diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a3b1bf5..613f3d8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ and a closed issue keeps a checkbox-style mark.*
   has a list of its own, remembering the row you left it on.
 - Type, priority and status are changed straight from the list; the list is
   ordered by any of its columns, and priority is colour-coded.
+- Any number of tags per issue, or none — they say what it belongs to, and
+  stand in front of its description in the list.
 - Nothing of the plugin's own ends up in the buffer list, and a file that
   belongs to neither notes nor issues is never left inside the window.
 - Notes and issues are written whenever they leave the screen, so nothing is
@@ -235,6 +237,7 @@ no counter and the directory sorts chronologically on its own.
 type: bug
 priority: high
 status: open
+tags: parser,io
 ---
 
 # Parser drops the last line of a file
@@ -247,6 +250,22 @@ Free-form markdown below the title.
 - `type` — `bug`, `feature`, `refactor` or `task`
 - `priority` — `low`, `normal`, `high` or `critical`
 - `status` — `open` or `done`
+- `tags` — any number of them, comma-separated, or none at all
+
+Tags say what an issue belongs to — a module, a subsystem, a platform — and
+are written by hand in the card, since their values are yours rather than a
+fixed set. They open the description in the list, dimmed:
+
+```text
+    Type     Priority   Created     Description
+  x BUG      HIGH       2026-09-11  [age, gui] guiText: no size without one
+    TASK     NORMAL     2026-09-11  pugixml 1.16
+```
+
+The list is not ordered by them: a tag names a group, and an issue can be in
+several at once, so ordering by "the first one alphabetically" would say less
+than it seems. Ordering by description follows the description, not the tags
+standing in front of it.
 
 Only these fields and the first `#` heading are read; everything else in the
 file is left alone. Missing fields fall back to `task`, `normal` and `open`,
@@ -303,6 +322,7 @@ thing to follow instead of two competing ones.
 | `ScratchIssueLow` | priority `low` | `Comment` |
 | `ScratchIssueDate` | the date column | `Comment` |
 | `ScratchIssueDone` | a closed issue, whole row | `Comment` |
+| `ScratchIssueTags` | the tags before a description | `Comment` |
 
 Priority `normal` is deliberately left plain. All groups are defined with
 `default = true`, so any definition of your own wins:
diff --git a/lua/scratch/issue.lua b/lua/scratch/issue.lua
index ceec292..38bba9d 100644
--- a/lua/scratch/issue.lua
+++ b/lua/scratch/issue.lua
@@ -34,9 +34,25 @@ local defaults = {
 ---@field type string: bug|feature|refactor|task
 ---@field priority string: low|normal|high|critical
 ---@field status string: open|done
+---@field tags string[]: what the issue belongs to, empty when it says nothing
 ---@field title string|nil: nil until the issue is given a heading
 ---@field updated number: file mtime, not a stored field
 
+--- Split a frontmatter list: "age, gui" gives { "age", "gui" }. The one field
+--- that is not a single value, kept flat so the file stays plain key: value.
+---@param value string
+---@return string[]
+local function split_tags(value)
+    local tags = {}
+    for tag in value:gmatch("[^,]+") do
+        tag = vim.trim(tag)
+        if tag ~= "" then
+            table.insert(tags, tag)
+        end
+    end
+    return tags
+end
+
 --- todo-comments keywords mapped onto issue types, so a comment in the code
 --- can seed an issue. Keys follow that plugin's default keyword set.
 local keyword_types = {
@@ -84,6 +100,7 @@ function M.parse(path)
     local issue = vim.tbl_extend("force", {}, defaults)
     issue.path = path
     issue.id = vim.fn.fnamemodify(path, ":t:r")
+    issue.tags = {}
     -- Left nil when the file carries no heading: an issue waiting to be named
     -- is a fact about the store, and how to show it is the list's business
     issue.title = nil
@@ -100,7 +117,9 @@ function M.parse(path)
                 break
             end
             local key, value = lines[i]:match("^(%w+):%s*(.-)%s*$")
-            if key and defaults[key] then
+            if key == "tags" then
+                issue.tags = split_tags(value)
+            elseif key and defaults[key] then
                 issue[key] = value
             end
         end
@@ -166,7 +185,7 @@ end
 
