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@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/service-automation': minor
+---
+
+fix(service-automation)!: in flow CEL, `record` is the record the run was handed, or unbound — never the run's variables
+
+Clause-②: no (narrowing)
+
+<!-- adr-0087: registered flow-cel-record-variables-alias-retired -->
+
+**BREAKING**, graded `minor` on the v18 prerelease line: Changesets is in pre mode with the tag `next`, and the fixed group is already majored by the line's opening marker, so this ships in an `18.0.0-next.N`.
+
+**What changed.** A flow CEL expression — a node's or an edge's `condition`, a `decision` branch `expression`, a screen field's `visibleWhen`, and the CEL value envelopes of an `assignment` and of a `create_record` / `update_record` `fields` map — evaluates in the scope `AutomationEngine.celScope` builds. That scope used to bind `record` to the run's variables map whenever the run held no record, so `record.assignee` read a flow variable named `assignee` instead of failing. Now `record` is bound only when:
+
+- an entrance handed the run a record: a record-change trigger's row, a time-relative sweep's row, the inbound hook's request body, a `type: 'flow'` action's record (the loaded row, or an empty record carrying at most the id it was given), a `subflow` or `map` parent's record, or a `map` item that carries a string `id`;
+- or the flow binds a variable named `record` itself (a declared variable with a value, or an assignment target).
+
+With neither — a run started through the REST trigger route or a declared endpoint, a cron schedule, or a child of such a run — `record.X` fails the run with `Unknown variable: record` and the expression's source, as every other unbound root does.
+
+**What does not change.** A run that was handed a record reads `record.X` from that record, as before, over any variable of the same name. A bare variable name (`assignee`) and the `vars` namespace (`vars.assignee`) resolve as before. `$record`, `previous`, `vars` and `current_user` are untouched.
+
+## Migration: FROM → TO
+
+In a flow whose run holds no record, read a variable by its name:
+
+| you wrote | write instead |
+|:--|:--|
+| `record.assignee` (a flow variable `assignee`) | `assignee`, or `vars.assignee` |
+| `has(record.assignee) ? record.assignee : null` | `has(vars.assignee) ? vars.assignee : null` |
+
+**The one-line fix: read a flow variable by its name or through `vars`; `record` is only ever the record the run was handed.** A flow that is also launched with a record (an action on a row, a record trigger) keeps reading that record's fields as `record.X`.
+
+**Who is affected, measured.** Read statically over every flow CEL slot — 0 flows read `record` with no record entrance:
+
+- this repository at `0ec4268972` (`examples/**`, `packages/platform-objects`, `packages/qa/dogfood`): 64 flows, 51 CEL slots, no flow in `packages/platform-objects`; the 2 flows that read `record` are an `api` hook flow and a record-change flow;
+- `objectstack-ai/hotcrm` at `f0afcbda07` (`src/`, `test/`): 45 flows, 57 CEL slots; the 12 flows that read `record` are all record-change flows.
+
+Deployed metadata and other repositories were not measured. `objectstack validate` does not refuse such a `record` read yet; the run fails it, naming the root and the source.
@@ -12097,11 +12097,40 @@ export class AutomationEngine implements IAutomationService {
      * each wins over a flow variable of the same name — which is then read as
      * `vars["vars"]` / `vars["current_user"]` (the spec's
      * `FLOW_SCOPE_CLAIMED_IDENTIFIERS`, measured from here).
+     *
+     * ## `record` — the record the run was handed, or unbound (#22642)
+     *
+     * This builder binds no `record` of its own. `record` resolves through the
+     * spread like any other name, so it is bound exactly when the variable map
+     * holds a `record` key:
+     *
+     *  - an entrance handed the run a record. {@link seedRunVariables} binds
+     *    `context.record` as `record` (and `$record`), and every entrance hands
+     *    its record there: a record-change trigger's row, a time-relative
+     *    sweep's row, the inbound hook's request body (`trigger-api`), a
+     *    `type: 'flow'` action's record (the row it loaded, or an empty record
+     *    carrying at most the `id` it was given), a parent's (`subflow` and
+     *    `map` spread the parent's context into the child's) and a `map` item
+     *    that carries a string `id`. The REST trigger route, a declared
+     *    endpoint and a cron schedule hand none;
+     *  - or the flow binds a variable named `record` itself: a declared
+     *    variable that has a value, or an assignment target.
