...$bindVals);
+                $updStmt->execute();
+                $updStmt->close();
+
+                // Only post a comment on priority escalation — title and description updates
+                // are silent (title changes like rising counters would spam a comment every run).
+                // Keep it short: the full sensor data is refreshed in the ticket description,
+                // so the comment just records the bump + a brief reason (no ASCII dump).
+                if (isset($changes['priority'])) {
+                    $pLabels = [1 => 'P1 (Critical)', 2 => 'P2 (High)', 3 => 'P3 (Medium)', 4 => 'P4 (Low)', 5 => 'P5 (Minimal)'];
+                    $fromP = (int)$changes['priority']['from'];
+                    $toP   = (int)$changes['priority']['to'];
+                    $fromL = $pLabels[$fromP] ?? "P{$fromP}";
+                    $toL   = $pLabels[$toP] ?? "P{$toP}";
+                    $commentText = "**hwmonDaemon raised priority {$fromL} → {$toL}.**\n\n"
+                        . "The latest monitoring scan reported a more severe condition for this issue, "
+                        . "so it now needs faster attention. Current sensor data is in the ticket description above.";
+                    $commentStmt = $conn->prepare(
+                        "INSERT INTO ticket_comments (ticket_id, user_id, user_name, comment_text, markdown_enabled) VALUES (?, ?, 'hwmonDaemon', ?, 1)"
+                    );
+                    $commentStmt->bind_param("sis", $existingId, $userId, $commentText);
+                    $commentStmt->execute();
+                    $commentStmt->close();
+                }
+
+                $auditLog->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $existingId, array_merge(
+                    array_diff_key($changes, ['description_refreshed' => true]),
+                    ['reason' => 'auto-updated by hwmonDaemon (condition worsened)']
+                ));
+
+                // Only notify on priority escalation — title-only updates (e.g. rising
+                // Power_On_Hours counter) should not generate a Matrix ping every hour.
+                if (isset($changes['priority'])) {
+                    require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';
+                    NotificationHelper::sendTicketNotification($existingId, [
+                        'title'    => $title,
+                        'priority' => $changes['priority']['to'],
+                        'category' => $category,
+                        'type'     => $type,
+                        'status'   => $existingStatus,
+                    ], 'automated');
+                }
+
+                // Ticket state (priority/title/description) changed — refresh dashboard stats.
+                (new StatsModel($conn))->invalidateCache();
+            }
+
+            $conn->commit();
+            Database::close();
+            echo json_encode([
+                'success'            => true,
+                'ticket_id'          => $existingId,
+                'message'            => empty($changes) ? 'Duplicate — no change' : 'Existing ticket updated',
+                'action'             => empty($changes) ? 'deduplicated' : 'updated',
+                'changes'            => $changes,
+            ]);
+            exit;
+        }
+
+        // Ticket was closed — reopen it and add a recurrence comment. Route
+        // through the Workflow Designer like every other status-write path in
+        // the app, rather than forcing status='Open' via raw SQL regardless of
+        // configured transition rules.
+        $workflowModel = new WorkflowModel($conn);
+        $reopenStatus = 'Open';
+        if (!$workflowModel->isTransitionAllowed('Closed', 'Open', false)) {
+            // Direct Closed->Open isn't configured — fall back to any transition
+            // the Workflow Designer does allow from Closed that this unattended,
+            // non-admin automation can actually satisfy (no comment prompt, no
+            // admin elevation). If even that doesn't exist, leave the ticket
+            // Closed rather than force an unconfigured state.
+            $reopenStatus = null;
+            foreach ($workflowModel->getAllowedTransitions('Closed') as $transition) {
+                if (!$transition['requires_comment'] && !$transition['requires_admin']) {
+                    $reopenStatus = $transition['to_status'];
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ($reopenStatus !== null) {
+            $ticketModel = new TicketModel($conn);
+            $ticketModel->updateTicket([
+                'ticket_id'   => $existingId,
+                'title'       => $title,
+                'description' => $description,
+                'category'    => $category,
+                'type'        => $type,
+                'status'      => $reopenStatus,
+                'priority'    => $priority,
+            ], $userId);
+        } else {
+            error_log("create_ticket_api: hwmonDaemon recurrence for ticket $existingId — "
+                . "no admin-free, comment-free transition from Closed is configured; leaving ticket Closed");
+        }
+
+        $commentText = "**Issue recurred — ticket reopened automatically.**\n\n" .
+                       "hwmonDaemon detected this condition again. The ticket description reflects the "
+                       . "original report; see this comment's timestamp for when the issue recurred.";
+        if ($reopenStatus === null) {
+            $commentText = "**Issue recurred, but the ticket could not be reopened automatically.**\n\n"
+                . "hwmonDaemon detected this condition again. No Workflow Designer transition from "
+                . "Closed is configured that this automation can perform unattended (no comment/admin "
+                . "requirement); the ticket remains Closed. Please review and reopen manually if appropriate.";
+        }
+        $commentStmt = $conn->prepare(
+            "INSERT INTO ticket_comments (ticket_id, user_id, user_name, comment_text, markdown_enabled) VALUES (?, ?, 'hwmonDaemon', ?, 1)"
+        );
+        $commentStmt->bind_param("sis", $existingId, $userId, $commentText);
+        $commentStmt->execute();
+        $commentStmt->close();
+
+        if ($reopenStatus !== null) {
+            $auditLog->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $existingId, [
+                'status' => ['from' => 'Closed', 'to' => $reopenStatus],
+                'reason' => 'auto-reopened by hwmonDaemon (issue recurred)',
+            ]);
+
+            // Ticket reopened — refresh dashboard stats.
            (new StatsModel($conn))->invalidateCache();
+        } else {
+            $auditLog->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $existingId, [
+                'reason' => 'hwmonDaemon recurrence detected but no valid reopen transition configured; ticket left Closed',
+            ]);
        }

+        $conn->commit();
        Database::close();
+
+        if ($reopenStatus !== null) {
+            require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';
+            NotificationHelper::sendTicketNotification($existingId, [
+                'title'    => $title,
+                'priority' => $priority,
+                'category' => $category,
+                'type'     => $type,
+                'status'   => $reopenStatus,
+            ], 'automated');
+        }
+
        echo json_encode([
-            'success'            => true,
-            'ticket_id'          => $existingId,
-            'message'            => empty($changes) ? 'Duplicate — no change' : 'Existing ticket updated',
-            'action'             => empty($changes) ? 'deduplicated' : 'updated',
-            'changes'            => $changes,
+            'success'   => true,
+            'ticket_id' => $existingId,
+            'message'   => $reopenStatus !== null
+                ? 'Existing closed ticket reopened'
+                : 'Recurrence noted; ticket left Closed (no valid workflow transition configured)',
+            'action'    => $reopenStatus !== null ? 'reopened' : 'recurrence_noted',
        ]);
        exit;
    }

