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Mutable Metadata & Per-Client Custom Schemas - Combined Design Plan (v3)
Status: DRAFT - Combined Claude + Codex + Jay's recommendations (2026-03-24, rev 2026-03-31 post-review, rev 2026-04-10: schema administration restricted to super_admin role only, rev 2026-04-13: add reset-metadata escape hatch)
Lineage: This plan was informed by two original detailed specs done adversarily. One by claude Opus 4.6 and one by Codex 5.4 (xhigh) based on human written requirements. Each was human reviewed for common items and conflicting items. Where there were conflicts the human was the final decision maker. This resulting hybrid document represents an improved design over each of the source documents.
v2 change summary (2026-04-10): In v1 all mutable-metadata administrative endpoints lived under /admin/*. Because the Permit.io middleware maps resources from the first path segment and both user_admin and super_admin hold full permissions on the admin resource, v1 exposed schema CRUD and schema assignment to the lesser (client-scoped) user_admin role. v2 moves every schema administration endpoint onto a new /super-admin/* path prefix backed by a new Permit.io resource named super-admin that only the super_admin role can access. User-facing custom metadata read/write endpoints (/custom-metadata/*) are unchanged. The underlying service layer, database schema, triggers, and validation strategy are unchanged -- this is strictly an authorization and routing change.
v3 change summary (2026-04-13): Adds a single new super_admin endpoint, POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata, to support upgrading a document to a newer schema version when the document already has custom metadata written. Today, once custom metadata exists, Trigger 1 (trg_prevent_schema_reassignment) freezes documents.custom_schema_id permanently, and Trigger 3 (trg_enforce_consistent_schema_id) forbids new metadata versions from referencing a different schema_id. The practical effect is that documents cannot move to a revised schema even when the new schema is a strict additive superset (e.g., one new optional field). v3 adds an explicit opt-in path: reset-metadata wipes all document_custom_metadata rows for the document and nulls documents.custom_schema_id in a single transaction, after which the existing PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema and POST /custom-metadata endpoints can bind a new schema and re-enter values. No new triggers, no changes to any existing trigger, no changes to existing schemas or endpoints. The escape hatch is deliberately destructive (metadata version history for the document is lost) so the invariant "schema is frozen once metadata exists" remains true -- you are explicitly opting out of "metadata exists" first. Everything else in this plan is unchanged from v2.
1. Problem Statement
Today, all field extraction data is stored in a rigid 3-table schema with ~130 statically-defined columns (19 single-value fields + 112 array fields). Every client shares the same field definitions. This means:
- Clients cannot define domain-specific fields (e.g., "aircraft engineering" vs. "auto engineering" document classes)
- Adding new fields requires database migrations and code changes across the full stack
- The system cannot accommodate varying data shapes per document class within a single client
Goal: Allow each client to curate their own collections of document schemas, where each schema defines the custom fields (with types and constraints) that a document's metadata must conform to. Administration of these schemas (create, update, retire, list, assign to documents/folders) is a platform-level responsibility and must be restricted to the super_admin role, not delegated to the lower-privileged user_admin role.
2. Current Architecture Summary
2.1 Existing Tables
documentFieldExtractions -- 19 single-value fields (1:1 per document)
documentFieldExtractionVersions -- Version tracking with row-level locking
documentFieldExtractionArrayFields -- 112 array fields (1:N per extraction)
2.2 Existing API Endpoints
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|---|---|
| POST | /field-extractions |
Create versioned extraction (singleFields + arrayFields) |
| GET | /field-extractions |
Get current (latest version) extraction for a document |
| GET | /field-extractions/version |
Get extraction by specific version |
| GET | /field-extractions/history |
List all versions for a document |
2.3 Key Relationships
documents.id->documentFieldExtractions.documentId(1:N via versions)documentFieldExtractions.id->documentFieldExtractionArrayFields.fieldExtractionId(1:N)documentFieldExtractions.id->documentFieldExtractionVersions.fieldExtractionId(1:N)- Documents belong to clients via
documents.clientId - No per-client customization of field definitions exists today
2.4 Current Role Model (Relevant to This Plan)
Two admin-class roles exist today, both configured in cmd/auth_related/permit.setup/permit_policies.yaml:
super_admin: Platform administrator. Holds full permissions across every resource (admin,client,clients,document,documents,folders, etc.). Intended for AArete-internal operators.user_admin: Client-scoped administrator. Primarily used for creating new client users via the admin user tool. Holds full permissions on theadminresource but intentionally does not hold permissions onclient,clients, ordocumentat the resource level.
Because the middleware extracts the resource from the first path segment (/admin/foo -> resource admin), any endpoint placed under /admin/* is accessible to both super_admin and user_admin. v1 of this plan placed schema administration under /admin/* and therefore exposed schema CRUD and assignment to user_admin. v2 corrects this.
3. Design Principles
- Additive, not destructive - The existing static field extraction system continues to work unchanged for documents that do not opt into custom schemas. Custom schemas are an additive capability.
- Mutual exclusivity - A document uses EITHER the legacy static field extraction system OR the custom schema system, never both. This prevents ambiguity about which system is authoritative for a document's metadata. Once a document is assigned a custom schema, the legacy field extraction endpoints reject writes for that document, and vice versa.
