diff --git a/assets/controllers/article_comments_controller.js b/assets/controllers/article_comments_controller.js
index c9000c0..cb1dc5a 100644
--- a/assets/controllers/article_comments_controller.js
+++ b/assets/controllers/article_comments_controller.js
@@ -18,14 +18,9 @@ export default class extends Controller {
             return;
         }
         if (this.preloadedValue) {
-            const run = () => {
-                void this.load();
-            };
-            if (typeof requestIdleCallback !== 'undefined') {
-                requestIdleCallback(run, { timeout: 8_000 });
-            } else {
-                setTimeout(run, 800);
-            }
+            // Article SSR already included comments. Do not re-fetch: a slow or dropped
+            // request would replace working HTML with a generic error. Re-fetch on auth
+            // only (reply UI may need fresh permission state).
             return;
         }
         void this.load();
@@ -44,22 +39,41 @@ export default class extends Controller {
 
     async load() {
         const t0 = performance.now();
-        try {
-            const res = await fetch(this.urlValue, {
-                headers: { Accept: 'text/html', 'X-Requested-With': 'XMLHttpRequest' },
-            });
-            if (!res.ok) {
-                throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
+        const perAttemptMs = 45_000;
+        const maxAttempts = 3;
+        for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt += 1) {
+            const controller = new AbortController();
+            const timer = window.setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), perAttemptMs);
+            try {
+                const res = await fetch(this.urlValue, {
+                    signal: controller.signal,
+                    headers: { Accept: 'text/html', 'X-Requested-With': 'XMLHttpRequest' },
+                });
+                if (!res.ok) {
+                    throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
+                }
+                const html = await res.text();
+                this.containerTarget.innerHTML = html;
+                const ms = Math.round(performance.now() - t0);
+                if (attempt > 1) {
+                    console.info(`[article-comments] fragment OK in ${ms}ms (after ${attempt} attempts)`, this.urlValue);
+                } else {
+                    console.info(`[article-comments] fragment OK in ${ms}ms`, this.urlValue);
+                }
+                window.clearTimeout(timer);
+                return;
+            } catch (err) {
+                window.clearTimeout(timer);
+                if (attempt < maxAttempts) {
+                    const delay = 1_200 * 2 ** (attempt - 1);
+                    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, delay));
+                    continue;
+                }
+                const ms = Math.round(performance.now() - t0);
+                console.warn(`[article-comments] fragment failed after ${ms}ms`, this.urlValue, err);
+                this.containerTarget.innerHTML =
+                    '<p class="text-subtle">Comments could not be loaded.</p>';
             }
-            const html = await res.text();
-            this.containerTarget.innerHTML = html;
-            const ms = Math.round(performance.now() - t0);
-            console.info(`[article-comments] fragment OK in ${ms}ms`, this.urlValue);
-        } catch (err) {
-            const ms = Math.round(performance.now() - t0);
-            console.warn(`[article-comments] fragment failed after ${ms}ms`, this.urlValue, err);
-            this.containerTarget.innerHTML =
-                '<p class="text-subtle">Comments could not be loaded.</p>';
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Command/PrewarmCommand.php b/src/Command/PrewarmCommand.php
index 30b10a1..f868531 100644
--- a/src/Command/PrewarmCommand.php
+++ b/src/Command/PrewarmCommand.php
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@ use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
 use swentel\nostr\Key\Key;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Attribute\AsCommand;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\Helper;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Helper\ProgressBar;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputOption;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Output\OutputInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Style\SymfonyStyle;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Terminal;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ParameterBag\ParameterBagInterface;
 
 /**
@@ -363,6 +365,27 @@ final class PrewarmCommand extends Command
         $bar->setFormat(' %current%/%max% [%bar%] %percent:3s%%'."\n".'  <comment>%message%</comment> <info>%elapsed:6s%</info> ');
         $bar->setMessage($message);
 
+        // Long %message% lines (e.g. category slugs) wider than the terminal make Symfony’s ProgressBar
+        // shrink/expand the bar on every redraw; truncate so each line fits and the bar stays stable
+        // and can use the full width to the right.
+        $tw = (new Terminal())->getWidth();
+        if ($tw < 40) {
+            $tw = 80;
+        }
+        $messageMaxWidth = max(12, $tw - 18);
+        $bar->setPlaceholderFormatter('message', function (ProgressBar $b) use ($messageMaxWidth): string {
+            $m = (string) ($b->getMessage() ?? '');
+            if ($m === '') {
+                return '';
+            }
+            if (Helper::width($m) > $messageMaxWidth) {
+                return Helper::substr($m, 0, max(1, $messageMaxWidth - 1)).'…';
+            }
+
+            return $m;
+        });
+        $bar->setBarWidth(max(20, $tw - 32));
+
         return $bar;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Entity/FeaturedAuthor.php b/src/Entity/FeaturedAuthor.php
index b183d8d..7b4a1d4 100644
--- a/src/Entity/FeaturedAuthor.php
+++ b/src/Entity/FeaturedAuthor.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
 class FeaturedAuthor
 {
     #[ORM\Id]
-    #[ORM\GeneratedValue]
+    #[ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy: 'IDENTITY')]
     #[ORM\Column]
     private ?int $id = null;
 
