feat(spec)!: retire the bare string sort clause on the list-view doors

`ListViewSchema.sort` accepted both the legacy string clause (`"field desc"`)
and the structured `{ field, order }[]` array. objectui ruled one sort
orthography platform-wide -- the array (objectui#8221, decision batch #77,
2026-09-07, option B) -- and objectui PR #8758 executes it: its
`convertSortToQueryParams` refuses a runtime string outright.

That made this schema the PRODUCER of documents its own consumer rejects: a
view authored with `sort: 'created_at desc'` validated here, cleanly, and then
failed downstream, with the author told off by the wrong layer. The grade sat
on that asymmetry, not on the string.

`sort` survives as a key, one union arm lighter, so this is a VALUE narrowing
with no `retiredKey()` tombstone to hang a prescription on. The surviving array
member's own `error` map carries it, keyed on `issue.input` being a string --
the shape `view.type`'s retired `'page'` and `view.exportOptions`' retired
`'pdf'` already use here. Every other invalid value, and any string reaching a
descendant, keeps zod's default report.

The narrowing is not free, so the population was measured rather than assumed:
a tree-wide census read as structures (not counted as tokens) found the clause
authored on three live sites, all converted here -- the shipped showcase list
view, the frozen lint snapshot of that same shape, and the published
objectstack-ui list-view rule. It therefore carries a D2 conversion,
`list-view-sort-string-clause-to-array`, wired into the protocol-18 chain step:
the rewrite is lossless and wholly mechanical. A clause that does not parse as
`<field> [asc|desc]` is deliberately left alone -- the `'-field'` dialect
belongs to `RecordRelatedListProps.sort`, never reaches
`convertSortToQueryParams`, and retiring it was not ruled.

Retiring the string arm also made the sort entry's own keys visible to the
liveness walk, which reported `view/list.sort` as an undeclared container.
Drilled with in-repo evidence rather than recorded in the shrink-only baseline:
`normalizeSortNodes` reads both `field` and `order`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01MkQhmuuJAVDjmeWNixwDDH