- Schema-as-data - Schemas are stored as JSON Schema documents in the database, not as DDL. No migrations needed when clients add/modify schemas.
- Immutable schema versions - When a schema is updated, a new version (with new ID) is created. Old versions remain for historical reference. No backward compatibility checking is required between versions since each version gets a distinct ID.
- Schema binding is permanent - Once custom metadata is written to a document with a schema ID, that schema ID cannot be changed on the document. This guarantees data integrity.
- JSON blob storage - Custom metadata is stored as JSONB in PostgreSQL, validated against the schema at write time. This avoids dynamic column creation.
- Client isolation - Schemas are scoped to clients. A client cannot reference another client's schema.
- Size limits - Schema definitions are capped at 64KB (
MaxSchemaDefinitionBytes = 65536). Metadata payloads are capped at 1MB (MaxMetadataPayloadBytes = 1048576). Bulk folder assignments are capped at 10,000 documents (MaxBulkAssignDocuments = 10000). All are tunable constants. - No JSONB search/filter - The system does NOT support querying or filtering documents by custom metadata values. Custom metadata is opaque storage validated on write. If search is needed in the future, it would require GIN indexes on the JSONB columns and a dedicated query API (separate phase).
super_admin-scoped schema management - Schema CRUD operations, single-document schema assignment, and bulk folder-level schema assignment live under/super-admin/*and require thesuper_adminrole. The lesseruser_adminrole does NOT have access to schema administration. Custom metadata read/write on documents (/custom-metadata/*) is available to regularclient_userusers and to both admin roles.- Defense-in-depth - Critical invariants (schema lock after first extraction, client/schema ownership match, schema_id consistency across metadata versions) are enforced at BOTH the application layer AND the database layer via triggers. The app-layer checks provide better error messages; the DB triggers are safety nets against bypass.
- No migration from static fields - There is no migration path from the existing static field extraction data into the custom schema system. They are mutually exclusive per document. Out of scope.
4. Database Schema Design
4.1 New Type: schema_status_type
A three-state enum that distinguishes between different reasons a schema is no longer assignable:
CREATE TYPE schema_status_type AS ENUM ('active', 'superseded', 'retired');
active: The schema version is current and can be assigned to new documents.superseded: A newer version of this schema (samename) was created. The schema is still valid for documents already using it, but should not be assigned to new documents. Set automatically when a new version is created viaPUT.retired: An admin explicitly disabled this schema version. Functionally similar tosupersededbut indicates a deliberate administrative action rather than an automatic version succession.
4.2 New Table: client_metadata_schemas
Stores client-defined JSON Schema documents. Each row is an immutable version of a schema definition.
CREATE TABLE client_metadata_schemas (
id uuid PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT uuid_generate_v7(),
client_id varchar(255) NOT NULL REFERENCES clients(clientId),
name varchar(255) NOT NULL,
description text,
schema_def jsonb NOT NULL, -- The JSON Schema document (max 64KB enforced at app layer)
version int NOT NULL DEFAULT 1, -- Auto-incremented per (client_id, name)
status schema_status_type NOT NULL DEFAULT 'active',
created_at timestamptz NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW(),
created_by varchar(255) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT uq_client_schema_name_version UNIQUE (client_id, name, version),
CONSTRAINT chk_schema_def_size CHECK (pg_column_size(schema_def) <= 70000) -- ~68KB to account for JSONB overhead; app layer enforces 64KB on raw JSON
);
CREATE INDEX idx_cms_client_id ON client_metadata_schemas(client_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_cms_client_name ON client_metadata_schemas(client_id, name);
CREATE INDEX idx_cms_client_status ON client_metadata_schemas(client_id, status);
Note
: The 64KB limit is enforced at the application layer (Go constant
MaxSchemaDefinitionBytes = 65536) by checkinglen(rawJSON). The database CHECK constraint usespg_column_size()which measures on-disk JSONB storage (includes header overhead), so it is set slightly higher (~68KB) as a safety net. The app-layer check provides the user-facing 64KB limit and a better error message.
Design decisions:
name+versionscoped to client: Allows human-friendly naming ("aircraft-engineering-v3") with automatic versioning. When a schema is "updated," a new row is inserted withversion = max(version) + 1for that(client_id, name).schema_defis JSONB: Stores the full JSON Schema document. PostgreSQL can index into it if needed later.statusenum: Three-state lifecycle.supersededis set automatically when a newer version is created.retiredis set explicitly by admin action (soft-delete). Both states prevent assignment to new documents but allow existing documents to continue using the schema for validation. This is richer than a booleanis_activebecause it distinguishes "replaced by v2" from "admin decided this is bad."idis the schema version ID: This is what documents reference. Each update creates a newid. The(client_id, name, version)tuple provides the human-readable lineage.
4.3 New Table: document_custom_metadata
Stores the actual custom metadata for documents, validated against the referenced schema.