-    // Ticket was closed — reopen it and add a recurrence comment. Route
-    // through the Workflow Designer like every other status-write path in
-    // the app, rather than forcing status='Open' via raw SQL regardless of
-    // configured transition rules.
-    $workflowModel = new WorkflowModel($conn);
-    $reopenStatus = 'Open';
-    if (!$workflowModel->isTransitionAllowed('Closed', 'Open', false)) {
-        // Direct Closed->Open isn't configured — fall back to any transition
-        // the Workflow Designer does allow from Closed that this unattended,
-        // non-admin automation can actually satisfy (no comment prompt, no
-        // admin elevation). If even that doesn't exist, leave the ticket
-        // Closed rather than force an unconfigured state.
-        $reopenStatus = null;
-        foreach ($workflowModel->getAllowedTransitions('Closed') as $transition) {
-            if (!$transition['requires_comment'] && !$transition['requires_admin']) {
-                $reopenStatus = $transition['to_status'];
-                break;
-            }
+    // No existing ticket — create a new one. Still inside the transaction opened
+    // above, so a concurrent request for the same hash is blocked on its own
+    // SELECT ... FOR UPDATE until this one commits or rolls back (see comment
+    // there) rather than racing this INSERT.
+    //
+    // Note on FOR UPDATE over a not-yet-existing key: InnoDB's gap lock in that
+    // case is a shared lock, not exclusive — two concurrent transactions can
+    // both acquire it and both reach this INSERT. The conflict only surfaces
+    // when they each request the insert-intention lock for the same gap,
+    // which InnoDB resolves as a deadlock (error 1213), not by blocking one
+    // of the SELECTs. The outer loop above retries that case: the loser rolls
+    // back and re-runs its own SELECT ... FOR UPDATE, which by then finds the
+    // winner's committed row and takes the update/escalate branch instead.
+    //
+    // Generate a collision-safe unique ticket_id with a pre-check + retry loop (same
+    // approach as TicketModel::createTicket) so a ticket_id clash cannot happen. That
+    // way a 1062 on INSERT below can only be the unique_hash (dedup) key — and with
+    // the FOR UPDATE lock above, only in the unlikely case of a hash collision from
+    // two genuinely different reports, not the same-hash race this used to be.
+    $ticket_id = null;
+    $maxAttempts = 50;
+    $attempts = 0;
+    do {
+        try {
+            $candidateId = sprintf('%09d', random_int(100000000, 999999999));
+        } catch (Exception $e) {
+            $candidateId = sprintf('%09d', mt_rand(100000000, 999999999));
        }
+
+        $idCheckStmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT ticket_id FROM tickets WHERE ticket_id = ? LIMIT 1");
+        $idCheckStmt->bind_param("s", $candidateId);
+        $idCheckStmt->execute();
+        $idExists = $idCheckStmt->get_result()->num_rows > 0;
+        $idCheckStmt->close();
+
+        if (!$idExists) {
+            $ticket_id = $candidateId;
+        }
+        $attempts++;
+    } while ($ticket_id === null && $attempts < $maxAttempts);
+
+    if ($ticket_id === null) {
+        $conn->rollback();
+        error_log('create_ticket_api: failed to generate a unique ticket_id after ' . $maxAttempts . ' attempts');
+        http_response_code(500);
+        echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Internal server error']);
+        exit;
    }

-    if ($reopenStatus !== null) {
-        $ticketModel = new TicketModel($conn);
-        $ticketModel->updateTicket([
-            'ticket_id'   => $existingId,
-            'title'       => $title,
-            'description' => $description,
-            'category'    => $category,
-            'type'        => $type,
-            'status'      => $reopenStatus,
-            'priority'    => $priority,
-        ], $userId);
-    } else {
-        error_log("create_ticket_api: hwmonDaemon recurrence for ticket $existingId — "
-            . "no admin-free, comment-free transition from Closed is configured; leaving ticket Closed");
-    }
-
-    $commentText = "**Issue recurred — ticket reopened automatically.**\n\n" .
-                   "hwmonDaemon detected this condition again. The ticket description reflects the "
-                   . "original report; see this comment's timestamp for when the issue recurred.";
-    if ($reopenStatus === null) {
-        $commentText = "**Issue recurred, but the ticket could not be reopened automatically.**\n\n"
-            . "hwmonDaemon detected this condition again. No Workflow Designer transition from "
-            . "Closed is configured that this automation can perform unattended (no comment/admin "
-            . "requirement); the ticket remains Closed. Please review and reopen manually if appropriate.";
-    }
-    $commentStmt = $conn->prepare(
-        "INSERT INTO ticket_comments (ticket_id, user_id, user_name, comment_text, markdown_enabled) VALUES (?, ?, 'hwmonDaemon', ?, 1)"
+    $insertStmt = $conn->prepare(
+        "INSERT INTO tickets (ticket_id, title, description, status, priority, category, type, hash, created_by)
+         VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)"
+    );
+    $insertStmt->bind_param(
+        "ssssssssi",
+        $ticket_id,
+        $title,
+        $description,
+        $status,
+        $priority,
+        $category,
+        $type,
+        $ticketHash,
+        $userId
    );
-    $commentStmt->bind_param("sis", $existingId, $userId, $commentText);
-    $commentStmt->execute();
-    $commentStmt->close();

-    if ($reopenStatus !== null) {
-        $auditLog->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $existingId, [
-            'status' => ['from' => 'Closed', 'to' => $reopenStatus],
-            'reason' => 'auto-reopened by hwmonDaemon (issue recurred)',
-        ]);
-
-        // Ticket reopened — refresh dashboard stats.
-        (new StatsModel($conn))->invalidateCache();
-    } else {
-        $auditLog->log($userId, 'update', 'ticket', $existingId, [
-            'reason' => 'hwmonDaemon recurrence detected but no valid reopen transition configured; ticket left Closed',
-        ]);
+    try {
+        $inserted = $insertStmt->execute();
+    } catch (mysqli_sql_exception $e) {
+        $insertStmt->close();
+        $conn->rollback();
+        if (in_array($e->getCode(), [1213, 1205], true) && $dedupAttempt < $maxDedupAttempts) {
+            // Deadlock (1213) or lock wait timeout (1205) from a concurrent
+            // insert into the same not-yet-existing hash gap — see the note
+            // above. Retry: the next iteration's own SELECT ... FOR UPDATE
+            // will find whichever side won and take the update/escalate path.
+            continue;
+        }
+        if ($e->getCode() === 1062) {
+            // Should be unreachable in the same-hash race this issue was filed
+            // for now that the SELECT above takes FOR UPDATE — kept as a
+            // defensive fallback in case of a genuine hash collision between two
+            // different reports.
+            echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Duplicate ticket']);
+        } else {
+            error_log('create_ticket_api: insert failed: ' . $e->getMessage());
+            http_response_code(500);
+            echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Internal server error']);
+        }
+        exit;
    }
+    $insertStmt->close();