+     *
+     * With neither, `record.X` faults `Unknown variable: record`, as every
+     * other unbound root does. It used to be bound to the variables map
+     * (`record: vars`, the formula engine's `record` slot, which `extra`
+     * overrides only when a `record` variable exists), so with no record in
+     * hand `record.assignee` silently read a variable named `assignee`. A
+     * variable is read by its name (`assignee`) or through `vars`
+     * (`vars.assignee`). ⛔ Never bind `record` to the variable map again: a
+     * record root that answers when the run holds no record is a second
+     * spelling of every variable, and it hides the author's mistake instead
+     * of naming it.
      */
     private celScope(
         variables: Map<string, unknown>,
         context?: AutomationContext,
-    ): { extra: Record<string, unknown>; record: Record<string, unknown> } {
+    ): { extra: Record<string, unknown> } {
         const vars: Record<string, unknown> = {};
         for (const [key, value] of variables) {
             // Convert "step.result" keys into nested object paths.
@@ -12115,7 +12144,9 @@ export class AutomationEngine implements IAutomationService {
             }
             cursor[segs[segs.length - 1]] = value;
         }
-        return { extra: { ...vars, vars, current_user: runUserOf(context) }, record: vars };
+        // [#22642] No `record` slot: `record` is bound by the spread when the
+        // run holds one, and unbound otherwise (see the docblock).
+        return { extra: { ...vars, vars, current_user: runUserOf(context) } };
     }
 
     /**
 
@@ -0,0 +1,265 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * [#22642] Flow CEL `record` is the record the run was handed, or unbound —
+ * never the run's variables map.
+ *
+ * `AutomationEngine.celScope` used to hand the formula engine `record: vars`,
+ * and `extra` overrides that slot only when a `record` variable exists. So a
+ * run with no record in hand bound `record` to its own variables, and
+ * `record.assignee` silently read a variable named `assignee` instead of
+ * failing as an unbound root.
+ *
+ * Triage's direction, pinned here through the public doors (`registerFlow` +
+ * `execute`) and the two engine primitives the executors call:
+ *
+ *  - bare variable names resolve through the spread (`extra`) only;
+ *  - `record` is bound only when an entrance handed the run a record
+ *    (`seedRunVariables` binds `context.record` as `record`), or the flow binds
+ *    a `record` variable itself;
+ *  - with neither, `record.X` faults `Unknown variable: record`, as every other
+ *    unbound root does.
+ *
+ * Each entrance's context is spelled the way its door builds it: the
+ * record-change trigger, the time-relative sweep (`trigger-schedule`), the
+ * inbound hook (`trigger-api`), a `type: 'flow'` action (`dispatchFlowAction`
+ * in `@objectstack/runtime`, which always hands a record — the loaded row, or
+ * an empty one carrying at most the id it was given), a `subflow` parent and a
+ * `map` item.
+ */
+
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+
+import { AutomationEngine } from './engine.js';
+import { installBuiltinNodes } from './builtin/index.js';
+
+function silentLogger(): any {
+    return { info() {}, warn() {}, error() {}, debug() {}, child() { return silentLogger(); } };
+}
+
+function makeEngine(): AutomationEngine {
+    const engine = new AutomationEngine(silentLogger());
+    installBuiltinNodes(engine, { logger: silentLogger(), getService() { return undefined; } } as any);
+    return engine;
+}
+
+/**
+ * start → assignment (`v` = the CEL `source`) → end. `assignee` and `title` are
+ * input variables, so a run can bind a variable of the same name as a record
+ * field and the pin can tell which one `record.X` read.