CREATE TABLE document_custom_metadata (
id uuid PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT uuid_generate_v7(),
document_id uuid NOT NULL REFERENCES documents(id),
schema_id uuid NOT NULL REFERENCES client_metadata_schemas(id),
metadata jsonb NOT NULL, -- The actual custom field values
version int NOT NULL DEFAULT 1, -- Versioned like field extractions
created_at timestamptz NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW(),
created_by varchar(255) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT uq_doc_custom_metadata_version UNIQUE (document_id, version)
);
CREATE INDEX idx_dcm_document_id ON document_custom_metadata(document_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_dcm_schema_id ON document_custom_metadata(schema_id);
CREATE INDEX idx_dcm_doc_version_desc ON document_custom_metadata(document_id, version DESC); -- Enables efficient DISTINCT ON in current_document_custom_metadata view
Design decisions:
- Single table with version column: We use one table (rather than separate extraction + version tables like the legacy pattern) because the simpler design is sufficient. The legacy two-table pattern exists to support row-level locking on the version counter independently of the data row.
- Concurrency strategy for version assignment:
SELECT ... FOR UPDATEon the max-version row correctly serializes the second and subsequent writes for a document, but it does not serialize the first write -- there is no row to lock yet, so two concurrent first-writers both seemax(version) = 0, both try to INSERTversion = 1, and one fails with aUNIQUE (document_id, version)violation. v3 handles this explicitly by locking the parentdocumentsrow withSELECT id FROM documents WHERE id = $1 FOR UPDATEbefore reading the max version. The document row is guaranteed to exist (enforced by the service layer's existence check and by the FK) so this lock serializes the first write as well as every subsequent write. As a belt-and-suspenders measure, the service layer also retries once on aUNIQUE (document_id, version)violation; if the retry still conflicts the request returns500. If this proves insufficient under load, splitting into two tables is a backward-compatible change. schema_idis immutable per document: Enforced at both the application layer and the database trigger (see Section 4.7). All versions of custom metadata for a document must reference the same schema ID.metadatais JSONB: Validated againstclient_metadata_schemas.schema_defat write time. Stored as a single blob for simplicity and query flexibility.
4.4 Alteration: documents Table
Add an optional schema binding column:
ALTER TABLE documents
ADD COLUMN custom_schema_id uuid NULL REFERENCES client_metadata_schemas(id);
CREATE INDEX idx_documents_custom_schema_id ON documents(custom_schema_id);
Behavior:
NULL= document uses the legacy static field extraction system (default, backward-compatible)NOT NULL= document is opted into the custom schema system; legacy field extraction endpoints will reject writes for this document- Once set AND custom metadata has been written, this field becomes immutable (enforced at app layer AND DB trigger)
- Can be set before metadata is written (pre-binding) and changed freely until first metadata write
- Must reference a schema owned by the same client as the document (cross-client reference check enforced at app layer AND DB trigger)
- Cannot be set on a document that already has legacy field extractions (returns 409 Conflict)
4.5 New View: current_document_custom_metadata
CREATE VIEW current_document_custom_metadata AS
SELECT DISTINCT ON (document_id)
id,
document_id,
schema_id,
metadata,
version,
created_at,
created_by
FROM document_custom_metadata
ORDER BY document_id, version DESC;
4.6 Entity Relationship Diagram
clients
|
|-- 1:N --> client_metadata_schemas (per-client schema definitions)
| |
| |-- referenced by --> documents.custom_schema_id
| |-- referenced by --> document_custom_metadata.schema_id
|
|-- 1:N --> documents
|
|-- 1:N --> document_custom_metadata (versioned JSONB blobs)
| [MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE with legacy extractions]
|-- 1:N --> documentFieldExtractions (existing static fields)
[MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE with custom metadata]
4.7 Database Triggers (Defense-in-Depth)
Three triggers enforce critical invariants at the database level, providing a safety net regardless of which code path modifies the data.
Trigger 1: Prevent schema reassignment after first extraction
Fires on documents BEFORE UPDATE of custom_schema_id. Prevents changes if the document has any extraction data (legacy or custom).
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION trg_prevent_schema_reassignment()
RETURNS TRIGGER AS $$
BEGIN
-- Only fire if custom_schema_id is actually changing
IF OLD.custom_schema_id IS DISTINCT FROM NEW.custom_schema_id THEN
-- Check for existing custom metadata
IF EXISTS (
SELECT 1 FROM document_custom_metadata
WHERE document_id = NEW.id
LIMIT 1
) THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Cannot change custom_schema_id on document % because custom metadata already exists', NEW.id;
END IF;
-- Check for existing legacy field extractions
IF EXISTS (
SELECT 1 FROM "documentFieldExtractionVersions"
WHERE "documentId" = NEW.id
LIMIT 1
) THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Cannot change custom_schema_id on document % because legacy field extractions already exist', NEW.id;
END IF;
END IF;
RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER trg_documents_prevent_schema_reassignment
BEFORE UPDATE OF custom_schema_id ON documents
FOR EACH ROW
EXECUTE FUNCTION trg_prevent_schema_reassignment();
Trigger 2: Validate client/schema ownership match
Fires on documents BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE of custom_schema_id. Ensures the referenced schema belongs to the same client as the document.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION trg_validate_schema_client_match()
RETURNS TRIGGER AS $$
DECLARE
schema_client_id varchar(255);
BEGIN
-- Only check when custom_schema_id is non-null
IF NEW.custom_schema_id IS NOT NULL THEN
SELECT client_id INTO schema_client_id
FROM client_metadata_schemas
WHERE id = NEW.custom_schema_id;
IF schema_client_id IS NULL THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Schema % does not exist', NEW.custom_schema_id;
END IF;
IF schema_client_id != NEW."clientId" THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'Schema % belongs to client %, but document % belongs to client %',
NEW.custom_schema_id, schema_client_id, NEW.id, NEW."clientId";
END IF;
END IF;
RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER trg_documents_validate_schema_client
BEFORE INSERT OR UPDATE OF custom_schema_id ON documents
FOR EACH ROW
EXECUTE FUNCTION trg_validate_schema_client_match();
Trigger 3: Enforce consistent schema_id across metadata versions
Fires on document_custom_metadata BEFORE INSERT. Ensures all metadata versions for a document reference the same schema ID. This is the database-level safety net for Invariant 7.
