diff --git a/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue b/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue
index fcbb5cfb..d57905c3 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/ProjectView.vue
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ async function confirmDelete() {
           <div class="tab-bar">
             <button :class="['tab-btn', { active: activeTab === 'tasks' }]" @click="activeTab = 'tasks'">
               Tasks
-              <span v-if="project.summary" class="tab-count">{{ project.summary.task_counts.todo + project.summary.task_counts.in_progress + project.summary.task_counts.done }}</span>
+              <span v-if="project.summary" class="tab-count">{{ (project.summary.task_counts.todo ?? 0) + (project.summary.task_counts.in_progress ?? 0) + (project.summary.task_counts.done ?? 0) }}</span>
             </button>
             <button :class="['tab-btn', { active: activeTab === 'notes' }]" @click="activeTab = 'notes'">
               Notes
diff --git a/src/fabledassistant/services/projects.py b/src/fabledassistant/services/projects.py
index 16080a41..5d7725b0 100644
--- a/src/fabledassistant/services/projects.py
+++ b/src/fabledassistant/services/projects.py
@@ -199,7 +199,10 @@ async def get_project_summary(user_id: int, project_id: int) -> dict:
             )
             .group_by(Note.status)
         )
-        task_counts: dict[str, int] = {}
+        # Initialise all three lifecycle keys to 0 so consumers can sum them
+        # safely without `?? 0` guards. Frontend interface declares all three
+        # as required; rendering `undefined + N` yields NaN.
+        task_counts: dict[str, int] = {"todo": 0, "in_progress": 0, "done": 0}
         for status, count in task_rows.fetchall():
             task_counts[status] = count