E3SM-Project / E3SM-Project/simboard
[Enhancement]: Add lightweight case-level commenting for collaboration
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 1
- Forks
- 2
- Avg merge
- 22m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 12
Description
### Is your feature request related to a problem?
Even with case-level documentation, SimBoard still lacks a lightweight way for users to discuss case-specific context, ask questions, or leave follow-up remarks tied to a case.
Today, case pages are effectively read-only aggregation views with no built-in discussion surface. That makes collaboration harder when users need to:
- clarify case-level notes
- record review comments or follow-up questions
- capture small updates that should not overwrite canonical notes
- preserve discussion history around case interpretation or maintenance
Without a dedicated commenting surface, those conversations move to external systems or are lost entirely.
### Describe the solution you'd like
Add lightweight case-level commenting on the Case Details page.
Initial scope:
- allow authenticated, authorized users to add comments tied to a case
- show comments in chronological order on the Case Details page
- preserve author and timestamp metadata for each comment
- keep the first version simple and case-level only
- treat comments as discussion separate from canonical case notes
Recommended constraints:
- do not turn this into a full wiki or collaborative editor
- do not support attachments, rich embeds, or inline annotations in the first version
- do not expand to simulation-level or compare-page comments in this issue
- keep moderation, edit/delete policy, and notification behavior minimal unless product requires more
### Describe alternatives you've considered
Rely on case notes only.
- Good for canonical documentation, but poor fit for discussion, questions, and review history.
Bundle comments into the case notes issue.
- Increases scope substantially because commenting needs its own data model, API behavior, permissions, and UI states.
Use an external discussion system only.
- Avoids implementation work, but fragments workflow and loses SimBoard-local context.
### Additional context
This should follow case-level notes as a separate enhancement, not be combined with #226.
Comments are a different product capability from markdown notes:
- notes are canonical documentation owned by editors
- comments are conversational updates and discussion history
Keeping this separate will make implementation, testing, and product review much clearer.
Out of scope:
- threaded replies beyond a simple first version unless explicitly required
- reactions, mentions, notifications, or subscriptions
- attachments or file uploads
- simulation-level comments
- compare-page comments
Contributor guide
Research direction
No files, tests, or entry points are named in the issue. Start by locating the Case Details page and the existing case-notes and authentication paths, then trace how case data is persisted and exposed. Done means authorized users can add case-level comments, comments display chronologically with author and timestamp metadata, and discussion remains separate from canonical notes.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- full-stack
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100