SEP-1790: Reconcile list_view column gate with synthetic and dotted column keys

[Copilot]

_validate_view_columns rejects column keys whole-string against serialized field names, so both synthetic keys (_actions with format=ACTIONS) and dotted paths (target.service) fail — despite the schema DSL documenting both as valid. The frontend already handles them; the backend gate is the wrong half of the contradiction.

Changes

• schema.py — Declare NON_ROW_BOUND_FORMATS beside ColumnFormat so the exempt set and enum are co-located and cannot drift
• responses.py — Add root_segment() (relocated from conformance.py's private _root_segment) as the single shared path-splitting helper
• conformance.py — Import root_segment from responses instead of owning a local copy
• apps.py — Widen _validate_view_columns:
  • Skip columns whose format ∈ NON_ROW_BOUND_FORMATS
  • Compare root_segment(key) against serialized fields instead of the full key
  • Error message surfaces the unresolvable root for dotted keys
• test_apps.py — Cover both axes: ACTIONS/SCHEDULE synthetic keys construct cleanly; dotted keys with valid roots pass, invalid roots and indexed segments are still rejected; an indexed key whose root is serialized constructs cleanly, which is what pins the [N] strip

# Previously rejected — now exempt by format:
Column(key="_actions", label="Actions", format=ColumnFormat.ACTIONS)

# Previously rejected — now resolves root segment "status" against the model:
Column(key="status.label", label="Status Label")

Tested

• pytest tests/app/sep/apps/framework/test_apps.py::TestDefinitionValidation — 49 passed
• pytest tests/app/sep/apps/framework/test_conformance.py — 81 passed, 11 skipped (registry-wide construction of every registered app, unchanged by the widened gate)
• Error-message shape checked by hand against the real validator: a flat unknown key renders ['ghost'] as before, a dotted one renders ['ghost.service' (root: 'ghost')]

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR updates the SEP app framework’s list-view column validation so it aligns with the schema DSL’s documented column-key patterns (synthetic keys for non-row-bound formats and dotted paths), and centralizes the “root segment” parsing helper so both construction-time validation and the conformance suite apply the same path-splitting logic.

Changes:

• Add NON_ROW_BOUND_FORMATS next to ColumnFormat and exempt those formats from list-view column-key validation.
• Introduce root_segment() in responses.py and reuse it from both apps.py and conformance.py.
• Extend tests to cover synthetic keys (ACTIONS, SCHEDULE) and dotted keys with valid/invalid roots.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
tests/app/sep/apps/framework/test_apps.py	Adds coverage for synthetic and dotted list-view column keys (valid/invalid roots).
app/sep/apps/framework/schema.py	Defines NON_ROW_BOUND_FORMATS to co-locate format exemptions with ColumnFormat.
app/sep/apps/framework/responses.py	Adds shared root_segment() helper (and adjusts a cast() call).
app/sep/apps/framework/conformance.py	Reuses root_segment() instead of maintaining a local copy.
app/sep/apps/framework/apps.py	Widens _validate_view_columns to exempt non-row-bound formats and validate only the root segment for dotted/indexed keys.

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Coverage report

Click to see where and how coverage changed

File	Statements	Missing	Coverage	Coverage (new stmts)	Lines missing
app/sep
inventory.py
app/sep/apps/framework
apps.py
conformance.py
responses.py
schema.py
app/sep/sync/syncers
pmm.py
Project Total

This report was generated by python-coverage-comment-action

[yyyyyyyan]

Follow-up, deliberately out of scope for this PR.

app/sep/apps/framework/rules.py:1743-1750 — _declared_on_model is a third root-segment resolution inside app/sep/apps/framework/, testing a dotted field reference's root against a model's field set:

def _declared_on_model(name: str) -> bool:
    if name in model_fields:
        return True
    if "." not in name:
        return False
    return name.split(".", 1)[0] in model_fields

SEP-1790 consolidates root-segment resolution for the two surfaces its acceptance criteria name — list-view columns and detail-view fields — and root_segment() in responses.py is now that shared helper. This third copy belongs to the Tier-3 @apply_conditional_rules decoration-time check, which the criteria do not cover.

Worth noting why it is not folded in here rather than just untouched: the swap is not behaviour-preserving. root_segment() strips [N], so an indexed reference with no dot (items[0]) would newly resolve to items and be accepted where the current code rejects it. That widens what @apply_conditional_rules admits on a surface this PR does not otherwise touch, which wants its own ticket and its own test rather than riding along here.

[yyyyyyyan]

Pushed fixes for everything this review could act on. Not approving yet — one item is deliberately left open, and one thing is worth re-confirming before merge.

Left open:

• app/sep/apps/framework/rules.py:1743-1750 — a third root-segment resolution in this package, on a surface SEP-1790's criteria do not name. Not folded in here because swapping in root_segment() would widen what @apply_conditional_rules accepts (items[0] would newly resolve to items), so it wants its own ticket and test. Marked as a follow-up on this PR.

Worth re-confirming:

• python / test was red on 3.11.9, 3.12.3 and 3.13 at the previous head, with label-gate green — so those were real failures, not the QA-window skip. Column(key="_actions", label="", format=ColumnFormat.ACTIONS) in the new ACTIONS test could not construct at all, because Column.label is NonEmptyStr; the test died before reaching the gate, leaving the headline synthetic-key criterion unverified. Fixed in ab90c979e using label="Actions", matching the four live columns in app/sep/apps/inventory/schema.py. The qa passed label was applied against the red run, so the new head is worth re-running.

Two other things changed in the fixes that are worth knowing about, since neither was a review comment:

• The gate's error message was double-quoting every key (["'ghost'"], a regression from ['ghost'] on main) because the parts were repr-ed before the list itself was interpolated. Now joined explicitly, so a flat key reads exactly as it did before and a dotted one reads ['ghost.service' (root: 'ghost')].
• test_list_view_indexed_key_resolves_root could not fail: match="items" matches the raw key, so it passed with or without the [N] strip. Tightened to match=r"root: 'items'", and a positive case (name[0].label, whose root is serialized) now pins the strip.