-    Database::close();
-
-    if ($reopenStatus !== null) {
-        require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';
-        NotificationHelper::sendTicketNotification($existingId, [
+    if ($inserted) {
+        $auditLog->logTicketCreate($userId, $ticket_id, [
            'title'    => $title,
            'priority' => $priority,
            'category' => $category,
            'type'     => $type,
-            'status'   => $reopenStatus,
+        ]);
+
+        // New ticket created — refresh dashboard stats.
+        (new StatsModel($conn))->invalidateCache();
+
+        $conn->commit();
+        Database::close();
+
+        require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';
+        NotificationHelper::sendTicketNotification($ticket_id, [
+            'title'    => $title,
+            'priority' => $priority,
+            'category' => $category,
+            'type'     => $type,
+            'status'   => $status,
        ], 'automated');
-    }

-    echo json_encode([
-        'success'   => true,
-        'ticket_id' => $existingId,
-        'message'   => $reopenStatus !== null
-            ? 'Existing closed ticket reopened'
-            : 'Recurrence noted; ticket left Closed (no valid workflow transition configured)',
-        'action'    => $reopenStatus !== null ? 'reopened' : 'recurrence_noted',
-    ]);
-    exit;
-}
-
-// No existing ticket — create a new one.
-// Generate a collision-safe unique ticket_id with a pre-check + retry loop (same
-// approach as TicketModel::createTicket) so a ticket_id clash cannot happen. That
-// way a 1062 on INSERT below can only be the unique_hash (dedup) key racing, and
-// is correctly reported as a duplicate rather than a dropped hardware alert.
-$ticket_id = null;
-$maxAttempts = 50;
-$attempts = 0;
-do {
-    try {
-        $candidateId = sprintf('%09d', random_int(100000000, 999999999));
-    } catch (Exception $e) {
-        $candidateId = sprintf('%09d', mt_rand(100000000, 999999999));
-    }
-
-    $idCheckStmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT ticket_id FROM tickets WHERE ticket_id = ? LIMIT 1");
-    $idCheckStmt->bind_param("s", $candidateId);
-    $idCheckStmt->execute();
-    $idExists = $idCheckStmt->get_result()->num_rows > 0;
-    $idCheckStmt->close();
-
-    if (!$idExists) {
-        $ticket_id = $candidateId;
-    }
-    $attempts++;
-} while ($ticket_id === null && $attempts < $maxAttempts);
-
-if ($ticket_id === null) {
-    error_log('create_ticket_api: failed to generate a unique ticket_id after ' . $maxAttempts . ' attempts');
-    http_response_code(500);
-    echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Internal server error']);
-    exit;
-}
-
-$insertStmt = $conn->prepare(
-    "INSERT INTO tickets (ticket_id, title, description, status, priority, category, type, hash, created_by)
-     VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)"
-);
-$insertStmt->bind_param(
-    "ssssssssi",
-    $ticket_id,
-    $title,
-    $description,
-    $status,
-    $priority,
-    $category,
-    $type,
-    $ticketHash,
-    $userId
-);
-
-try {
-    $inserted = $insertStmt->execute();
-} catch (mysqli_sql_exception $e) {
-    $insertStmt->close();
-    if ($e->getCode() === 1062) {
-        // Race condition: another node inserted the same hash between our SELECT and INSERT
-        echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Duplicate ticket']);
+        echo json_encode([
+            'success'    => true,
+            'ticket_id'  => $ticket_id,
+            'message'    => 'Ticket created successfully',
+        ]);
    } else {
-        error_log('create_ticket_api: insert failed: ' . $e->getMessage());
+        $conn->rollback();
+        error_log('create_ticket_api: ticket insert reported failure: ' . $conn->error);
        http_response_code(500);
        echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Internal server error']);
    }
-    exit;
-}
-$insertStmt->close();
-
-if ($inserted) {
-    $auditLog->logTicketCreate($userId, $ticket_id, [
-        'title'    => $title,
-        'priority' => $priority,
-        'category' => $category,
-        'type'     => $type,
-    ]);
-
-    // New ticket created — refresh dashboard stats.
-    (new StatsModel($conn))->invalidateCache();
-
-    Database::close();
-
-    require_once __DIR__ . '/helpers/NotificationHelper.php';
-    NotificationHelper::sendTicketNotification($ticket_id, [
-        'title'    => $title,
-        'priority' => $priority,
-        'category' => $category,
-        'type'     => $type,
-        'status'   => $status,
-    ], 'automated');
-
-    echo json_encode([
-        'success'    => true,
-        'ticket_id'  => $ticket_id,
-        'message'    => 'Ticket created successfully',
-    ]);
-} else {
-    error_log('create_ticket_api: ticket insert reported failure: ' . $conn->error);
-    http_response_code(500);
-    echo json_encode(['success' => false, 'error' => 'Internal server error']);
 }
@@ -29,6 +29,38 @@ function logMessage($message)
    echo "[" . date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . "] " . $message . "\n";
 }

+/**
+ * Record a recurring-ticket occurrence that was claimed (next_run_at already
+ * advanced to the next future run) but then failed to actually produce a
+ * ticket. That claim-then-fail ordering is deliberate — it stops a failing
+ * creation from re-firing and flooding duplicates on every subsequent cron
+ * tick — but means this specific occurrence has no other record anywhere an
+ * admin would normally look: no audit_log entry (nothing was created), no
+ * Matrix "ticket created" alert, no failure table. Without this, it's simply
+ * gone, silently, forever.
+ */
+function recordMissedOccurrence($auditLog, $recurring, $reason)
+{
+    $auditLog->log(
+        $recurring['created_by'],
+        'error',
+        'recurring_ticket',
+        (string)$recurring['recurring_id'],
+        [
+            'reason' => $reason,
+            'title_template' => $recurring['title_template'],
+            'schedule_type' => $recurring['schedule_type'],
+        ]
+    );
+
+    NotificationHelper::sendSystemAlert(
+        "Recurring ticket occurrence lost: schedule #{$recurring['recurring_id']} "
+            . "(\"{$recurring['title_template']}\") was claimed for this run but ticket "
+            . "creation failed, so this occurrence will not be created or retried.",
+        ['reason' => $reason, 'recurring_id' => $recurring['recurring_id']]
+    );
+}
+
 logMessage("Starting recurring tickets cron job");

 try {
@@ -100,11 +132,17 @@ try {

                $created++;
            } else {
-                logMessage("ERROR: Failed to create ticket - " . ($result['error'] ?? 'Unknown error'));
+                $reason = $result['error'] ?? 'Unknown error';
+                logMessage("ERROR: Failed to create ticket - " . $reason);
+                recordMissedOccurrence($auditLog, $recurring, $reason);
                $errors++;
            }
        } catch (Exception $e) {
            logMessage("ERROR: Exception processing recurring ticket - " . $e->getMessage());
+            // claimForRun() already advanced next_run_at before this point, so
+            // this occurrence is permanently gone unless recorded somewhere an
+            // admin would actually look — a cron log line alone doesn't count.
+            recordMissedOccurrence($auditLog, $recurring, $e->getMessage());
            $errors++;
        }
    }
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ class NotificationHelper
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($payload));
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);
+        // A slow-but-not-fully-hung hookshot endpoint could otherwise add up
+        // to the full CURLOPT_TIMEOUT per fire() call, and a single request
+        // can call fire() (via notifyWatchers/sendCommentNotification/etc.)
+        // more than once sequentially — capping just the connect phase keeps
+        // that from stacking into tens of seconds of added latency.
+        curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 3);