Author: claude

.changeset/17053-list-view-sort-string-clause-retired.md

@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": minor
+---
+
+feat(spec)!: `ListViewSchema.sort` retires the bare string clause — the PRODUCER half of the sort seam, so the contract stops minting documents its own consumer refuses (#17053; objectui#8221, decision batch #77 option B)
+
+<!-- adr-0087: registered list-view-sort-string-clause-to-array -->
+
+**BREAKING** accept-set narrowing at `view.sort` — the list-view doors
+(`ListViewSchema`, and the `ObjectListViewSchema` copy behind `object.list` /
+`object.listViews.*`) — shipped as `minor` under this repo's launch-window
+convention for breaking changes, the same grade its sibling
+`object-block-sort-item-array` took for the two `ComponentPropsMap` doors. The
+mechanical prescription is registered under protocol major 18 as
+`list-view-sort-string-clause-to-array`.
+
+**Why this is graded on the seam, not on the string.** objectui ruled one sort
+orthography platform-wide — the array (objectui#8221, decision batch #77,
+2026-09-07, option B) — and objectui PR #8758 executes it: `convertSortToQueryParams`
+refuses a runtime string and its diagnostic names the array form. `ListViewSchema`
+is the producer of exactly those documents: `object.list.sort` is what
+`deriveRelatedLists` reads. So until this release a view authored with
+`sort: 'created_at desc'` **validated here, cleanly, and then failed downstream** —
+the contract minting a shape its consumer rejects, with the author told off by
+the wrong layer. Re-measured on this tree before the change, with `bogusProp`
+refused by name on the same call as the firing control: `'name desc'`, `'-name'`
+and the array form all returned `success: true`, and only a bare number was
+refused (`sort/invalid_union`).
+
+`sort` survives as a key, one union arm lighter, so this is a VALUE narrowing with
+no `retiredKey()` tombstone to hang a prescription on. The surviving array member's
+own `error` map carries it, keyed on `issue.input` being a string — the same shape
+`view.type`'s retired `'page'` value and `view.exportOptions`' retired `'pdf'` value
+already use in this schema. Every other invalid value (a number, an object, a
+string reaching a *descendant* such as a misspelled `order`) keeps zod's default
+report, so nobody is told a clause they never wrote "was removed".
+
+**Migration** (`list-view-sort-string-clause-to-array`, a D2 conversion, not a
+semantic TODO — the rewrite is lossless and wholly mechanical):
+`sort: 'created_at desc'` becomes `sort: [{ field: 'created_at', order: 'desc' }]`;
+a bare field name meant ascending, so `sort: 'created_at'` becomes
+`sort: [{ field: 'created_at', order: 'asc' }]` — `order` is required on the entry
+and is written out rather than omitted; a comma-separated clause becomes one array
+entry per key, in the same order. `os migrate meta --from 17` lists these edits for
+author sources, and stored rows replay them through `applyConversionsToStoredItem`.
+
+**The narrowing was not free, and the population was measured rather than assumed.**
+A tree-wide census over both the TS and JSON spellings of a string-valued `sort`,
+read as STRUCTURES rather than counted as tokens, found the clause authored on
+three live in-tree sites, all converted here: the shipped showcase list view
+`examples/app-showcase/src/ui/views/task.view.ts` (`'estimate_hours desc'`, carried
+since objectui#2601 as a deliberate live coverage fixture for the string form), the
+frozen `packages/lint` snapshot of that same shipped shape, and the published
+`skills/objectstack-ui` list-view rule. The census fired: it *found* documents, and
+`tsc` independently reds on the first two the moment the arm is removed. Sites
+deliberately NOT converted, having been read rather than grepped: ObjectQL
+`query.sort` and the wire `normalizeSortNodes` (different doors, different
+dialects), `packages/spec`'s `book`/`doc` field-mapping records whose `sort: 'order'`
+is an unrelated key of the same name, and the `packages/lint` rule fixtures, which
+feed the PRE-parse walker and never reach this schema.
+
+**Not moved by this release.** `RecordRelatedListProps.sort` keeps its declared
+string arm. That string is the `'field'` / `'-field'` dialect normalised by
+objectui's own `RelatedList.normalizeSortSpec`; it never reaches
+`convertSortToQueryParams`, and retiring it was not ruled. For the same reason the
+conversion above declines any clause that does not parse as `<field> [asc|desc]`:
+guessing a direction for `'-name'` would invent an ordering the author never wrote,
+so on a list view it meets the door's prescription instead.

content/docs/references/api/protocol.mdx

@@ -1632,7 +1632,7 @@ The published metadata item body, opaque by ruling (1C). Shape is the item's own
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **resizable** | `boolean` | optional | Enable column resizing |
@@ -1717,7 +1717,7 @@ The published metadata item body, opaque by ruling (1C). Shape is the item's own
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **resizable** | `boolean` | optional | Enable column resizing |

content/docs/references/data/object.mdx

@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ const result = ApiMethod.parse(data);
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **resizable** | `boolean` | optional | Enable column resizing |

