fix(spec,lint): gate unresolvable filter placeholders; freeze the {current_user_id} vocabulary (#3574)

.changeset/filter-context-tokens-gate.md

@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": patch
+"@objectstack/lint": patch
+"@objectstack/cli": patch
+---
+
+feat(spec,lint): freeze the `{current_user_id}` filter vocabulary and fail the build on unresolvable placeholders (#3574)
+
+A dashboard widget filtered on `{current_user}` rendered `0`. Not an error — a
+zero, indistinguishable from a metric that is legitimately empty, with nothing
+in the console or the server log. `service_dashboard.my_open_cases_by_priority`
+in the HotCRM template had shipped broken this way since the day it was
+written.
+
+The token had never been part of the contract. Date macros were frozen in
+`date-macros.zod.ts` with a spec vocabulary, a lint-usable predicate, and a
+single client resolver; `{current_user_id}` had only prose in an `app.zod.ts`
+JSDoc and three ad-hoc client implementations that each handled one surface's
+filter shape. Nothing could tell an author their token was wrong.
+
+- **`@objectstack/spec`** — new `data/context-tokens.zod.ts` freezing
+  `CONTEXT_TOKENS` (`current_user_id`, `current_org_id`) as the sibling of
+  `DATE_MACRO_TOKENS`, with `isContextToken` / `isKnownFilterToken` /
+  `classifyFilterToken` and a `CONTEXT_TOKEN_SUGGESTIONS` near-miss table. The
+  module documents what the tokens are *not*: presentation scope, never an
+  access boundary — that is RLS, which uses the unrelated `current_user.id`
+  expression root.
+- **`@objectstack/lint`** — new `validateFilterTokens` (rule
+  `filter-token-unknown`, severity `error`). It walks `filter` / `filters` /
+  `runtimeFilter` subtrees across dashboards, objects, views, reports,
+  datasets, pages and apps, and reports any placeholder that resolves in
+  neither vocabulary. It scans for filter *keys* rather than enumerating known
+  surfaces, so a new surface following the convention is covered the day it
+  ships — enumerating surfaces is how the dashboard was missed in the first
+  place. Navigation `recordId` / `params` are deliberately out of scope: they
+  resolve `AppContextSelector` ids, which are meaningless in a filter.
+- **`@objectstack/cli`** — the gate runs in `os validate` and `os compile`.
+
+It is an error rather than a warning because of who authors this metadata. An
+AI reads a query returning `0` as a correct answer and builds on it; its
+correction loop is author → validate → fix, so a diagnostic only reaches it if
+it can fail the build. The three spellings the suggestion table covers —
+`{current_user}`, `{user_id}`, `{organization_id}` — are each correct
+*somewhere else* in the platform, which is exactly why authors reach for them.
+
+Also fixes a `ViewSchema` JSDoc example that documented `{user_id}`, a token
+that resolves nowhere.