        $response  = curl_exec($ch);
        $httpCode  = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
@@ -53,6 +59,23 @@ class NotificationHelper

    // ─── Public event methods ─────────────────────────────────────────────────

+    /**
+     * Generic operational alert with no associated ticket (e.g. a recurring
+     * schedule whose ticket creation failed after its next_run_at was
+     * already advanced, so the missed occurrence has no other record an
+     * admin would normally see). Always sent to the shared
+     * MATRIX_NOTIFY_USERS list, regardless of any per-event notify toggle.
+     */
+    public static function sendSystemAlert(string $message, array $context = []): void
+    {
+        self::fire(array_merge([
+            'event'   => 'system_alert',
+            'message' => $message,
+        ], $context, [
+            'notify_users' => self::notifyUsers(),
+        ]));
+    }
+
    /**
     * New ticket created (manual or automated/API).
     *
@@ -388,9 +388,19 @@ switch (true) {
                    GROUP BY user_id
                ) cm ON u.user_id = cm.user_id
                LEFT JOIN (
-                    SELECT assigned_to, COUNT(*) as tickets_assigned
-                    FROM tickets
-                    WHERE DATE(created_at) BETWEEN ? AND ?
+                    -- Assignment date, not ticket creation date: a ticket created
+                    -- outside the range but assigned within it should count, and
+                    -- one created in-range but assigned later shouldn't (until it
+                    -- is). Derived from audit_log's 'assign' events since tickets
+                    -- has no assigned_at column; COUNT(DISTINCT ...) so a ticket
+                    -- reassigned more than once to the same user in-range still
+                    -- counts once.
+                    SELECT
+                        CAST(JSON_UNQUOTE(JSON_EXTRACT(details, '$.assigned_to')) AS UNSIGNED) as assigned_to,
+                        COUNT(DISTINCT entity_id) as tickets_assigned
+                    FROM audit_log
+                    WHERE action_type = 'assign' AND entity_type = 'ticket'
+                        AND DATE(created_at) BETWEEN ? AND ?
                    GROUP BY assigned_to
                ) ta ON u.user_id = ta.assigned_to
                LEFT JOIN (
@@ -3,21 +3,34 @@
 /**
 * Rate Limiting Middleware
 *
- * Implements both session-based and IP-based rate limiting to prevent abuse.
- * IP-based limiting prevents attackers from bypassing limits by creating new sessions.
+ * Implements session-based, IP-based, and (for Bearer-authenticated
+ * requests) API-key-based rate limiting to prevent abuse.
+ * IP-based limiting prevents attackers from bypassing limits by creating new
+ * sessions; API-key-based limiting keeps distinct Bearer clients from
+ * starving each other's shared IP bucket.
 */
 class RateLimitMiddleware
 {
-    // Default limits
+    // Fallback limits, used only if $GLOBALS['config'] isn't populated
+    // (e.g. very early in bootstrap, or a test harness). Normal requests read
+    // RATE_LIMIT_DEFAULT/RATE_LIMIT_API from config (backed by .env).
    public const DEFAULT_LIMIT = 100;      // requests per window (session)
    public const API_LIMIT = 60;           // API requests per window (session)
    public const IP_LIMIT = 300;           // IP-based requests per window (more generous)
    public const IP_API_LIMIT = 120;       // IP-based API requests per window
+    public const API_KEY_LIMIT = 120;      // Per-Bearer-token requests per window
    public const WINDOW_SECONDS = 60;      // 1 minute window

    // Directory for IP rate limit storage
    private static ?string $rateLimitDir = null;

+    private static function sessionLimit(string $type): int
+    {
+        $configKey = $type === 'api' ? 'RATE_LIMIT_API' : 'RATE_LIMIT_DEFAULT';
+        $fallback = $type === 'api' ? self::API_LIMIT : self::DEFAULT_LIMIT;
+        return (int)($GLOBALS['config'][$configKey] ?? $fallback);
+    }
+
    /**
     * Get the rate limit storage directory
     *
@@ -69,24 +82,47 @@ class RateLimitMiddleware
    }

    /**
-     * Check IP-based rate limit
+     * Extract the raw Bearer token from the Authorization header, if present.
+     * Deliberately independent of ApiKeyAuth: rate limiting must be cheap and
+     * must not require a DB round-trip to validate the key before counting
+     * the request, and needs to run whether or not the token turns out to be
+     * valid. The raw token string (not the validated api_key_id) is hashed as
+     * the bucket identifier — good enough to isolate distinct keys/clients
+     * from each other without needing to authenticate first.
     *
-     * @param string $type 'default' or 'api'
-     * @return bool True if request is allowed, false if rate limited
+     * @return string|null
     */
-    private static function checkIpRateLimit(string $type = 'default'): bool
+    private static function getBearerToken(): ?string
    {
-        $ip = self::getClientIp();
-        $limit = $type === 'api' ? self::IP_API_LIMIT : self::IP_LIMIT;
-        $now = time();
+        $header = $_SERVER['HTTP_AUTHORIZATION']
+            ?? $_SERVER['REDIRECT_HTTP_AUTHORIZATION']
+            ?? null;
+        if ($header === null && function_exists('getallheaders')) {
+            $headers = getallheaders();
+            $header = $headers['Authorization'] ?? null;
+        }
+        if ($header && preg_match('/^Bearer\s+(.+)$/i', $header, $m)) {
+            return $m[1];
+        }
+        return null;
+    }

-        // Create a hash of the IP for the filename (security + filesystem safety)
-        $ipHash = hash('sha256', $ip . '_' . $type);
-        $filePath = self::getRateLimitDir() . '/' . $ipHash . '.json';
+    /**
+     * Generic file-based sliding-window counter, shared by the IP-based and
+     * API-key-based buckets below.
+     *
+     * @param string $bucketKey Stable identifier for this bucket (already hashed)
+     * @param int    $limit     Max requests allowed per window
+     * @return bool True if this request is within the limit
+     */
+    private static function checkCounter(string $bucketKey, int $limit): bool
+    {
+        $now = time();
+        $filePath = self::getRateLimitDir() . '/' . $bucketKey . '.json';

