stacklok / stacklok/toolhive-core

Expose checked-AST output type from cel.Engine/CompiledExpression

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needs-triage
Dominant language
Go
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2
Forks
4
Avg merge
1d 12h
Merged PRs (30d)
46

Description

cel.Engine.Compile type-checks an expression against the declared variables but only returns an opaque *CompiledExpression — there's no way for a caller to ask "does this expression statically return bool?"

This matters for callers who want config validated at admission/reconcile time rather than discovering a wrong-type expression on the first live evaluation. Concretely: ToolHive's operator lets admins author a CEL expression (actorMatcher) that must evaluate to bool. Something like "engineering" or 1 type-checks fine (any expression over the declared variables compiles), so it passes config validation, gets reported as valid, and then fails on every runtime evaluation via EvaluateBool's runtime type assertion — a config mistake that could have been caught once at reconcile time instead surfaces as an operational failure repeatedly.

cel-go's own cel.Ast.OutputType() already exposes this from the checked AST — cel.Engine.Compile just doesn't surface it. Proposed API, e.g.:

func (ce *CompiledExpression) OutputType() *cel.Type

or a narrower Engine.CompileBool(expr string) (*CompiledExpression, error) that rejects non-bool statically in one call.

Reference: stacklok/toolhive#6364 (review comment) — code currently documents this gap in compileActorMatcher's doc comment rather than working around it.

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  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at cel.Engine.Compile and the opaque CompiledExpression, then compare the available cel.Ast.OutputType() information. Review compileActorMatcher's documentation and the proposed OutputType or CompileBool API. Done means callers can reject non-boolean expressions during compilation rather than on every runtime evaluation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
go
Domain
backend-api-design
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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