+ */
+function readerFlow(name: string, source: string, variables: unknown[] = []) {
+    return {
+        name, label: name, type: 'autolaunched',
+        variables: [
+            { name: 'assignee', type: 'text', isInput: true },
+            { name: 'title', type: 'text', isInput: true },
+            { name: 'v', type: 'text', isOutput: true },
+            ...variables,
+        ],
+        nodes: [
+            { id: 'start', type: 'start', label: 'Start' },
+            { id: 'set', type: 'assignment', label: 'Set', config: { assignments: { v: { dialect: 'cel', source } } } },
+            { id: 'end', type: 'end', label: 'End' },
+        ],
+        edges: [
+            { id: 'e1', source: 'start', target: 'set' },
+            { id: 'e2', source: 'set', target: 'end' },
+        ],
+    } as any;
+}
+
+async function run(source: string, context: Record<string, unknown>, variables: unknown[] = []) {
+    const engine = makeEngine();
+    engine.registerFlow('reader', readerFlow('reader', source, variables));
+    return engine.execute('reader', context as any);
+}
+
+const outputOf = (result: { output?: unknown }) => (result.output as { v?: unknown } | undefined)?.v;
+
+/** A run with an `assignee` variable and no record in hand: the REST trigger route's shape. */
+const NO_RECORD = { params: { assignee: 'u9' } };
+
+describe('no record in hand: `record` is unbound, never the variables map', () => {
+    it.each([
+        ['record.assignee'],
+        // The card's own shape: the guard reads the alias as present and answers the variable.
+        ['has(record.assignee) ? record.assignee : null'],
+    ])('`%s` fails the run on `record` and never answers the `assignee` variable', async (source) => {
+        const result = await run(source, NO_RECORD);
+        expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+        expect(result.status).toBe('failed');
+        expect(result.error).toMatch(/Unknown variable: record\b/);
+        expect(result.error).toContain(source);
+        expect(outputOf(result)).not.toBe('u9');
+    });
+
+    it('a predicate site reads the same scope: an edge condition on `record.assignee` fails the run', async () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        engine.registerFlow('gate', {
+            name: 'gate', label: 'Gate', type: 'autolaunched',
+            variables: [{ name: 'assignee', type: 'text', isInput: true }],
+            nodes: [
+                { id: 'start', type: 'start', label: 'Start' },
+                { id: 'hit', type: 'end', label: 'Hit' },
+                { id: 'miss', type: 'end', label: 'Miss' },
+            ],
+            edges: [
+                { id: 'e1', source: 'start', target: 'hit', condition: 'record.assignee == "u9"' },
+                { id: 'e2', source: 'start', target: 'miss', condition: 'record.assignee != "u9"' },
+            ],
+        } as any);
+        const result = await engine.execute('gate', NO_RECORD as any);
+        expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+        expect(result.status).toBe('failed');
+        expect(result.error).toMatch(/Unknown variable: record\b/);
+    });
+
+    it('the engine primitives the executors call refuse it too, naming `record`', () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        const variables = new Map<string, unknown>([['assignee', 'u9']]);
+        expect(() => engine.evaluateValueEnvelope(
+            { dialect: 'cel', source: 'has(record.assignee) ? record.assignee : null' }, variables, 'where',
+        )).toThrow(/Unknown variable: record\b/);
+        expect(() => engine.evaluateCondition('record.assignee == "u9"', variables)).toThrow(/Unknown variable: record\b/);
+    });
+});
+
+describe('controls: what stays as it was', () => {
+    it('a record-triggered run reads `record.X` from its record, over a variable of the same name', async () => {
+        const result = await run('record.assignee', {
+            record: { id: 'r1', assignee: 'rec_owner' },
+            object: 'task',
+            event: 'record-after-update',
+            params: { assignee: 'u9' },
+        });
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect(outputOf(result)).toBe('rec_owner');
+    });
+
+    it.each([['assignee'], ['vars.assignee']])('`%s` still reads the variable, with no record in hand', async (source) => {
+        const result = await run(source, NO_RECORD);
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect(outputOf(result)).toBe('u9');
+    });
+
+    it('a flow that declares a `record` variable reads it, with no entrance record', async () => {
+        const result = await run('record.assignee', NO_RECORD, [
+            { name: 'record', type: 'object', defaultValue: { assignee: 'declared' } },
+        ]);
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect(outputOf(result)).toBe('declared');
+    });
+});
+
+describe('each entrance hands its record: `record` is that record, never the variables', () => {
+    const ROW = { id: 'r1', title: 'From the record' };
+    const VARIABLE = { title: 'From a variable' };
+
+    it.each([
+        ['a record-change trigger', { record: ROW, object: 'task', event: 'record-after-update', previous: { id: 'r1' } }],