        // Hold an exclusive lock across the whole read-modify-write so concurrent
-        // requests from the same IP can't both read the same count and each write
-        // count+1 (which would undercount and let the limit be exceeded).
+        // requests from the same bucket can't both read the same count and each
+        // write count+1 (which would undercount and let the limit be exceeded).
        $fh = @fopen($filePath, 'c+');
        if ($fh === false) {
            // Can't open the counter file — fail open (don't block legitimate traffic).
@@ -122,10 +158,60 @@ class RateLimitMiddleware
        flock($fh, LOCK_UN);
        fclose($fh);

-        // Check if over limit
        return $rateData['count'] <= $limit;
    }

+    /**
+     * Read (without incrementing) the current state of a counter bucket, for
+     * status/header reporting.
+     */
+    private static function peekCounter(string $bucketKey, int $limit): array
+    {
+        $now = time();
+        $filePath = self::getRateLimitDir() . '/' . $bucketKey . '.json';
+
+        $rateData = null;
+        $content = @file_get_contents($filePath);
+        if ($content !== false && $content !== '') {
+            $decoded = json_decode($content, true);
+            if (is_array($decoded)) {
+                $rateData = $decoded;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ($rateData === null || $now - ($rateData['window_start'] ?? $now) >= self::WINDOW_SECONDS) {
+            return ['limit' => $limit, 'remaining' => $limit, 'reset' => $now + self::WINDOW_SECONDS];
+        }
+
+        return [
+            'limit' => $limit,
+            'remaining' => max(0, $limit - $rateData['count']),
+            'reset' => $rateData['window_start'] + self::WINDOW_SECONDS,
+        ];
+    }
+
+    private static function ipBucketKey(string $type): string
+    {
+        return hash('sha256', self::getClientIp() . '_' . $type);
+    }
+
+    private static function apiKeyBucketKey(string $token): string
+    {
+        return hash('sha256', 'apikey_' . $token);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Check IP-based rate limit
+     *
+     * @param string $type 'default' or 'api'
+     * @return bool True if request is allowed, false if rate limited
+     */
+    private static function checkIpRateLimit(string $type = 'default'): bool
+    {
+        $limit = $type === 'api' ? self::IP_API_LIMIT : self::IP_LIMIT;
+        return self::checkCounter(self::ipBucketKey($type), $limit);
+    }
+
    /**
     * Clean up old rate limit files (call periodically)
     *
@@ -185,7 +271,14 @@ class RateLimitMiddleware
    }

    /**
-     * Check rate limit for current request (both session and IP)
+     * Check rate limit for current request.
+     *
+     * Bearer-authenticated requests (Authorization: Bearer ...) are limited
+     * by a per-token bucket instead of a session — a stateless API client
+     * never sends a session cookie back, so the session-based counter never
+     * accumulates and starting a session for it is pure overhead. The
+     * IP-based bucket still applies underneath as defense-in-depth against
+     * volumetric abuse from one network path.
     *
     * @param string $type 'default' or 'api'
     * @return bool True if request is allowed, false if rate limited
@@ -197,12 +290,17 @@ class RateLimitMiddleware
            return false;
        }

+        $token = self::getBearerToken();
+        if ($token !== null) {
+            return self::checkCounter(self::apiKeyBucketKey($token), self::API_KEY_LIMIT);
+        }
+
        // Then check session-based rate limit
        if (session_status() === PHP_SESSION_NONE) {
            session_start();
        }

-        $limit = $type === 'api' ? self::API_LIMIT : self::DEFAULT_LIMIT;
+        $limit = self::sessionLimit($type);
        $key = 'rate_limit_' . $type;
        $now = time();

@@ -270,18 +368,28 @@ class RateLimitMiddleware
    }

    /**
-     * Get current rate limit status
+     * Get current rate limit status.
+     *
+     * For a Bearer-authenticated request, reports the per-API-key bucket
+     * (the one that actually governs it) rather than the session-based
+     * counter, which is meaningless for a client that never sends a session
+     * cookie back.
     *
     * @param string $type 'default' or 'api'
     * @return array Rate limit status
     */
    public static function getStatus(string $type = 'default'): array
    {
+        $token = self::getBearerToken();
+        if ($token !== null) {
+            return self::peekCounter(self::apiKeyBucketKey($token), self::API_KEY_LIMIT);
+        }
+
        if (session_status() === PHP_SESSION_NONE) {
            session_start();
        }

-        $limit = $type === 'api' ? self::API_LIMIT : self::DEFAULT_LIMIT;
+        $limit = self::sessionLimit($type);
        $key = 'rate_limit_' . $type;
        $now = time();

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+-- Add a nullable thumbnail_filename column to ticket_attachments so an image
+-- upload can store a separately-generated, resized preview alongside the
+-- full-size original. NULL means no thumbnail exists (non-image, GD
+-- unavailable at upload time, or an attachment uploaded before this existed)
+-- and callers fall back to the full-size original.
+--
+-- scripts/cleanup_orphan_uploads.php's orphan lookup is updated in the same
+-- change to also match thumbnail_filename, so generated thumbnails aren't
+-- swept up as orphans.
+--
+-- Safe to re-run.
+
+ALTER TABLE `ticket_attachments`
+    ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS `thumbnail_filename` varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL AFTER `filename`;
@@ -68,14 +68,19 @@ class AttachmentModel

    /**
     * Add a new attachment record
+     *
+     * @param string|null $thumbnailFilename Stored filename of a generated preview
+     *                                        thumbnail, or null if none was generated
+     *                                        (non-image, GD unavailable, etc.) — callers
+     *                                        fall back to the full-size original.
     */
-    public function addAttachment($ticketId, $filename, $originalFilename, $fileSize, $mimeType, $uploadedBy)
+    public function addAttachment($ticketId, $filename, $originalFilename, $fileSize, $mimeType, $uploadedBy, $thumbnailFilename = null)
    {
-        $sql = "INSERT INTO ticket_attachments (ticket_id, filename, original_filename, file_size, mime_type, uploaded_by)
-                VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)";
+        $sql = "INSERT INTO ticket_attachments (ticket_id, filename, thumbnail_filename, original_filename, file_size, mime_type, uploaded_by)
+                VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)";

        $stmt = $this->conn->prepare($sql);
-        $stmt->bind_param("sssisi", $ticketId, $filename, $originalFilename, $fileSize, $mimeType, $uploadedBy);
+        $stmt->bind_param("ssssisi", $ticketId, $filename, $thumbnailFilename, $originalFilename, $fileSize, $mimeType, $uploadedBy);
        $result = $stmt->execute();

        if ($result) {
@@ -33,6 +33,23 @@ class BulkOperationsModel
        return $this->workflowModel;
    }