content/docs/references/ui/view.mdx

@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ Map view configuration
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **userFilters** | `{ element?: Enum<'dropdown' \| 'tabs' \| 'toggle'>; fields?: object[]; tabs?: object[]; showAllRecords?: boolean; … }` | optional | End-user quick-filter bar: dropdown/toggle fields or tab presets. Omit to let the renderer derive filters from select/boolean fields |
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ Tab configuration for multi-tab view interface
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **resizable** | `boolean` | optional | Enable column resizing |
@@ -1791,7 +1791,7 @@ Tab configuration for multi-tab view interface
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **resizable** | `boolean` | optional | Enable column resizing |
@@ -1876,7 +1876,7 @@ Tab configuration for multi-tab view interface
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **resizable** | `boolean` | optional | Enable column resizing |
@@ -2116,7 +2116,7 @@ This schema accepts one of the following structures:
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **userFilters** | `{ element?: Enum<'dropdown' \| 'tabs' \| 'toggle'>; fields?: object[]; tabs?: object[]; showAllRecords?: boolean; … }` | optional | End-user quick-filter bar: dropdown/toggle fields or tab presets. Omit to let the renderer derive filters from select/boolean fields |
@@ -2292,7 +2292,7 @@ This schema accepts one of the following structures:
 | **data** | `{ provider: 'object'; object: string } \| { provider: 'api'; read?: object; write?: object } \| { provider: 'value'; items: any[] } \| { provider: 'schema'; schemaId: string; schema?: Record<string, any> }` | optional | Data source configuration (defaults to "object" provider) |
 | **columns** | `string[] \| { field: string; label?: string \| Record<string, string>; width?: number; align?: Enum<'left' \| 'center' \| 'right'>; … }[]` | ✅ | Fields to display as columns |
 | **filter** | `{ field: string; operator?: Enum<'equals' \| 'not_equals' \| 'contains' \| 'not_contains' \| 'icontains' \| …>; value?: string \| number \| boolean \| null \| (string \| number)[] }[]` | optional | Filter criteria (JSON Rules) |
-| **sort** | `string \| { field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
+| **sort** | `{ field: string; order: Enum<'asc' \| 'desc'> }[]` | optional |  |
 | **searchableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields enabled for search |
 | **filterableFields** | `string[]` | optional | Legacy shorthand for userFilters.fields — bare field names enabled for end-user filtering. Prefer userFilters |
 | **userFilters** | `{ element?: Enum<'dropdown' \| 'tabs' \| 'toggle'>; fields?: object[]; tabs?: object[]; showAllRecords?: boolean; … }` | optional | End-user quick-filter bar: dropdown/toggle fields or tab presets. Omit to let the renderer derive filters from select/boolean fields |

examples/app-showcase/src/ui/views/task.view.ts

@@ -200,12 +200,12 @@ export const TaskViews = defineView({
         { field: 'estimate_hours' },
       ],
 
-      // @objectstack/spec ListViewSchema.sort accepts a bare STRING
-      // ("field [asc|desc]"), not only the {field,order}[] array form. This
-      // is the exact shape that used to crash the renderer with
-      // "schema.sort.map is not a function" (objectui#2601) — kept here as a
-      // live coverage fixture so a real list view exercises the string form.
-      sort: 'estimate_hours desc',
+      // [#17053] Was the bare STRING clause `'estimate_hours desc'`, kept here
+      // as the live coverage fixture for the shape that once crashed the
+      // renderer (objectui#2601). That arm is RETIRED — one sort spelling
+      // platform-wide, the array (objectui#8221 decision batch #77) — so this
+      // is the same ordering in the surviving form.
+      sort: [{ field: 'estimate_hours', order: 'desc' }],
 
       // ADR-0053 — NO `userFilters` here: on an object list view ("views"
       // mode) the console suppresses them by design (the view switcher is

packages/lint/src/showcase-shape.fixtures.ts

@@ -182,8 +182,12 @@ export const SnapshotTaskViews = defineView({
         { field: 'status' },
         { field: 'estimate_hours' },
       ],
-      // The bare-string `sort` spelling (objectui#2601), kept as authored.
-      sort: 'estimate_hours desc',
+      // [#17053] The bare-string `sort` spelling (objectui#2601) was RETIRED
+      // from `ListViewSchema`; this snapshot tracks the shipped shape through
+      // `defineView`, so it carries the same ordering in the array form the
+      // showcase now authors. The snapshot's SUBJECT is the three nameless
+      // form sections below — untouched.
+      sort: [{ field: 'estimate_hours', order: 'desc' }],
     },
     grid: {
       label: 'Grid',

packages/spec/liveness/state-counts.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ for both corollaries.
 | `skill` | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
 | `dataset` | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
 | `page` | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
-| `view` | 77 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 88 |
+| `view` | 78 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 89 |
 | `report` | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
 | `dashboard` | 45 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 55 |
 | `webhook` | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
@@ -63,4 +63,4 @@ for both corollaries.
 | `batch_endpoints` | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
 | `route_generation` | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
 | `realtime_subscription` | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
-| **total** | **861** | **5** | **1** | **95** | **10** | **972** |
+| **total** | **862** | **5** | **1** | **95** | **10** | **973** |