RelatedList object columns: spec-canonical field spelling passes every RelatedList read, then renders header + blank cells at the data-table accessor #5022

Found while implementing objectstack#9227 (strict element schemas for Field.inlineColumns / Field.relatedListColumns). Out of that card's scope — filed, not fixed. Measured against objectui main (34ae327), 2026-08-17.

What

A relatedListColumns OBJECT entry keyed with the list-surface canonical field spelling splits between two vocabularies on its way to the screen:

• packages/plugin-detail/src/RelatedList.tsx resolves column identity as c.accessorKey || columnIdentity(c) — and columnIdentity (packages/core/src/utils/column-identity.ts) is canonical-first on field. So a { field: 'status', label: 'Status' } entry passes the FLS filter, the FK filter, pruneEmpty, the sort-button row, and even gets a type-aware cell attached by normalizeColumn.
• The data-table renderer it feeds (packages/components/src/renderers/complex/data-table.tsx) normalizes the accessor as accessorKey: col.accessorKey || col.name — it never consults field (or columnIdentity). The accessor resolves to undefined, every cell reads row[undefined], and the attached cell renderer receives undefined — rendering the em-dash placeholder.

Net effect: the column survives every metadata-aware filter and renders a header with blank cells — the exact objectui#3951 failure shape, one spelling over. The only object spelling that works end to end today is the legacy name key, which column-identity.ts itself documents as "objectui-side legacy" for list surfaces.

Why it matters

column-identity.ts says field is THE contract for list columns (ListColumnSchema), and objectui#3104 converged 22 read sites onto columnIdentity() — but the data-table's accessor normalization predates that convergence and was never folded in. Any host metadata or page schema that authors related-list column objects in the spec-canonical spelling gets the silent blank-cell failure.

Note: objectstack#9227 narrowed the spec's Field.relatedListColumns to field-name STRINGS (which normalizeColumn hydrates fully), so the framework's authoring surface no longer reaches this seam — but RelatedList.columns is also fed by page schemas (record:related_list.columns) and any host passing objects directly, so the seam is still live for objectui's own consumers.

Reproduce

Render RelatedList (type table) with columns={[{ field: 'status', label: 'Status' }]} and rows that have status values: the Status header renders, every cell shows the empty placeholder, and the sort button row happily sorts by status.

Suggested direction (for triage, not a decision)

Either fold columnIdentity() into the data-table's accessor normalization (accessorKey: col.accessorKey || columnIdentity(col)), or have RelatedList.normalizeColumn write the resolved identity into accessorKey before handing object entries to the table — the latter keeps the two vocabularies from merging inside the table library adapter, which is the boundary column-identity.ts deliberately drew (TABLE_ADAPTER_COLUMN_KEY).

Generated by Claude Code