+    /**
+     * Re-fetch a ticket row inside the current transaction with a row lock
+     * (FOR UPDATE), so a concurrent transaction touching the same row blocks
+     * until this one commits or rolls back instead of both validating
+     * against the same stale snapshot. Must be called after
+     * begin_transaction() and before the row is written.
+     */
+    private function lockTicketForUpdate(string $ticketId): ?array
+    {
+        $stmt = $this->conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM tickets WHERE ticket_id = ? FOR UPDATE");
+        $stmt->bind_param('s', $ticketId);
+        $stmt->execute();
+        $row = $stmt->get_result()->fetch_assoc();
+        $stmt->close();
+        return $row ?: null;
+    }
+
    /**
     * The status a bulk operation is trying to move tickets into, or null for
     * operations that don't change status.
@@ -89,12 +106,18 @@ class BulkOperationsModel
    /**
     * Process a bulk operation
     *
-     * Uses database transaction to ensure atomicity - either all tickets
-     * are updated or none are (on failure, changes are rolled back).
+     * Runs the whole batch inside one database transaction, but by default
+     * ($atomic = false, which is what api/bulk_operation.php uses) that
+     * transaction is always committed: a per-ticket failure (e.g. a
+     * disallowed workflow transition) is recorded in $failed/$errors and
+     * skipped, while every other ticket in the batch still succeeds. This
+     * is a best-effort batch, not an all-or-nothing one — set $atomic to
+     * true to roll back the entire batch when any ticket fails.
     *
     * @param int $operationId Operation ID
     * @param bool $atomic If true, rollback all changes on any failure
-     * @return array Result with processed and failed counts
+     * @return array Result with processed/failed counts and an errors[] list of
+     *               per-ticket failure reasons (surfaced to the admin by the caller)
     */
    public function processBulkOperation($operationId, bool $atomic = false)
    {
@@ -183,13 +206,27 @@ class BulkOperationsModel
                $success = false;

                try {
+                    // Re-fetch and row-lock the ticket inside the transaction for any
+                    // operation that validates against or reads its current fields —
+                    // the pre-transaction $ticketsById snapshot (loaded before
+                    // begin_transaction()) can be stale by the time we get here if a
+                    // concurrent request (a single-ticket edit, or another bulk op)
+                    // changed the row in between. Validating a transition against a
+                    // stale status, or writing back stale title/description/etc.,
+                    // could silently bypass Workflow Designer rules or clobber a
+                    // concurrent edit. FOR UPDATE blocks a concurrent transaction
+                    // from reading/writing this row until ours commits or rolls back.
+                    $needsCurrentTicket = $targetStatus !== null || $operation['operation_type'] === 'bulk_priority';
+                    $currentTicket = $needsCurrentTicket
+                        ? $this->lockTicketForUpdate($ticketId)
+                        : ($ticketsById[$ticketId] ?? null);
+
                    // bulk_status / bulk_close enforce the same Workflow Designer
                    // rules as the single-ticket path: a transition the designer
                    // doesn't define is refused, and requires_comment is honoured
                    // (checked up front, above). requires_admin is satisfied because
                    // api/bulk_operation.php already gates the endpoint on admin.
                    if ($targetStatus !== null) {
-                        $currentTicket = $ticketsById[$ticketId] ?? null;
                        if ($currentTicket && $currentTicket['status'] === $targetStatus) {
                            // Already in the requested state — nothing to do, and
                            // reporting a no-op as a failure would just confuse.
@@ -211,8 +248,7 @@ class BulkOperationsModel

                    switch ($operation['operation_type']) {
                        case 'bulk_close':
-                            // Get current ticket from pre-loaded batch
-                            $currentTicket = $ticketsById[$ticketId] ?? null;
+                            // $currentTicket is the fresh, row-locked read from above.
                            if ($currentTicket) {
                                $updateResult = $ticketModel->updateTicket([
                                'ticket_id' => $ticketId,
@@ -264,7 +300,7 @@ class BulkOperationsModel

                        case 'bulk_priority':
                            if (isset($parameters['priority'])) {
-                                $currentTicket = $ticketsById[$ticketId] ?? null;
+                                // $currentTicket is the fresh, row-locked read from above.
                                if ($currentTicket) {
                                    $updateResult = $ticketModel->updateTicket([
                                    'ticket_id' => $ticketId,
@@ -292,7 +328,7 @@ class BulkOperationsModel

                        case 'bulk_status':
                            if (isset($parameters['status'])) {
-                                $currentTicket = $ticketsById[$ticketId] ?? null;
+                                // $currentTicket is the fresh, row-locked read from above.
                                if ($currentTicket) {
                                    $updateResult = $ticketModel->updateTicket([
                                    'ticket_id' => $ticketId,
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ class CustomFieldModel
 {
    private $conn;

+    // Must match custom_field_definitions.field_type's enum() in the schema.
+    private const ALLOWED_FIELD_TYPES = ['text', 'textarea', 'select', 'checkbox', 'date', 'number'];
+
    public function __construct($conn)
    {
        $this->conn = $conn;
@@ -87,6 +90,10 @@ class CustomFieldModel
     */
    public function createDefinition($data)
    {
+        if (!in_array($data['field_type'] ?? '', self::ALLOWED_FIELD_TYPES, true)) {
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Invalid field_type'];
+        }
+
        $options = null;
        if (isset($data['field_options']) && !empty($data['field_options'])) {
            $options = json_encode($data['field_options']);
@@ -129,6 +136,10 @@ class CustomFieldModel
     */
    public function updateDefinition($fieldId, $data)
    {
+        if (!in_array($data['field_type'] ?? '', self::ALLOWED_FIELD_TYPES, true)) {
+            return ['success' => false, 'error' => 'Invalid field_type'];
+        }
+
        $options = null;
        if (isset($data['field_options']) && !empty($data['field_options'])) {
            $options = json_encode($data['field_options']);
@@ -773,9 +773,68 @@ class TicketModel
        $stmt->bind_param("ssis", $visibility, $visibilityGroups, $updatedBy, $ticketId);
        $result = $stmt->execute();
        $stmt->close();
+
+        if ($result) {
+            $this->pruneWatchersForVisibility($ticketId, $visibility, $visibilityGroups);
+        }
+
        return $result;
    }