content/docs/references/data/context-tokens.mdx

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+---
+title: Context Tokens
+description: Context Tokens protocol schemas
+---
+
+{/* ⚠️  AUTO-GENERATED — DO NOT EDIT. Run build-docs.ts to regenerate. Hand-written docs live in the module folders under content/docs/. */}
+
+Context Tokens — the declarative placeholders that resolve against the
+
+**caller's session** (who am I, which org am I in) rather than the clock.
+
+# Why this lives in `spec`
+
+These are the sibling vocabulary to `\{date-macros\}`. Filter values in
+
+dashboards, views, reports and pages travel as JSON, so a user-scoped
+
+slice cannot call `currentUser().id` inline — it writes a placeholder:
+
+\{ owner_id: '\{current_user_id\}' \}
+
+[\{ field: 'owner', operator: 'equals', value: '\{current_user_id\}' \}]
+
+Like date macros, the placeholders are expanded **client-side** by
+
+`resolveContextTokens()` in `@object-ui/core` immediately before the
+
+filter is handed to the data source. The data engine only ever sees
+
+concrete ids, never `\{tokens\}`.
+
+# Presentation scope, NOT a security boundary
+
+This is the single most important thing to understand about these
+
+tokens. `\{current_user_id\}` scopes what a surface *shows*; it does not
+
+decide what a caller is *allowed* to read. Enforcement is RLS, which
+
+uses a different and genuinely server-side vocabulary rooted at
+
+`current_user` (`owner_id = current_user.id`, compiled by
+
+`@objectstack/plugin-security`'s RLS compiler).
+
+The two look alike and are easy to confuse, so keep them straight:
+
+| | `\{current_user_id\}` | `current_user.id` |
+
+|---|---|---|
+
+| Where | filter values (JSON) | RLS `using` expressions |
+
+| Resolved | client-side, before the query | server-side, during the query |
+
+| Purpose | presentation scope | access enforcement |
+
+| Bypassable | yes — it's just a filter | no |
+
+Never reach for a context token to keep a user away from data. Removing
+
+a `\{current_user_id\}` filter widens a *view*; it must never widen
+
+*access*.
+
+# Where the tokens are honoured
+
+Filter values on every surface that resolves placeholders — object list
+
+views, dashboard widgets, reports, SDUI page components. Navigation
+
+(`recordId` / `params`) additionally resolves `AppContextSelector` ids
+
+such as `\{active_package\}`; those are nav-only and are NOT valid inside
+
+filter values, because filters are not evaluated with the sidebar's
+
+selector state.
+
+# Out of scope
+
+- `current_user.*` RLS expressions — see `@objectstack/plugin-security`.
+
+- `\{date-macros\}` — the clock-based sibling; see `./date-macros.zod.ts`.
+
+- `titleFormat` field interpolation (`\{user_id\}` etc.) — that substitutes
+
+*record fields*, an unrelated mechanism that happens to share braces.
+
+<Callout type="info">
+**Source:** `packages/spec/src/data/context-tokens.zod.ts`
+</Callout>
+
+## TypeScript Usage
+
+```typescript
+import { ContextToken, ContextTokenPlaceholder } from '@objectstack/spec/data';
+import type { ContextToken, ContextTokenPlaceholder } from '@objectstack/spec/data';
+
+// Validate data
+const result = ContextToken.parse(data);
+```
+
+---
+
+
+---
+
+
+---
+

content/docs/references/data/index.mdx

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ This section contains all protocol schemas for the data layer of ObjectStack.
 
 <Cards>
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/analytics" title="Analytics" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/analytics.zod.ts" />
+  <Card href="/docs/references/data/context-tokens" title="Context Tokens" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/context-tokens.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/data-engine" title="Data Engine" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/data-engine.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/datasource" title="Datasource" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/datasource.zod.ts" />
   <Card href="/docs/references/data/date-macros" title="Date Macros" description="Source: packages/spec/src/data/date-macros.zod.ts" />

content/docs/references/data/meta.json

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     "seed",
     "seed-loader",
     "---More---",
+    "context-tokens",
     "field-value"
   ]
 }

packages/cli/src/commands/compile.ts

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { validateStackExpressions } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateVisibilityPredicates } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateWidgetBindings } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateDashboardActionRefs } from '@objectstack/lint';
+import { validateFilterTokens } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateResponsiveStyles } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateSecurityPosture, validateOrgAxisRedLines, buildAccessMatrix, diffAccessMatrix } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateReadonlyFlowWrites } from '@objectstack/lint';
@@ -293,6 +294,31 @@ export default class Compile extends Command {
         }
       }
 
