diff --git a/app/projects/page.tsx b/app/projects/page.tsx
index adb2769a..59224387 100644
--- a/app/projects/page.tsx
+++ b/app/projects/page.tsx
@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ import Link from "next/link";
 import Image from "next/image";
 
 type ProjectRow = {
-  id: string | number;
+  id?: string | number;
   submission_id?: string | number;
   title?: string;
   uploader?: string;
   category?: string;
-  tags?: string[];
-  p_image?: { filename_disk?: string; title?: string };
+  tags?: string[] | string | null;
+  p_image?: { filename_disk?: string; title?: string } | null;
 };
 
 export default function ProjectsPage() {
@@ -33,23 +33,26 @@ export default function ProjectsPage() {
     "tools",
   ]);
 
+  // simple debounce
   useEffect(() => {
     const timer = setTimeout(() => setDebouncedQuery(query), 300);
     return () => clearTimeout(timer);
   }, [query]);
 
+  // fetch EXACTLY like the working pre-patch version
   useEffect(() => {
     const url = new URL(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_BASE_URL}/items/projects`);
     url.searchParams.set(
       "fields",
-      "submission_id,id,title,uploader,category,tags,p_image.filename_disk,p_image.title"
+      "submission_id,title,uploader,category,tags,p_image.filename_disk,p_image.title"
     );
     url.searchParams.set("limit", "-1");
 
     fetch(url.toString(), { cache: "no-store" })
     .then((res) => res.json())
     .then((data) => {
-      setProjects((data?.data as ProjectRow[]) || []);
+      const list = Array.isArray(data?.data) ? (data.data as ProjectRow[]) : [];
+      setProjects(list);
       setLoading(false);
     })
     .catch(() => setLoading(false));
@@ -61,29 +64,44 @@ export default function ProjectsPage() {
     return text?.replace(regex, "<mark>$1</mark>");
   };
 
-  const normalize = (str: unknown) => String(str ?? "").toLowerCase().replace(/[_\s]/g, "");
+  const normalize = (str: unknown) =>
+  String(str ?? "").toLowerCase().replace(/[_\s]/g, "");
 
   const filtered = useMemo(() => {
     const q = normalize(debouncedQuery);
     return projects.filter((entry) => {
+      const tags =
+      Array.isArray(entry.tags)
+      ? entry.tags
+      : typeof entry.tags === "string"
+      ? entry.tags.split(",").map((t) => t.trim()).filter(Boolean)
+      : [];
+
       const fieldsToSearch = [
         entry.title ?? "",
         entry.uploader ?? "",
         entry.category ?? "",
-        Array.isArray(entry.tags) ? entry.tags.join(" ") : "",
+        tags.join(" "),
       ];
-      return fieldsToSearch.filter(Boolean).some((field) => normalize(field).includes(q));
+
+      return fieldsToSearch
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .some((field) => normalize(field).includes(q));
     });
   }, [projects, debouncedQuery]);
 
   const tagCounts = useMemo(() => {
     const counts: Record<string, number> = {};
     projects.forEach((p) => {
-      if (Array.isArray(p.tags)) {
-        p.tags.forEach((tag) => {
-          counts[tag] = (counts[tag] || 0) + 1;
-        });
-      }
+      const tags =
+      Array.isArray(p.tags)
+      ? p.tags
+      : typeof p.tags === "string"
+      ? p.tags.split(",").map((t) => t.trim()).filter(Boolean)
+      : [];
+      tags.forEach((tag) => {
+        counts[tag] = (counts[tag] || 0) + 1;
+      });
     });
     return counts;
   }, [projects]);
@@ -96,17 +114,27 @@ export default function ProjectsPage() {
   const recentTags = [...projects]
   .sort(
     (a, b) =>
-    Number(b.submission_id ?? b.id ?? 0) - Number(a.submission_id ?? a.id ?? 0)
+    Number(b.submission_id ?? 0) - Number(a.submission_id ?? 0)
   )
   .slice(0, 10)
-  .flatMap((p) => p.tags || [])
+  .flatMap((p) => {
+    const tags =
+    Array.isArray(p.tags)
+    ? p.tags
+    : typeof p.tags === "string"
+    ? p.tags.split(",").map((t) => t.trim()).filter(Boolean)
+    : [];
+    return tags;
+  })
   .filter((tag, i, self) => self.indexOf(tag) === i)
   .slice(0, 10);
 
-  const uniqueUploaders = new Set(projects.map((p) => p.uploader).filter(Boolean)).size;
+  const uniqueUploaders = new Set(
+    projects.map((p) => p.uploader).filter(Boolean)
+  ).size;
   const totalTags = Object.keys(tagCounts).length;
 
-  const detailHref = (p: ProjectRow) => `/projects/${p.submission_id ?? p.id}`;
+  const detailHref = (p: ProjectRow) => `/projects/${p.submission_id}`;
   const imageSrc = (p: ProjectRow) =>
   p.p_image?.filename_disk
   ? `https://forms.lasereverything.net/assets/${p.p_image.filename_disk}`
@@ -264,7 +292,7 @@ export default function ProjectsPage() {
       ) : (
         <div className="card-grid">
         {filtered.map((project) => {
-          const key = String(project.submission_id ?? project.id);
+          const key = String(project.submission_id ?? project.id ?? Math.random());
           const href = detailHref(project);
           const src = imageSrc(project);
           return (
@@ -285,7 +313,6 @@ export default function ProjectsPage() {
             <div className="project-content">
             <div>
             <Link href={href} className="text-base font-semibold text-accent underline">
-            {/* highlight title if searching */}
             <span
             dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{
               __html: highlight(project.title || "Untitled"),
@@ -310,16 +337,24 @@ export default function ProjectsPage() {
             </p>
             </div>
             <div className="project-tags">
-            {Array.isArray(project.tags) && project.tags.length > 0
-              ? project.tags.map((tag, i) => (
+            {(() => {
+              const tags =
+              Array.isArray(project.tags)
+              ? project.tags
+              : typeof project.tags === "string"
+              ? project.tags.split(",").map((t) => t.trim()).filter(Boolean)
+              : [];
+              return tags.length
+              ? tags.map((tag, i) => (
                 <span key={i} onClick={() => setQuery(tag)} title={tag}>
                 {tag}
                 </span>
               ))
-              : ""}
-              </div>
-              </div>
-              </div>
+              : "";
+            })()}
+            </div>
+            </div>
+            </div>
           );
         })}
         </div>