+    /**
+     * Remove any watchers who no longer qualify for a ticket's access rules
+     * after its visibility was tightened. Without this, a user watching a
+     * ticket that's later made confidential/internal (and who isn't
+     * creator/assignee/admin/in the new visibility_groups) keeps receiving
+     * Matrix notifications about a ticket canUserAccessTicket() would now
+     * reject them from opening directly.
+     */
+    private function pruneWatchersForVisibility(string $ticketId, string $visibility, ?string $visibilityGroups): void
+    {
+        $ticket = $this->getTicketById($ticketId);
+        if (!$ticket) {
+            return;
+        }
+        // getTicketById() reflects the just-committed UPDATE, but set these
+        // explicitly so pruning is correct even if a caller reorders things.
+        $ticket['visibility'] = $visibility;
+        $ticket['visibility_groups'] = $visibilityGroups;
+
+        $sql = "SELECT tw.user_id, u.is_admin, u.`groups`
+                FROM ticket_watchers tw
+                JOIN users u ON tw.user_id = u.user_id
+                WHERE tw.ticket_id = ?";
+        $stmt = $this->conn->prepare($sql);
+        $stmt->bind_param('s', $ticketId);
+        $stmt->execute();
+        $watchers = $stmt->get_result()->fetch_all(MYSQLI_ASSOC);
+        $stmt->close();
+
+        $toRemove = [];
+        foreach ($watchers as $watcher) {
+            $watcherUser = [
+                'user_id' => $watcher['user_id'],
+                'is_admin' => $watcher['is_admin'],
+                'groups' => $watcher['groups'],
+            ];
+            if (!$this->canUserAccessTicket($ticket, $watcherUser)) {
+                $toRemove[] = $watcher['user_id'];
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (empty($toRemove)) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        $placeholders = implode(',', array_fill(0, count($toRemove), '?'));
+        $delSql = "DELETE FROM ticket_watchers WHERE ticket_id = ? AND user_id IN ($placeholders)";
+        $delStmt = $this->conn->prepare($delSql);
+        $types = 's' . str_repeat('i', count($toRemove));
+        $delStmt->bind_param($types, $ticketId, ...$toRemove);
+        $delStmt->execute();
+        $delStmt->close();
+    }
+
    /**
     * Delete a ticket and all its associated records.
     * Admin-only operation. Removes comments, attachments, watchers, dependencies.
@@ -31,9 +31,15 @@ class WorkflowModel
            return $cached;
        }

+        // ORDER BY makes which row wins deterministic (most recently created,
+        // by transition_id) in the pathological case where two active rows
+        // exist for the same (from_status, to_status) pair — manage_workflows.php
+        // now rejects creating that duplicate going forward, but this is a
+        // defense-in-depth backstop against any duplicate already in the DB.
        $sql = "SELECT from_status, to_status, requires_comment, requires_admin
                FROM status_transitions
-                WHERE is_active = TRUE";
+                WHERE is_active = TRUE
+                ORDER BY transition_id ASC";
        $result = $this->conn->query($sql);

        if (!$result) {
@@ -59,10 +59,11 @@ try {
    exit(1);
 }

-// Prepared lookup: does any attachment row reference this stored filename?
-// Stored filenames are globally unique (uniqid), so filename alone is sufficient
-// and safe — a match in any ticket means the file is a real attachment.
-$lookup = $conn->prepare('SELECT 1 FROM ticket_attachments WHERE filename = ? LIMIT 1');
+// Prepared lookup: does any attachment row reference this stored filename,
+// either as the original file or as its generated preview thumbnail? Both
+// are globally unique (uniqid-derived), so filename alone is sufficient and
+// safe — a match in any ticket means the file is a real, referenced file.
+$lookup = $conn->prepare('SELECT 1 FROM ticket_attachments WHERE filename = ? OR thumbnail_filename = ? LIMIT 1');
 if ($lookup === false) {
    logMessage('FATAL ERROR: could not prepare lookup statement: ' . $conn->error);
    exit(1);
@@ -101,8 +102,9 @@ foreach (new DirectoryIterator($uploadRoot) as $entry) {
            continue;
        }

-        // Keep the file if any attachment row references it.
-        $lookup->bind_param('s', $filename);
+        // Keep the file if any attachment row references it (as the
+        // original or as its thumbnail).
+        $lookup->bind_param('ss', $filename, $filename);
        $lookup->execute();
        $hasRow = $lookup->get_result()->num_rows > 0;

@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ include __DIR__ . '/layout_header.php';

        <div class="lt-form-group">
          <label class="lt-label" for="category">Category</label>
-          <select id="category" name="category" class="lt-select">
+          <select id="category" name="category" class="lt-select" data-action="toggle-custom-fields">
            <option value="Hardware">Hardware</option>
            <option value="Software">Software</option>
            <option value="Network">Network</option>
@@ -211,6 +211,55 @@ include __DIR__ . '/layout_header.php';
    </div>
  </div>

+  <?php if (!empty($allCustomFieldDefs)) : ?>
+  <!-- ── SECTION 5b: Custom Fields ─────────────────────────── -->
+  <div class="lt-frame lt-mb-md">
+    <span class="lt-frame-bl">╚</span><span class="lt-frame-br">╝</span>
+    <div class="lt-section-header">Additional Fields</div>
+    <div class="lt-section-body">
+        <?php foreach ($allCustomFieldDefs as $cfDef) : ?>
+        <div class="lt-form-group custom-field-group"
+             data-custom-field-category="<?= htmlspecialchars($cfDef['category'] ?? '', ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>">
+            <?php
+            $cfName = 'custom_fields[' . (int)$cfDef['field_id'] . ']';
+            $cfId   = 'custom_field_' . (int)$cfDef['field_id'];
+            ?>
+          <label class="lt-label" for="<?= $cfId ?>">
+            <?= htmlspecialchars($cfDef['field_label'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?><?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? ' *' : '' ?>
+          </label>
+            <?php if ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'textarea') : ?>
+            <textarea id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input lt-textarea" rows="3"
+                      <?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? 'data-custom-field-required="1"' : '' ?>></textarea>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'select') : ?>
+            <select id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-select"
+                    <?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? 'data-custom-field-required="1"' : '' ?>>
+              <option value="">— Select —</option>
+                <?php foreach (($cfDef['field_options']['options'] ?? []) as $opt) : ?>
+                <option value="<?= htmlspecialchars($opt, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>"><?= htmlspecialchars($opt, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?></option>
+                <?php endforeach ?>
+            </select>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'checkbox') : ?>
+            <label class="lt-filter-option">
+              <input type="checkbox" class="lt-checkbox" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" value="1">
+                <?= htmlspecialchars($cfDef['field_label'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>
+            </label>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'date') : ?>
+            <input type="date" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input"
+                   <?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? 'data-custom-field-required="1"' : '' ?>>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'number') : ?>
+            <input type="number" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input"
+                   <?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? 'data-custom-field-required="1"' : '' ?>>
+            <?php else : ?>
+            <input type="text" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input"
+                   <?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? 'data-custom-field-required="1"' : '' ?>>
+            <?php endif ?>
+        </div>
+        <?php endforeach ?>
+      <p class="lt-form-hint">Fields shown depend on the selected Category.</p>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+  <?php endif ?>
+
  <!-- ── SECTION 6: Description ───────────────────────────── -->
  <div class="lt-frame lt-mb-md">
    <span class="lt-frame-bl">╚</span><span class="lt-frame-br">╝</span>
@@ -316,6 +365,15 @@ include __DIR__ . '/layout_header.php';
            .catch(function () { /* silent — duplicate check is non-critical */ });
    }