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION trg_enforce_consistent_schema_id()
RETURNS TRIGGER AS $$
DECLARE
existing_schema_id uuid;
BEGIN
SELECT schema_id INTO existing_schema_id
FROM document_custom_metadata
WHERE document_id = NEW.document_id
LIMIT 1;
IF existing_schema_id IS NOT NULL AND existing_schema_id != NEW.schema_id THEN
RAISE EXCEPTION 'All custom metadata for document % must use schema %, but got %',
NEW.document_id, existing_schema_id, NEW.schema_id;
END IF;
RETURN NEW;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
CREATE TRIGGER trg_dcm_enforce_consistent_schema
BEFORE INSERT ON document_custom_metadata
FOR EACH ROW
EXECUTE FUNCTION trg_enforce_consistent_schema_id();
Note
: These triggers duplicate checks that also exist in the application service layer. This is intentional. The app-layer checks return structured HTTP error responses (400/409). The triggers are a last-resort safety net that fires even if a future code path, migration script, or admin query bypasses the service layer.
5. API Design
5.1 Schema Management Endpoints (super_admin only)
All schema CRUD endpoints live under the /super-admin/custom-schemas path prefix. The first path segment super-admin maps (via the existing first-segment resource extraction rule in the Permit.io middleware) to a new Permit.io resource named super-admin. Only the super_admin role holds permissions on this resource. The user_admin role does NOT have access.
These endpoints are grouped under a new OpenAPI tag SuperAdminSchemaService (distinct from the existing AdminService) to make the authorization boundary visible in the generated client and in Swagger.
POST /super-admin/custom-schemas
Create a new schema for a client.
Request:
{
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"name": "aircraft-engineering",
"description": "Custom fields for aircraft engineering documents",
"schema": {
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"aircraft_model": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100
},
"certification_date": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
"max_altitude_ft": {
"type": "number",
"minimum": 0,
"maximum": 100000
},
"engine_count": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 12
}
},
"required": ["aircraft_model"],
"additionalProperties": false
},
"createdBy": "admin@acme.com"
}
Response (201):
{
"id": "019577a3-...",
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"name": "aircraft-engineering",
"description": "Custom fields for aircraft engineering documents",
"schema": { ... },
"version": 1,
"status": "active",
"createdAt": "2026-03-23T12:00:00Z",
"createdBy": "admin@acme.com"
}
Validation:
- The
schemafield MUST be a valid JSON Schema document (validated server-side using a JSON Schema meta-validator) - The
schemafield must be <= 64KB in size (returns 400 with message referencing the limit) - Root
typemust be"object" - Root
additionalPropertiesMUST be explicitly present (eithertrueorfalse). If omitted, the server returns 400 with a message explaining thatadditionalPropertiesmust be explicitly declared. This prevents the common mistake of omitting it and inadvertently accepting arbitrary extra fields. namemust be unique within the client (for active schemas at the same version)
PUT /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}
Update an existing schema. Creates a new version with a new ID. The old version remains intact and its status is set to superseded. No backward compatibility check is performed -- the new version is treated as an independent schema that happens to share a name lineage.
Request:
{
"description": "Updated aircraft engineering fields (added wingspan)",
"schema": {
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"aircraft_model": { "type": "string", "maxLength": 100 },
"certification_date": { "type": "string", "format": "date" },
"max_altitude_ft": { "type": "number", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 100000 },
"engine_count": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 12 },
"wingspan_meters": { "type": "number", "minimum": 0 }
},
"required": ["aircraft_model"],
"additionalProperties": false
},
"createdBy": "admin@acme.com"
}
Response (201):
{
"id": "019577b4-...",
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"name": "aircraft-engineering",
"version": 2,
"status": "active",
"previousVersionId": "019577a3-...",
...
}
Behavior:
- The
schemaIdin the path identifies the schema to "update" (really: create a new version of) - The new version inherits the
namefrom the previous version - The old version's status is set to
superseded(it remains valid for existing documents but should not be assigned to new ones) - Returns the newly created schema version
- The
schemafield in the request body follows the same validation rules asPOST(including theadditionalPropertiesrequirement) - Concurrency: Uses
SELECT ... FOR UPDATEonclient_metadata_schemas WHERE client_id = $1 AND name = $2to lock existing versions before readingmax(version). This prevents two concurrent PUTs from computing the same next version number. The unique constraintuq_client_schema_name_versionis the final safety net.
