diff --git a/src/Controller/ArticleController.php b/src/Controller/ArticleController.php
index d1060da..a5dde3e 100644
--- a/src/Controller/ArticleController.php
+++ b/src/Controller/ArticleController.php
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ class ArticleController  extends AbstractController
     ): array {
         $coordparts = explode(':', $coordinate, 3);
         $articleKind = isset($coordparts[0]) && ctype_digit($coordparts[0]) ? (int) $coordparts[0] : 30023;
-        $articleAuthorPubkey = $coordparts[1] ?? '';
+        $articleAuthorPubkey = strtolower(trim((string) ($coordparts[1] ?? '')));
 
         $articleReplyTags = null;
         if ($articleAuthorPubkey !== '' && 64 === \strlen($articleAuthorPubkey) && ctype_xdigit($articleAuthorPubkey)) {
@@ -162,6 +162,9 @@ class ArticleController  extends AbstractController
                 'authorPubkey' => $articleAuthorPubkey,
                 'expectedTags' => $articleReplyTags,
             ];
+        }
+
+        if ($userMayReply) {
             /** @var array<int, object> $list */
             $list = $data['list'] ?? [];
             foreach ($list as $row) {
@@ -172,8 +175,8 @@ class ArticleController  extends AbstractController
                 if ($k !== KindsEnum::COMMENTS->value) {
                     continue;
                 }
-                $cid = (string) ($row->id ?? '');
-                $cpk = (string) ($row->pubkey ?? '');
+                $cid = strtolower(trim((string) ($row->id ?? '')));
+                $cpk = strtolower(trim((string) ($row->pubkey ?? '')));
                 if ($cid === '' || 64 !== \strlen($cid) || !ctype_xdigit($cid)) {
                     continue;
                 }
diff --git a/templates/components/Organisms/Comments.html.twig b/templates/components/Organisms/Comments.html.twig
index 98aa00d..00f0341 100644
--- a/templates/components/Organisms/Comments.html.twig
+++ b/templates/components/Organisms/Comments.html.twig
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 {% set ctx = comment_reply_context|default(null) %}
-{% if ctx and ctx.can_publish|default(false) and ctx.rows|default([])|length > 0 %}
+{# `rows` can be non-empty for nested replies when the article-level NIP-22 row is missing; do not require length > 0. #}
+{% if ctx and ctx.can_publish|default(false) %}
     {% for row in ctx.rows %}
         {% if row.mode|default('') == 'article' %}
             <div
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@
 
 <div class="comments">
     {% for item in list %}
-        {% set cid = item.id|default('') %}
+        {% set cid = item.id|default('')|lower %}
         {% set cpk = item.pubkey|default('') %}
         {% set cts = item.created_at|default(null) %}
         {% set cdepth = item.unfold_depth|default(0) %}