+      // 3a-ter. Filter placeholder resolvability (#3574). A filter value that
+      //     resolves in neither vocabulary — `{current_user}` instead of
+      //     `{current_user_id}` — reaches the data engine as a literal and
+      //     matches nothing, so the surface renders empty with no error. That
+      //     silent zero is indistinguishable from a genuine zero at review
+      //     time, and an AI author reads it as a successful query. Fails the
+      //     build because authoring time is the last point the author sees it.
+      if (!flags.json) printStep('Checking filter placeholders (#3574)...');
+      const filterTokenFindings = validateFilterTokens(result.data as Record<string, unknown>);
+      const filterTokenErrors = filterTokenFindings.filter((f) => f.severity === 'error');
+      if (filterTokenErrors.length > 0) {
+        if (flags.json) {
+          console.log(JSON.stringify({ success: false, error: 'filter placeholder validation failed', issues: filterTokenErrors }));
+          this.exit(1);
+        }
+        console.log('');
+        printError(`Filter placeholder check failed (${filterTokenErrors.length} issue${filterTokenErrors.length > 1 ? 's' : ''})`);
+        for (const f of filterTokenErrors.slice(0, 50)) {
+          console.log(`  • ${f.where}: ${f.message}`);
+          console.log(chalk.dim(`      ${f.hint}`));
+          console.log(chalk.dim(`      rule: ${f.rule}  at ${f.path}`));
+        }
+        this.exit(1);
+      }
+
       // 3c. SDUI scoped-styling correctness (ADR-0065) — a styled node without
       //     an `id` drops its CSS silently; Tailwind-in-className does nothing
       //     from metadata. Same bar for hand-authored and AI-generated pages

packages/cli/src/commands/validate.ts

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { validateListViewMode } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateViewContainers } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateWidgetBindings } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateDashboardActionRefs } from '@objectstack/lint';
+import { validateFilterTokens } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateResponsiveStyles } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateJsxPages, validateReactPages, validateReactPageProps, validatePageSourceStyling } from '@objectstack/lint';
 import { validateCapabilityReferences } from '@objectstack/lint';
@@ -250,6 +251,36 @@ export default class Validate extends Command {
         }
       }
 
+      // 3a-ter. Filter placeholder resolvability (#3574) — a filter value like
+      //     `{current_user}` resolves in no vocabulary, reaches the data engine
+      //     as a literal, matches nothing, and the surface renders empty with
+      //     no error anywhere. Silent-zero is indistinguishable from a genuine
+      //     zero, so it survives human review; and an AI author reads the 0 as
+      //     a successful query. Caught here because authoring time is the only
+      //     place the diagnostic can still reach the author.
+      if (!flags.json) printStep('Checking filter placeholders (#3574)...');
+      const filterTokenFindings = validateFilterTokens(result.data as Record<string, unknown>);
+      const filterTokenErrors = filterTokenFindings.filter((f) => f.severity === 'error');
+      if (filterTokenErrors.length > 0) {
+        if (flags.json) {
+          console.log(JSON.stringify({
+            valid: false,
+            errors: filterTokenErrors,
+            warnings: [...widgetWarnings, ...actionRefWarnings],
+            duration: timer.elapsed(),
+          }, null, 2));
+          this.exit(1);
+        }
+        console.log('');
+        printError(`Filter placeholder check failed (${filterTokenErrors.length} issue${filterTokenErrors.length > 1 ? 's' : ''})`);
+        for (const f of filterTokenErrors.slice(0, 50)) {
+          console.log(`  • ${f.where}: ${f.message}`);
+          console.log(chalk.dim(`      ${f.hint}`));
+          console.log(chalk.dim(`      rule: ${f.rule}  at ${f.path}`));
+        }
+        this.exit(1);
+      }
+
       // 3b. SDUI scoped-styling correctness (ADR-0065) — a styled node's
       //     responsiveStyles must be scopable (needs an `id`), reference real
       //     CSS properties + design tokens, and carry a `large` base;

packages/lint/src/index.ts

@@ -178,4 +178,7 @@ export type {
   DashboardActionRefSeverity,
 } from './validate-dashboard-action-refs.js';
 
+export { validateFilterTokens, FILTER_TOKEN_UNKNOWN } from './validate-filter-tokens.js';
+export type { FilterTokenFinding, FilterTokenSeverity } from './validate-filter-tokens.js';
+
 export { buildAccessMatrix, diffAccessMatrix } from './build-access-matrix.js';