GET /super-admin/custom-schemas
List all schemas for a client.
Query Parameters:
clientId(required): The client whose schemas to listname(optional): Filter by schema namestatus(optional): Filter by status (active,superseded,retired). Default: return onlyactive.includeAllVersions(optional, default: false): Return all versions or just latest per namelimit(optional, default: 50, max: 200): Maximum number of results to returnoffset(optional, default: 0): Number of results to skip for pagination
Response (200):
{
"schemas": [
{
"id": "019577b4-...",
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"name": "aircraft-engineering",
"description": "...",
"version": 2,
"status": "active",
"documentCount": 45,
"canDelete": false,
"createdAt": "...",
"createdBy": "..."
},
{
"id": "019577c1-...",
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"name": "auto-engineering",
"description": "...",
"version": 1,
"status": "active",
"documentCount": 0,
"canDelete": true,
"createdAt": "...",
"createdBy": "..."
}
]
}
Notes:
documentCountshows how many documents reference each schema version. Computed via a subquery or join.canDeleteistruewhendocumentCount == 0AND nodocument_custom_metadatarows reference the schema. This saves the client a round-trip to check before attempting delete.
GET /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}
Get a specific schema by ID (returns full schema definition).
Response (200):
{
"id": "019577a3-...",
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"name": "aircraft-engineering",
"description": "...",
"schema": { ... },
"version": 1,
"status": "superseded",
"documentCount": 45,
"canDelete": false,
"createdAt": "...",
"createdBy": "..."
}
DELETE /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}
Retire a schema. Only succeeds if no documents reference it.
Response (204): No content on success.
Response (409 Conflict):
{
"error": "Schema is in use by 45 documents and cannot be deleted"
}
Behavior:
- Sets
status = 'retired' - Fails with 409 if any documents reference this schema ID (via
documents.custom_schema_idordocument_custom_metadata.schema_id) - Retired schemas still serve validation for existing documents but cannot be assigned to new documents
5.2 Document Schema Assignment Endpoints (super_admin only)
Schema assignment endpoints also live under /super-admin/* so that the same first-segment resource extraction rule confines them to the super-admin Permit.io resource. Placing them under /admin/* (v1) or under /document/* would expose them to user_admin or client_user respectively, which we explicitly do not want.
PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema
Assign or change a custom schema on a single document.
Path note: The sub-segment uses plural
documents/{id}(notdocument/{id}as in v1) to avoid any possible collision with the existing top-level/document/{id}resource path during code review or manual URL inspection. This has no authorization impact because the first segment (super-admin) is what the middleware uses to resolve the resource, but it makes the namespacing visually unambiguous.
Request:
{
"customSchemaId": "019577a3-..."
}
Response (200):
{
"documentId": "...",
"customSchemaId": "019577a3-...",
"schemaName": "aircraft-engineering",
"schemaVersion": 1
}
Validation rules:
- Schema must belong to the same client as the document (enforced at app layer + DB trigger)
- Schema must have status
active - If the document already has custom metadata written, the schema cannot be changed (returns 409, also enforced by DB trigger)
- If the document already has legacy field extractions, the schema cannot be assigned (returns 409 -- mutual exclusivity)
- Setting
customSchemaIdtonullremoves the binding (only if no custom metadata exists)
POST /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema (Bulk Folder Assignment)
Assign a custom schema to ALL documents in a folder and all its subfolders (recursive).
Request:
{
"customSchemaId": "019577a3-...",
"createdBy": "admin@acme.com"
}
Response (200):
{
"folderId": "...",
"customSchemaId": "019577a3-...",
"schemaName": "aircraft-engineering",
"documentsUpdated": 87,
"documentsSkipped": 5,
"skippedReasons": [
{"documentId": "...", "reason": "Document already has custom metadata with a different schema"},
{"documentId": "...", "reason": "Document already has custom metadata with a different schema"},
{"documentId": "...", "reason": "Document already assigned to same schema (no-op)"},
{"documentId": "...", "reason": "Document has legacy field extractions"},
{"documentId": "...", "reason": "Document has legacy field extractions"}
]
}
Behavior:
- Uses
WITH RECURSIVECTE to walk the entire folder subtree (same pattern as folder deletion) - For each document in the tree:
- If the document has no schema, no custom metadata, and no legacy extractions -> assign the schema
- If the document already has the same schema -> skip (no-op, counted in
documentsSkipped) - If the document has a different schema but no custom metadata yet -> reassign to new schema
- If the document has a different schema AND has custom metadata -> skip with reason (cannot change)
- If the document has legacy field extractions -> skip with reason (mutual exclusivity)
- Runs in a single transaction
- Document count limit: If the folder subtree contains more than
MaxBulkAssignDocuments(10,000) documents, returns422 Unprocessable Entitywith a message explaining the limit. This prevents unbounded transaction duration, excessive lock contention, and replication lag. - Returns summary of what was updated and what was skipped (with reasons)
- Requires
super_adminrole (thesuper-adminresource grants neitheruser_adminnorclient_useraccess)
POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata
Wipe all custom metadata and schema binding from a single document so the document can be re-bound to a different schema (typically a newer version of the same schema, e.g., after an additive field was added via PUT /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}).
