[design] Field runtime value-shape as a first-class contract (spec-owned), typed action handlers, and file-as-reference #2731

Tracking / design issue — no implementation yet. Design-first: an ADR pins the contract before any code. Foundational work lands in @objectstack/spec + framework; objectui is a consumer. A linked framework issue should be opened when the spec work is scheduled.

Background

Since ADR-0059, every action param (and every object-form field) renders through the shared field-widget renderer, so each emits its widget's own runtime value shape on confirm/submit, and those shapes differ per type. #2714 (merged in #2720) added a value-shape test net in objectui to pin the param contract. That net is useful as a regression guard, but the discussion it triggered surfaced that the value-shape contract is placed at the wrong layer and is not where the real leverage is.

Three facts from @objectstack/spec / framework that frame the design:

1. The storage layer's canonical file reference is a fileId string (storage.zod.ts: presigned → upload → CompleteUploadRequest { fileId }). The { file_id, name, url, size, mime_type } descriptor that FileField holds is a client-side convenience object; the authoritative reference is the id. → The param boundary (fileId string) is aligned with storage; the form/record boundary storing the full descriptor is the denormalized outlier — and it's structurally identical to how lookup should work (store id, $expand for display).
2. The spec declares no runtime value shape. FieldType is a flat z.enum; only multiple hints "Stores as Array/JSON". The value shape is not part of the contract.
3. Action params and the handler have zero type flow. An action binds to a handler by name (target); params is runtime metadata. An AI (or human) writing the handler gets no type contract telling it a param arrives as string[], a FileRef, etc. This is the structural root of AI-authoring errors.

The core correction

The runtime value that reaches the backend is a property of the FieldType (+ multiple), not of the widget — two renderers may pick different widgets for select, but both must produce string/string[]. So:

• The contract belongs in @objectstack/spec, keyed by FieldType (per Commandment #0: the spec owns contracts; the renderer conforms). [P2] Action-param value-shape parity net: assert every FORM_FIELD_TYPES param round-trips to the endpoint contract #2714's objectui-owned, widget-keyed table is the renderer-side shadow of it.
• Keying by FieldType also removes the multi-type-per-widget ambiguity (json→string and code→string are distinct FieldType facts; toggle→boolean; tree→reference).

Long-term design

Spec exports a pure fieldRuntimeType(type, { multiple }) → RuntimeType — the single source of truth — with two named reference types:

• FileRef (fileId string): file / image / video / audio at every boundary. The descriptor becomes a read-time expansion, exactly like lookup. Storage stays fileId. This dissolves the param-vs-form divergence at the source, and serializeParamValues' file special-casing retires.
• RecordRef (record id string): lookup / user / owner / master_detail.

Three consumers of that one function:

• objectui (renderer) produces the declared runtime type; the widgets must conform.
• framework generates typed handler params from an action's params (AI correctness), and validates action-endpoint inputs against the contract (object CRUD is already validated by ObjectQL; the gap is custom action endpoints).
• producer (AI / Studio / humans) writes handler/flow/formula code that is tsc-checked against the derived types.

Conceptually file and lookup unify as "a reference to a stored entity" — the model least likely to confuse an AI author.

What existing/planned work becomes

Plan (dependency order; each step a real down-payment, not a band-aid)

• ADR (in framework/docs/adr): pin fieldRuntimeType, the FileRef/RecordRef unification, typed handlers, and the three-consumer model. (design-first, blocks the rest)
• @objectstack/spec: fieldRuntimeType(type, { multiple }) + FileRef / RecordRef named types; declare file/image/video/audio → FileRef, lookup/user/owner/master_detail → RecordRef. (pure, additive, no migration — the foundation)
• framework (a): defineActionHandler<typeof action>() / codegen deriving handler param types from params via fieldRuntimeType. (AI-correctness win; do first among framework work)
• framework (b): action-endpoint input validation against the contract.
• framework (c): file-as-reference storage + read-time expansion (the only real data/display migration — schedule separately; requires solid $expand so list cells cheaply get name/size).
• objectui: FileField/ImageField emit FileRef + file expansion for display; retire serializeParamValues' file special-casing; re-point the [P2] Action-param value-shape parity net: assert every FORM_FIELD_TYPES param round-trips to the endpoint contract #2714 net to consume the spec fieldRuntimeType (conformance). mapFieldTypeToFormType (widget selection) stays renderer-local — it is genuinely the renderer's concern.

Notes / risks

• Cross-repo & ordered: spec/framework changes must merge first; objectui picks them up after (spec dist staleness — rebuild @objectstack/spec before consuming).
• file-as-reference is the only migration (existing records store descriptors; FileCellRenderer/ImageCellRenderer read .url/.name; seed data). Gate it behind good file expansion.
• Not a lenient renderer fallback (Commandment #0.1): this moves the contract to the spec and makes both ends conform — the opposite of accreting renderer-side dialects.

Refs

• objectui [P2] Action-param value-shape parity net: assert every FORM_FIELD_TYPES param round-trips to the endpoint contract #2714 / test(app-shell): value-shape parity net for action params (#2714) #2720 (param value-shape net — becomes the conformance check) · ADR-0059 (shared-widget param rendering) · [P2] approvals: declare attachments on approve/reject and retire the inbox's hardcoded composer #2698 / feat(approvals-inbox): retire the approve/reject composer for declared actions with file attachments (#2698) #2710 (serializeParamValues file→fileId — subsumed by FileRef) · feat(fields): select+multiple → multi-value chip picker; restore fields/core lint gates #2709 (select+multiple → string[])
• spec: framework/packages/spec/src/data/field.zod.ts (FieldType), framework/packages/spec/src/api/storage.zod.ts (fileId contract), framework/packages/spec/src/ui/action.zod.ts (params / target handler binding)