diff --git a/src/Service/NostrClient.php b/src/Service/NostrClient.php
index 4467d52..229b366 100644
--- a/src/Service/NostrClient.php
+++ b/src/Service/NostrClient.php
@@ -33,6 +33,18 @@ class NostrClient
     /** Extra wall time for {@see bin/nostr_relay_request_worker.php} process vs. WebSocket timeout. */
     private const DISCUSSION_WORKER_GRACE_SEC = 5.0;
 
+    /**
+     * Hard cap on unique relay URLs for article discussion. More relays do not help much (indexers duplicate)
+     * but blow up wall time when we fall back to sequential in-process {@see Request::send()}.
+     */
+    private const MAX_DISCUSSION_RELAY_URLS = 10;
+
+    /**
+     * {@see sendArticleDiscussionToRelaysSequential} visits relays one after another (~RELAY_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_SEC
+     * each). Keep this low so HTTP /fragment/comments and browsers do not hit 60–90s proxy cuts.
+     */
+    private const MAX_SEQUENTIAL_RELAY_URLS = 3;
+
     /** When a logged-in user lists this relay, also use {@see self::AGGR_NOSTR_LAND} for comment + profile reads. */
     private const NOSTR_LAND = 'wss://nostr.land';
 
@@ -972,6 +984,12 @@ class NostrClient
             array_merge($baseForDiscussion, $authorRelays)
         );
         $plannedRelayUrls = array_values(array_unique($mergedForDiscussion, \SORT_REGULAR));
+        if (\count($plannedRelayUrls) > self::MAX_DISCUSSION_RELAY_URLS) {
+            $plannedRelayUrls = \array_slice($plannedRelayUrls, 0, self::MAX_DISCUSSION_RELAY_URLS);
+            $this->logger->notice('nostr.article_discussion.relay_list_capped', [
+                'max' => self::MAX_DISCUSSION_RELAY_URLS,
+            ]);
+        }
 
         $filters = $this->createArticleDiscussionFilters($coordinate, $rootEventHexId);
         $subscription = new Subscription();
@@ -990,7 +1008,8 @@ class NostrClient
             $tSend = microtime(true);
             $workerPath = $this->projectDir.'/bin/nostr_relay_request_worker.php';
             if (!\is_file($workerPath) || \count($plannedRelayUrls) <= 1) {
-                $response = $this->sendArticleDiscussionToRelaysSequential($plannedRelayUrls, $requestMessage);
+                $forSeq = $this->capRelayUrlsForSequentialPath($plannedRelayUrls);
+                $response = $this->sendArticleDiscussionToRelaysSequential($forSeq, $requestMessage);
             } else {
                 try {
                     $response = $this->sendArticleDiscussionToRelaysParallel($plannedRelayUrls, $requestMessage);
@@ -999,7 +1018,11 @@ class NostrClient
                         'message' => $e->getMessage(),
                         'exception_class' => \get_class($e),
                     ]);
-                    $response = $this->sendArticleDiscussionToRelaysSequential($plannedRelayUrls, $requestMessage);
+                    $forSeq = $this->capRelayUrlsForSequentialPath($plannedRelayUrls);
+                    $this->logger->warning('nostr.article_discussion.sequential_fallback', [
+                        'relays' => $forSeq,
+                    ]);
+                    $response = $this->sendArticleDiscussionToRelaysSequential($forSeq, $requestMessage);
                 }
             }
             $sendMs = (int) round((microtime(true) - $tSend) * 1000);
@@ -1084,6 +1107,24 @@ class NostrClient
         return ['thread' => $thread, 'quotes' => $quotes];
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @param list<string> $relayUrls
+     *
+     * @return list<string>
+     */
+    private function capRelayUrlsForSequentialPath(array $relayUrls): array
+    {
+        if (\count($relayUrls) <= self::MAX_SEQUENTIAL_RELAY_URLS) {
+            return $relayUrls;
+        }
+        $this->logger->notice('nostr.article_discussion.sequential_relay_cap', [
+            'used' => self::MAX_SEQUENTIAL_RELAY_URLS,
+            'had' => \count($relayUrls),
+        ]);
+
+        return \array_values(\array_slice($relayUrls, 0, self::MAX_SEQUENTIAL_RELAY_URLS));
+    }
+
     /**
      * One {@see Request} over all relays (library visits each wss:// in series).
      *