This is the explicit, audited escape hatch for the "schema is frozen once metadata exists" invariant. Under normal circumstances, once document_custom_metadata has any rows for a document, Trigger 1 (trg_prevent_schema_reassignment) blocks documents.custom_schema_id from ever changing and Trigger 3 (trg_enforce_consistent_schema_id) prevents writing new metadata rows under a different schema. Reset removes the blocking state (the metadata rows themselves and the schema binding) in a single transaction so the existing assign-schema + write-metadata endpoints can operate from a clean slate. No triggers are added, modified, or bypassed -- after the metadata rows are deleted inside the transaction, the existing triggers simply no longer have anything to object to.
Request: empty body (path parameter id is the document ID).
Response (200):
{
"documentId": "019577de-...",
"previousSchemaId": "019577a3-...",
"previousSchemaName": "aircraft-engineering",
"previousSchemaVersion": 1,
"metadataVersionsDeleted": 3,
"customSchemaId": null,
"hasCustomMetadata": false,
"resetAt": "2026-04-13T12:00:00Z",
"resetBy": "admin@acme.com"
}
The previous* fields describe the state before the reset so the caller can log or display what was wiped. customSchemaId: null and hasCustomMetadata: false confirm the post-reset state (same values the next GET /document/{id} would return).
Transaction sequence (single transaction, serializable-acceptable at read committed with the row locks below):
SELECT id, "clientId", custom_schema_id FROM documents WHERE id = $1 FOR UPDATE-- lock the document row so concurrent assigns/writes serialize behind the reset.- If the document does not exist, return
404 Not Found. - Capture
previousSchemaId(may beNULL) and join toclient_metadata_schemasto capturepreviousSchemaName/previousSchemaVersionfor the response (null if no schema was bound). SELECT COUNT(*) FROM document_custom_metadata WHERE document_id = $1-- captured asmetadataVersionsDeletedfor the response.DELETE FROM document_custom_metadata WHERE document_id = $1.UPDATE documents SET custom_schema_id = NULL WHERE id = $1. Trigger 1 fires on this UPDATE; because step 5 already removed all metadata rows and the document is guaranteed (by Invariant 14 and the existing mutual-exclusivity guards) to have no legacy field extractions, the trigger'sEXISTSchecks both return false and the UPDATE succeeds.- Insert an audit log entry (same log sink used by
AssignSchema/DeleteSchema) recordingactor,documentId,previousSchemaId,metadataVersionsDeleted, andresetAt. - Commit.
Behavior and guarantees:
- Atomic: If any step fails, the transaction rolls back and the document is unchanged.
- Idempotent on already-clean documents: If the document has no custom metadata and
custom_schema_id IS NULL, the endpoint succeeds and returnsmetadataVersionsDeleted: 0,previousSchemaId: null. This keeps retries safe. - Does NOT touch legacy field extractions: The mutual-exclusivity invariant (Invariant 14) still holds. A document that has any legacy field extraction rows is rejected with
409 Conflictbefore any DELETE runs -- see validation below. Reset-metadata is deliberately scoped to documents using the custom schema system; it is not a "force wipe everything" endpoint and will not silently no-op on legacy documents. - Does NOT touch the schema definitions:
client_metadata_schemasrows are untouched. Retiring the document's binding does not affect other documents using the same schema. - Does NOT re-assign the new schema: This endpoint is deliberately scoped to "wipe" only. The caller must follow up with
PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schemato bind the new schema andPOST /custom-metadatato re-enter values. Keeping the two operations separate preserves the existing endpoints' semantics and makes the audit trail explicit (one log entry for the reset, one for the re-assignment, one per metadata write). - History is lost: All prior metadata versions for this document are deleted. If the caller needs to preserve values across the reset, they must
GET /custom-metadatabeforehand and re-POST after the new schema is bound. Consider this the v3 "release valve," not the normal path. ThemetadataVersionsDeletedcount in the response is a safety check for callers who want to confirm how much history they gave up.
Validation and error responses:
404 Not Foundif the document does not exist or the caller's client scope does not include it.409 Conflictif the document has legacy field extraction rows (documentFieldExtractionVersions). Message: "Document uses the legacy field extraction system; reset-metadata only applies to documents using the custom schema system." This mirrors the mutual-exclusivity guard used elsewhere.200 OKon successful wipe (even if the document was already clean).500on unexpected DB errors. The transaction ensures partial state is impossible.
Authorization:
- Path lives under
/super-admin/*, so the first-segment resource extraction rule maps the request to thesuper-adminPermit.io resource. Only thesuper_adminrole holdssuper-admin:post, souser_admin,client_user, andauditorall receive403. No new Permit.io resource or action is required -- the existingsuper-admin:postgrant already covers this route. - The endpoint is also reflected in the documentation-only
policy_mappingsblock inpermit_policies.yaml(see Section 5.3).
Why wipe-and-reassign instead of allowing a compatible schema swap in place?