+    // ── Custom fields: show only the selected category's fields ──
+    function toggleCustomFields() {
+        var category = document.getElementById('category').value;
+        document.querySelectorAll('.custom-field-group').forEach(function (group) {
+            var fieldCategory = group.getAttribute('data-custom-field-category');
+            group.classList.toggle('is-hidden', fieldCategory !== '' && fieldCategory !== category);
+        });
+    }
+
    // ── Visibility groups toggle ──────────────────────────────
    var visibilityHints = {
        'public':       'Everyone who is logged in can view this ticket.',
@@ -387,9 +445,11 @@ include __DIR__ . '/layout_header.php';
        switch (target.getAttribute('data-action')) {
            case 'load-template':             loadTemplate();             break;
            case 'toggle-visibility-groups':  toggleVisibilityGroups();   break;
+            case 'toggle-custom-fields':      toggleCustomFields();       break;
        }
    });

+    toggleCustomFields();
    if (window.lt) lt.keys.initDefaults();
 }());
 </script>
@@ -397,6 +397,12 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
          role="tab" data-tab="dependencies-panel" aria-selected="false" aria-controls="dependencies-panel">
    Dependencies
  </button>
+  <?php if (!empty($customFieldDefs)) : ?>
+  <button type="button" class="lt-tab" id="custom-fields-tab-btn"
+          role="tab" data-tab="custom-fields-panel" aria-selected="false" aria-controls="custom-fields-panel">
+    Custom Fields
+  </button>
+  <?php endif ?>
  <button type="button" class="lt-tab" id="activity-tab-btn"
          role="tab" data-tab="activity-panel" aria-selected="false" aria-controls="activity-panel">
    Activity
@@ -682,6 +688,60 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
  </div>
 </div>

+<?php if (!empty($customFieldDefs)) : ?>
+<!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+     TAB PANEL: CUSTOM FIELDS
+     ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
+<div id="custom-fields-panel" class="lt-tab-panel" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="custom-fields-tab-btn">
+  <div class="lt-frame">
+    <span class="lt-frame-bl">╚</span><span class="lt-frame-br">╝</span>
+    <div class="lt-section-header">Custom Fields</div>
+    <div class="lt-section-body">
+      <div id="customFieldsMsg" class="lt-msg is-hidden lt-mb-md" role="alert" aria-live="polite"></div>
+      <?php foreach ($customFieldDefs as $cfDef) :
+            $cfValue = $customFieldValues[$cfDef['field_name']]['field_value'] ?? '';
+            $cfName  = 'custom_fields[' . (int)$cfDef['field_id'] . ']';
+            $cfId    = 'ticket_custom_field_' . (int)$cfDef['field_id'];
+            ?>
+        <div class="lt-form-group">
+          <label class="lt-label" for="<?= $cfId ?>">
+            <?= htmlspecialchars($cfDef['field_label'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?><?= $cfDef['is_required'] ? ' *' : '' ?>
+          </label>
+            <?php if ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'textarea') : ?>
+            <textarea id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input lt-textarea" rows="3"
+                      ><?= htmlspecialchars($cfValue, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?></textarea>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'select') : ?>
+            <select id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-select">
+              <option value="">— Select —</option>
+                <?php foreach (($cfDef['field_options']['options'] ?? []) as $opt) : ?>
+                <option value="<?= htmlspecialchars($opt, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>"
+                        <?= $opt === $cfValue ? 'selected' : '' ?>><?= htmlspecialchars($opt, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?></option>
+                <?php endforeach ?>
+            </select>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'checkbox') : ?>
+            <label class="lt-filter-option">
+              <input type="checkbox" class="lt-checkbox" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" value="1"
+                     <?= $cfValue === '1' ? 'checked' : '' ?>>
+                <?= htmlspecialchars($cfDef['field_label'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>
+            </label>
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'date') : ?>
+            <input type="date" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input"
+                   value="<?= htmlspecialchars($cfValue, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>">
+            <?php elseif ($cfDef['field_type'] === 'number') : ?>
+            <input type="number" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input"
+                   value="<?= htmlspecialchars($cfValue, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>">
+            <?php else : ?>
+            <input type="text" id="<?= $cfId ?>" name="<?= $cfName ?>" class="lt-input"
+                   value="<?= htmlspecialchars($cfValue, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') ?>">
+            <?php endif ?>
+        </div>
+      <?php endforeach ?>
+      <button type="button" id="saveCustomFieldsBtn" class="lt-btn lt-btn-primary lt-btn-sm">SAVE CUSTOM FIELDS</button>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<?php endif ?>
+
 <!-- ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
     TAB PANEL: ACTIVITY
     ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ -->
@@ -1013,6 +1073,46 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
        });
    }

+    // Save custom fields button
+    var saveCustomFieldsBtn = document.getElementById('saveCustomFieldsBtn');
+    if (saveCustomFieldsBtn) {
+        saveCustomFieldsBtn.addEventListener('click', function () {
+            var panel = document.getElementById('custom-fields-panel');
+            var msg = document.getElementById('customFieldsMsg');
+            var values = {};
+            panel.querySelectorAll('[name^="custom_fields["]').forEach(function (el) {
+                var m = el.name.match(/custom_fields\[(\d+)\]/);
+                if (!m) return;
+                var fieldId = m[1];
+                if (el.type === 'checkbox') {
+                    values[fieldId] = el.checked ? '1' : '0';
+                } else {
+                    values[fieldId] = el.value;
+                }
+            });
+
+            saveCustomFieldsBtn.disabled = true;
+            msg.classList.add('is-hidden');
+
+            lt.api.post('/api/ticket_custom_fields.php', {
+                ticket_id: window.ticketData.id,
+                values: values
+            }).then(function (data) {
+                saveCustomFieldsBtn.disabled = false;
+                if (data.success) {
+                    lt.toast.success('Custom fields saved', 3000);
+                } else {
+                    msg.textContent = data.error || 'Failed to save custom fields';
+                    msg.className = 'lt-msg lt-msg-danger lt-mb-md';
+                }
+            }).catch(function (error) {
+                saveCustomFieldsBtn.disabled = false;
+                msg.textContent = 'Failed to save custom fields: ' + error.message;
+                msg.className = 'lt-msg lt-msg-danger lt-mb-md';
+            });
+        });
+    }
+
    // Settings save/cancel
    // Load user preference toggles on settings modal open
    (function() {
@@ -235,8 +235,7 @@
      }

      function loadNotifications() {
-        return fetch('/api/notifications.php', { credentials: 'same-origin' })
-          .then(function(r) { return r.json(); })
+        return lt.api.get('/api/notifications.php')
          .then(function(data) { renderNotifications(data); return true; })
          .catch(function() {
            list.innerHTML = '<div style="padding:0.75rem;font-size:0.75rem;color:var(--text-muted);text-align:center">Could not load</div>';
@@ -251,11 +250,7 @@

      if (clearBtn) {
        clearBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
-          fetch('/api/notifications.php', {
-            method: 'POST', credentials: 'same-origin',
-            headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'X-CSRF-Token': window.CSRF_TOKEN || '' },
-            body: JSON.stringify({ action: 'mark_read' })
-          }).then(loadNotifications);
+          lt.api.post('/api/notifications.php', { action: 'mark_read' }).then(loadNotifications);
        });
      }