+        ['a time-relative sweep', { record: ROW, object: 'task', event: 'time_relative' }],
+        ['the inbound hook (the request body is the record)', { record: ROW, params: { ...ROW }, event: 'api' }],
+        ['a `type: \'flow\'` action on a row', { record: ROW, object: 'task', params: { recordId: 'r1' } }],
+    ])('%s', async (_entrance, context) => {
+        const result = await run('record.title', {
+            ...context,
+            params: { ...VARIABLE, ...((context as { params?: object }).params ?? {}) },
+        });
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect(outputOf(result)).toBe('From the record');
+    });
+
+    it('an object-less action hands an empty record: `record.X` fails on the key and never reads the variable', async () => {
+        const result = await run('record.assignee', { record: {}, params: { assignee: 'u9' } });
+        expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+        expect(result.status).toBe('failed');
+        expect(result.error).toMatch(/\bassignee\b/);
+        expect(result.error).not.toMatch(/Unknown variable: record\b/);
+        expect(outputOf(result)).not.toBe('u9');
+    });
+
+    /** parent: start → subflow (`child`, input `title` = 'From a variable') → end, child output under `sub`. */
+    function withSubflow(engine: AutomationEngine) {
+        engine.registerFlow('child', readerFlow('child', 'record.title'));
+        engine.registerFlow('parent', {
+            name: 'parent', label: 'Parent', type: 'autolaunched',
+            variables: [{ name: 'sub', type: 'object', isOutput: true }],
+            nodes: [
+                { id: 'start', type: 'start', label: 'Start' },
+                {
+                    id: 'call', type: 'subflow', label: 'Call',
+                    config: { flowName: 'child', input: { title: 'From a variable' }, outputVariable: 'sub' },
+                },
+                { id: 'end', type: 'end', label: 'End' },
+            ],
+            edges: [
+                { id: 'e1', source: 'start', target: 'call' },
+                { id: 'e2', source: 'call', target: 'end' },
+            ],
+        } as any);
+    }
+
+    it('a `subflow` child reads its parent\'s record', async () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        withSubflow(engine);
+        const result = await engine.execute('parent', { record: ROW, object: 'task', event: 'record-after-update' } as any);
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect((result.output as { sub?: { v?: unknown } }).sub?.v).toBe('From the record');
+    });
+
+    it('a parent with no record hands none: the child\'s `record.X` fails, though the child has the variable', async () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        withSubflow(engine);
+        const result = await engine.execute('parent', {} as any);
+        expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+        expect(result.error).toMatch(/Unknown variable: record\b/);
+    });
+
+    /** parent: start → map over `items` (child per item) → end, results under `mapped`. */
+    function withMap(engine: AutomationEngine) {
+        engine.registerFlow('child', readerFlow('child', 'record.title'));
+        engine.registerFlow('parent', {
+            name: 'parent', label: 'Parent', type: 'autolaunched',
+            variables: [
+                { name: 'items', type: 'list', isInput: true },
+                { name: 'mapped', type: 'list', isOutput: true },
+            ],
+            nodes: [
+                { id: 'start', type: 'start', label: 'Start' },
+                {
+                    id: 'each', type: 'map', label: 'Each',
+                    config: {
+                        flowName: 'child', collection: '{items}', iteratorVariable: 'item',
+                        input: { title: 'From a variable' }, outputVariable: 'mapped',
+                    },
+                },
+                { id: 'end', type: 'end', label: 'End' },
+            ],
+            edges: [
+                { id: 'e1', source: 'start', target: 'each' },
+                { id: 'e2', source: 'each', target: 'end' },
+            ],
+        } as any);
+    }
+
+    it('a `map` item that carries an id is the child\'s record', async () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        withMap(engine);
+        const result = await engine.execute('parent', {
+            params: { items: [{ id: 'i1', title: 'One' }, { id: 'i2', title: 'Two' }] },
+        } as any);
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect((result.output as { mapped?: unknown }).mapped).toEqual([{ v: 'One' }, { v: 'Two' }]);
+    });
+
+    it('a `map` item with no id is not a record: the child reads the parent\'s record', async () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        withMap(engine);
+        const result = await engine.execute('parent', {
+            record: ROW, object: 'task', event: 'record-after-update', params: { items: ['a'] },
+        } as any);
+        expect(result.success, result.error).toBe(true);
+        expect((result.output as { mapped?: unknown }).mapped).toEqual([{ v: 'From the record' }]);
+    });
+});