An earlier design considered relaxing Trigger 1 to permit reassignment when the new schema is a strict superset of the old one (additional optional fields, no type changes, no newly-required fields). That approach was rejected because:
- Invariant 5 stays clean. "
custom_schema_idis immutable once metadata exists" is a strong, trivially auditable rule. Introducing "immutable except when the new schema is compatible" replaces a one-line check with a structural JSON Schema comparator that must agree exactly across the app layer and the DB trigger. Keeping the trigger unchanged is worth the cost of a destructive reset for the edge case of in-place upgrades. - No silent reinterpretation of stored data. Deleting the metadata and requiring the caller to re-submit guarantees that the new schema is actually applied to the values being stored, with full validation. An in-place schema swap would leave the JSONB blobs untouched and implicitly promote them to the new schema -- which means a later schema tightening (e.g., a pattern constraint added to an existing field) would not catch violations in legacy rows.
- Audit clarity. The reset leaves an explicit log entry indicating that a super_admin chose to discard prior metadata history for this document. An in-place swap would silently change the schema linkage with no indication that the on-disk data predates the new schema.
- Simpler to implement and test. One new endpoint, zero migrations, zero trigger changes, reuses the SQLC queries already added for the delete cascade (
DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata,NullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId, see Section 8.2). No JSON Schema compatibility comparator to build, maintain, or debug.
If a non-destructive upgrade path is needed in the future, it can be added as a separate v4 endpoint (POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/upgrade-schema) that performs a compatibility check and a targeted UPDATE of document_custom_metadata.schema_id (still requiring a narrowly scoped relaxation of Trigger 3). v3 does not commit to that design.
GET /document/{id} (Modified)
Add customSchemaId and customMetadata fields to DocumentEnriched:
{
"id": "...",
"clientId": "acme-corp",
"hash": "...",
"customSchemaId": "019577a3-...",
"customSchemaName": "aircraft-engineering",
"hasCustomMetadata": true,
"customMetadata": { ... },
...existing fields...
}
Query parameter: customMetadata (boolean, default: false) - when true, includes the full custom metadata in the response (like the existing textRecord parameter).
Authorization note: The
GET /document/{id}endpoint stays on the existingdocumentresource. Both admin roles,client_user, andauditorcan read it today. ReturningcustomSchemaId/customSchemaName/customMetadataon this endpoint is read-only and does not grant any administrative capability. Thesuper-admingating applies only to the write/assign/manage paths.
5.3 Authorization & Permit.io Changes
Security note -- accepted cross-tenant limitation. The Permit.io check performed by
internal/cognitoauth/middleware.goandinternal/cognitoauth/permitio.gois(user, action, first-path-segment resource)-- it does not pass a document or client object. That means a caller withcustom-metadata:get/custom-metadata:post(i.e.client_user,user_admin,super_admin, or read-onlyauditor) and knowledge of a document UUID could read or write that document's custom metadata regardless of which client owns the document. This is the same limitation already documented for the rest of the API incmd/auth_related/permit.setup/permit_policies.yamland is NOT addressed by v3.Why this is acceptable for v3. Production environments are deployed per-client: each client runs in its own isolated stack (separate database, separate services, separate Cognito pool), so there is no "other tenant" to cross into from inside a production environment. The limitation only materializes in shared non-production environments (dev/uat) where multiple clients' fixtures may co-exist in a single database. Treat those environments accordingly -- do not load customer-sensitive fixtures into a shared stack.
Out of scope for v3. Adding application-level document -> client ownership enforcement to the custom-metadata service/controller is a separate initiative that also needs to retrofit the existing
documents,field-extractions, andfoldersendpoints. If/when that work happens, thecustom-metadataresource should be updated to receive the document and client objects in the Permit.io check, and the service should refuse cross-tenant reads/writes with404 Not Found(never403, to avoid leaking existence). Until then the table below describes only coarse role gating, not tenant scoping.
v2 splits admin-class authorization for mutable metadata into two tiers; v3 keeps the same split and simply adds the reset-metadata endpoint to the super_admin-only column:
| Role | Schema CRUD (/super-admin/custom-schemas/*) |
Schema Assignment (/super-admin/documents/{id}/schema, /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema) |
Reset Metadata (/super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata) |
Metadata Read (GET /custom-metadata/*, GET /document/{id} enrichment) |
Metadata Write (POST /custom-metadata) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
super_admin |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
user_admin |
No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
auditor |
Read-only (GET only) |
No | No | Read-only | No |
client_user |
No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Key change from v1: user_admin has NO schema CRUD and NO schema assignment rights. The role continues to function exactly as it does today for everything else (user creation, labels, folders, etc.). Reset-metadata (new in v3) follows the same confinement: only super_admin can call it, because it is destructive and structurally equivalent to a schema reassignment.