 --- Write a new issue
 ---@param scope string
----@param fields table: type, priority, title, body
+---@param fields table: type, priority, tags, title, body
 ---@return string path
 function M.create(scope, fields)
     local dir = M.dir(scope)
@@ -189,6 +208,9 @@ function M.create(scope, fields)
         "type: " .. (fields.type or defaults.type),
         "priority: " .. (fields.priority or defaults.priority),
         "status: " .. defaults.status,
+        -- Written even when empty: the card is where fields are edited by
+        -- hand, and a field that is never shown is a field nobody knows about
+        "tags: " .. table.concat(fields.tags or {}, ","),
         "---",
         "",
         "# " .. (fields.title or ""),
diff --git a/lua/scratch/list.lua b/lua/scratch/list.lua
index efc735a..dabc014 100644
--- a/lua/scratch/list.lua
+++ b/lua/scratch/list.lua
@@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ local function cell_date(entry, sort)
     return entry.id:sub(1, 10)
 end
 
---- An issue still waiting for its heading shows the time it was made, so that
---- two of them are told apart while they are both unnamed. The time only: the
---- date column beside it already carries the day.
+--- What an issue is called: its heading, or - while it has none - the time it
+--- was made, so that two unnamed ones are told apart. The time only: the date
+--- column beside it already carries the day.
 ---@param entry scratch.Issue
 ---@return string
-local function cell_title(entry)
+local function name_of(entry)
     if entry.title then
         return entry.title
     end
@@ -65,6 +65,22 @@ local function cell_title(entry)
     return "(untitled) " .. (time:gsub("%-", ":", 2))
 end
 
+--- Tags as they stand in front of the description, empty when there are none
+---@param entry scratch.Issue
+---@return string
+local function tag_prefix(entry)
+    if entry.tags == nil or #entry.tags == 0 then
+        return ""
+    end
+    return "[" .. table.concat(entry.tags, ", ") .. "] "
+end
+
+---@param entry scratch.Issue
+---@return string
+local function cell_title(entry)
+    return tag_prefix(entry) .. name_of(entry)
+end
+
 --- One colour axis, and it is priority: type is already legible as a word,
 --- while HIGH and LOW read the same until they differ in colour. Everything
 --- unimportant is dimmed instead of coloured, so the eye has one thing to
@@ -84,6 +100,7 @@ local highlight_links = {
     ScratchIssueLow = "Comment",
     ScratchIssueDate = "Comment",
     ScratchIssueDone = "Comment",
+    ScratchIssueTags = "Comment",
 }
 
 ---@param entry scratch.Issue
@@ -170,8 +187,10 @@ local function by_updated(a, b)
     return a.id > b.id
 end
 
+--- By what the issue is called, not by what its row starts with: the tags in
+--- front of the description would otherwise quietly order the column by them
 local function by_title(a, b)
-    local left, right = cell_title(a), cell_title(b)
+    local left, right = name_of(a), name_of(b)
     if left ~= right then
         return left < right
     end
@@ -315,6 +334,21 @@ local function row_marks(entry, spans, line, row)
             })
         end
     end
+
+    -- The tags open the description rather than hold a column of their own,
+    -- and they are dimmed so the eye runs along the descriptions and takes
+    -- them in beside it.
+    local tags = #tag_prefix(entry)
+    local from = spans[#columns].from
+    if tags > 0 and from < #line then
+        table.insert(marks, {
+            row = row,
+            from = from,
+            to = math.min(from + tags, #line),
+            group = "ScratchIssueTags",
+        })
+    end
+
     return marks
 end