feat(kanban): add per-view pinnedColumns option (#1784)

docs/views/kanban-view.md

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ Access these options through the Bases view settings panel:
 - **Hide Empty Columns**: When enabled, columns containing no tasks are hidden from the view
 - **Show items in multiple columns**: When enabled (default), tasks with multiple values in list properties (contexts, tags, projects) appear in each individual column. For example, a task with `contexts: [work, call]` appears in both the "work" and "call" columns. When disabled, tasks appear in a single combined column (e.g., "work, call")
 - **Column Order**: Managed automatically when dragging column headers. Stores custom column ordering
+- **Pinned Columns**: Comma-separated values that always render as columns, even when empty. Exempt from "Hide Empty Columns" so they remain available as drop targets
 A common setup is to keep one board grouped by status and another grouped by project or context, each in a separate `.base` file.
 
 ## Interface Layout
@@ -120,14 +121,15 @@ views:
       swimLane: task.priority
       columnWidth: 300
       hideEmptyColumns: true
+      pinnedColumns: to-do, in-progress, done
 ---
 ```
 
 This configuration creates a Kanban board with:
 - Columns based on task status
 - Swimlanes based on task priority
 - 300px column width
-- Empty columns hidden
+- Empty columns hidden, except for the pinned `to-do`, `in-progress`, and `done` columns which always render
 
 ## Filtering and Sorting
 

src/bases/KanbanView.ts

@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 	private explodeListColumns = true; // Show items with list properties in multiple columns
 	private consolidateStatusIcon = false; // Show status icon in header only when grouped by status
 	private columnOrders: Record<string, string[]> = {};
+	private pinnedColumns: string[] = [];
 	private configLoaded = false; // Track if we've successfully loaded config
 	/**
 	 * Threshold for enabling virtual scrolling in kanban columns/swimlane cells.
@@ -197,6 +198,25 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 			const consolidateValue = this.config.get('consolidateStatusIcon');
 			this.consolidateStatusIcon = consolidateValue === true; // Default to false if not set
 
+			// Read pinned columns. Comma-separated string (settings panel) or
+			// YAML array (authored in `.base`). Normalize either shape.
+			// Parsed before the columnOrder JSON.parse below so a malformed
+			// columnOrder cannot leave stale pinnedColumns state.
+			const rawPinned = this.config.get("pinnedColumns");
+			const pinnedSource: unknown[] = Array.isArray(rawPinned)
+				? rawPinned
+				: typeof rawPinned === "string"
+					? rawPinned.split(",")
+					: [];
+			const seenPinned = new Set<string>();
+			this.pinnedColumns = [];
+			for (const value of pinnedSource) {
+				const str = String(value ?? "").trim();
+				if (str.length === 0 || seenPinned.has(str)) continue;
+				seenPinned.add(str);
+				this.pinnedColumns.push(str);
+			}
+
 			// Read column orders
 			const columnOrderStr = (this.config.get("columnOrder") as string) || "{}";
 			this.columnOrders = JSON.parse(columnOrderStr);
@@ -583,6 +603,9 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 		// Augment with empty priority columns if grouping by priority
 		this.augmentWithEmptyPriorityColumns(groups, groupByPropertyId);
 
+		// Augment with pinned columns regardless of groupBy property
+		this.augmentWithPinnedColumns(groups);
+
 		return groups;
 	}
 
@@ -726,6 +749,18 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Augment groups with empty buckets for pinned column keys.
+	 * Runs regardless of groupBy.
+	 */
+	private augmentWithPinnedColumns(groups: Map<string, TaskInfo[]>): void {
+		for (const key of this.pinnedColumns) {
+			if (!groups.has(key)) {
+				groups.set(key, []);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	private async renderFlat(
 		groups: Map<string, TaskInfo[]>,
 		allGroups: Map<string, TaskInfo[]>
@@ -760,8 +795,13 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 		for (const groupKey of orderedKeys) {
 			const tasks = groups.get(groupKey) || [];
 
-			// Filter empty columns if option enabled
-			if (this.hideEmptyColumns && tasks.length === 0) {
+			// Filter empty columns if option enabled. Pinned columns are exempt
+			// so they remain visible as drop targets.
+			if (
+				this.hideEmptyColumns &&
+				tasks.length === 0 &&
+				!this.pinnedColumns.includes(groupKey)
+			) {
 				continue;
 			}
 
@@ -3031,8 +3071,16 @@ export class KanbanView extends BasesViewBase {
 		const savedOrder = this.columnOrders[groupBy];
 
 		if (!savedOrder || savedOrder.length === 0) {
-			// No saved order - use natural order (alphabetical)
-			return actualKeys.sort();
+			// No saved order: pinned columns first (in pinnedColumns array order),
+			// remaining keys alphabetical.
+			if (this.pinnedColumns.length === 0) {
+				return actualKeys.sort();
+			}
+			const pinnedPresent = this.pinnedColumns.filter((k) => actualKeys.includes(k));
+			const remaining = actualKeys
+				.filter((k) => !this.pinnedColumns.includes(k))
+				.sort();
+			return [...pinnedPresent, ...remaining];
 		}
 
 		const ordered: string[] = [];

src/bases/registration.ts

@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ export async function registerBasesTaskList(plugin: TaskNotesPlugin): Promise<vo
 						placeholder: "Auto-managed when dragging columns",
 						default: "{}",
 					},
+					{
+						type: "text",
+						key: "pinnedColumns",
+						displayName: "Pinned Columns",
+						placeholder: "Comma-separated column values",
+						default: "",
+					},
 					{
 						type: "dropdown",
 						key: "expandedRelationshipFilterMode",