fix(workflows): evaluate parenthesised expressions

The operator scans in _evaluate_simple_expression skip over bracketed
text, so an operator inside a nested operand is never split on. Nothing
then unwrapped a group spanning the whole expression: `(a or b) and c`
split at the top-level `and`, evaluated `(a or b)` as a dot path, found
no such key, and got None. The `or` was never evaluated and the
expression read false.

So adding parentheses to make precedence explicit — the usual reason to
add them — silently inverted the result: `inputs.a or inputs.b and
inputs.c` was true while `(inputs.a or inputs.b) and inputs.c` was
false. A step gated on such a condition is skipped with nothing reported;
the malformed-condition validators do not flag it, because the syntax is
valid.

Unwrap a group that spans the whole expression, quote-aware and only when
the opening paren closes at the very end, so `(a) and (b)` and a literal
paren inside a string are untouched.

Author: NgoQuocViet2001

src/specify_cli/workflows/expressions.py

@@ -552,6 +552,31 @@ def _apply_filter(value: Any, filter_expr: str, namespace: dict[str, Any]) -> An
 _leaf_sink: ContextVar[list[str] | None] = ContextVar("_leaf_sink", default=None)
 
 
+def _is_wrapped_in_parens(text: str) -> bool:
+    """True when *text* is one parenthesised group, brackets and all.
+
+    ``(a or b)`` is; ``(a) and (b)`` is not, because the opening paren closes
+    before the end. Quote-aware, so ``('(')`` does not count its own literal.
+    """
+    if not (text.startswith("(") and text.endswith(")")):
+        return False
+    quote: str | None = None
+    depth = 0
+    for index, ch in enumerate(text):
+        if quote is not None:
+            if ch == quote:
+                quote = None
+        elif ch in ("'", '"'):
+            quote = ch
+        elif ch == "(":
+            depth += 1
+        elif ch == ")":
+            depth -= 1
+            if depth == 0:
+                return index == len(text) - 1
+    return False
+
+
 def _evaluate_simple_expression(expr: str, namespace: dict[str, Any]) -> Any:
     """Evaluate a simple expression against the namespace.
 
@@ -573,6 +598,16 @@ def _evaluate_simple_expression(expr: str, namespace: dict[str, Any]) -> Any:
     if expr[:1] in ("'", '"') and expr.find(expr[0], 1) == len(expr) - 1:
         return expr[1:-1]
 
+    # A parenthesised group. The operator scans below deliberately skip over
+    # bracketed text so an operator inside a quoted or nested operand is not
+    # split on -- which also means nothing ever looked inside a group that
+    # wraps the WHOLE expression. `(a or b) and c` split at the top-level
+    # `and`, then evaluated `(a or b)` as a dot path, found no such key, and
+    # returned None: the `or` was never evaluated and the whole thing read
+    # false. Unwrap here so grouping means what it says.
+    if _is_wrapped_in_parens(expr):
+        return _evaluate_simple_expression(expr[1:-1], namespace)
+
     # Handle pipe filters. Detect the pipe at the top level only, so a literal
     # '|' inside a quoted operand (e.g. `inputs.x == 'a|b'`) or nested brackets is
     # not mistaken for a filter separator — mirroring the operator parsing below.

tests/test_workflows.py

@@ -1003,6 +1003,33 @@ def test_boolean_literal(self):
         assert evaluate_expression("{{ true }}", ctx) is True
         assert evaluate_expression("{{ false }}", ctx) is False
 
+    def test_parenthesised_grouping(self):
+        """A parenthesised group is evaluated, not read as a dot path.
+
+        The operator scans skip bracketed text so an operator inside an
+        operand is not split on. Nothing unwrapped a group spanning the whole
+        expression, so ``(a or b) and c`` split at the top-level ``and`` and
+        then looked up ``(a or b)`` as a key, got ``None``, and read false --
+        adding parentheses to make precedence explicit silently inverted the
+        result.
+        """
+        from specify_cli.workflows.expressions import evaluate_expression
+        from specify_cli.workflows.base import StepContext
+
+        ctx = StepContext(inputs={"a": True, "b": False, "c": True, "n": 5})
+
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ (inputs.a or inputs.b) and inputs.c }}", ctx) is True
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ (inputs.b or inputs.b) and inputs.c }}", ctx) is False
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ (inputs.n) }}", ctx) == 5
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ (inputs.n > 1) }}", ctx) is True
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ ((inputs.n)) }}", ctx) == 5
+        # A group is still only unwrapped when it spans the whole expression.
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ (inputs.a) and (inputs.b) }}", ctx) is False
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ (inputs.n) | default(9) }}", ctx) == 5
+        # A parenthesis inside a string literal is not a group.
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ 'a(b' }}", ctx) == "a(b"
+        assert evaluate_expression("{{ ('(') }}", ctx) == "("
+
     def test_list_indexing(self):
         from specify_cli.workflows.expressions import evaluate_expression
         from specify_cli.workflows.base import StepContext