New Permit.io resource: super-admin
Add a new resource to cmd/auth_related/permit.setup/permit_policies.yaml:
resources:
# ...existing resources unchanged...
- name: super-admin
description: Platform-level administrative functions restricted to super_admin role (custom metadata schema management, schema assignment)
actions:
- get
- post
- patch
- delete
Role permission updates
roles:
- name: super_admin
description: Full system access for platform administrators
permissions:
# ...existing permissions unchanged...
super-admin:
- get
- post
- patch
- delete
custom-metadata:
- get
- post
- name: user_admin
description: User management - primarily for creating new client users
permissions:
# ...existing permissions unchanged (admin, documents, field-extractions, folders)...
# NOTE: user_admin is intentionally NOT granted super-admin:* permissions.
custom-metadata:
- get
- post
- name: auditor
description: Full read-only access across the entire system for auditing and compliance
permissions:
# ...existing permissions unchanged...
super-admin:
- get
custom-metadata:
- get
- name: client_user
description: Client-specific access for external users (requires tenant filtering)
permissions:
# ...existing permissions unchanged...
custom-metadata:
- get
- post
New custom-metadata resource
The user-facing custom metadata endpoints (/custom-metadata/*) use a separate custom-metadata resource (first path segment). This is unchanged from v1 except that it now also needs to be granted to super_admin explicitly (v1 relied on admin:* coverage which no longer covers the metadata path).
resources:
- name: custom-metadata
description: Per-document custom metadata read/write (validated against client schemas)
actions:
- get
- post
Policy mapping documentation additions
Add to the documentation-only policy_mappings section at the bottom of permit_policies.yaml:
super_admin_endpoints:
- path: /super-admin/custom-schemas
methods:
GET: super-admin:get
POST: super-admin:post
- path: /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}
methods:
GET: super-admin:get
PUT: super-admin:patch # PUT maps to patch action (create-new-version semantics)
DELETE: super-admin:delete
- path: /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema
methods:
PATCH: super-admin:patch
- path: /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema
methods:
POST: super-admin:post
- path: /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata
methods:
POST: super-admin:post
custom_metadata_endpoints:
- path: /custom-metadata
methods:
GET: custom-metadata:get
POST: custom-metadata:post
- path: /custom-metadata/version
methods:
GET: custom-metadata:get
- path: /custom-metadata/history
methods:
GET: custom-metadata:get
PUT-to-patch action note: The Permit.io middleware lowercases the HTTP method. Permit.io's default action vocabulary does not include
put; the existing middleware either mapsPUTtopatchor requires the action to exist. Confirm during implementation whether the middleware needs aputaction added to each resource or whether mappingPUT->patchis acceptable. If a new action is needed, addputto bothsuper-admin.actionsand thesuper_adminrole permissions. The same consideration applies to any other resources that currently have noputaction.
Middleware impact
The Permit.io resource-extraction middleware uses the first path segment. Introducing super-admin as a resource requires no middleware code changes -- it is purely a configuration addition via the permit setup tool. The setup tool (cmd/auth_related/permit.setup/) must be re-run in each environment (dev, uat, prod) to provision the new resource and role permissions before these endpoints can pass authorization.
Deployment ordering
Because the authorization changes must land in Permit.io before the API routes are live, the deployment sequence is:
- Update
permit_policies.yamlwith the new resources and role grants. - Run the permit setup tool against dev/uat/prod to provision the new resource and permissions.
- Deploy the API code containing the new endpoints.
Step 2 must complete before step 3 in each environment, otherwise the new endpoints would either be rejected by Permit.io (if fail-closed) or accidentally allowed (if fail-open) during the window between code deploy and permit sync.
5.4 Custom Metadata CRUD Endpoints (User-Facing)
All under a new CustomMetadataService tag. These endpoints are NOT moved under /super-admin/* because they are intended for regular users (including client_user) to read and write the custom metadata values on documents. Schema administration and schema assignment are separated from value read/write precisely so the day-to-day data entry workload does not require super_admin.
Actor identity is authoritative, not client-supplied. Several request bodies in this section and Section 5.2 show a
createdByfield (and the reset-metadata response showsresetBy). These are shown in the examples for audit-log shape only. The handler MUST derive the actor identity from the authenticated JWT / Cognito subject (cognitoauth.GetUserSubject, or whichever helper the middleware exposes) and ignore anycreatedBystring supplied in the request body. Accepting a caller-suppliedcreatedBywould let a compromised client write arbitrary audit trails, which defeats the audit goal.Applies to:
POST /super-admin/custom-schemas,PUT /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId},DELETE /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId},PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema,POST /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema,POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata, andPOST /custom-metadata. In a future OpenAPI pass thecreatedByrequest-body fields should be removed entirely; for v3 we keep the field in the schema for backward shape compatibility but drop its value on the server.Audit sink: Sections 5.2 and 8 reference "the same log sink used by
AssignSchema/DeleteSchema." If that sink does not already exist as a first-class abstraction ininternal/customschema/or anauditpackage, Phase 4 must define it (signature, where records are written, whether it is synchronous or queued) before Reset-metadata (Phase 4.5) and Schema CRUD (Phase 4.2) can log through it. The audit record must include at minimum:actor(derived from auth context),action,resourceId,timestamp, and an action-specific detail payload.
POST /custom-metadata
Create or update custom metadata for a document. Creates a new version.
Request:
{
"documentId": "...",
"metadata": {
"aircraft_model": "Boeing 737-800",
"certification_date": "2024-06-15",
"max_altitude_ft": 41000,
"engine_count": 2
},
"createdBy": "analyst@acme.com"
}
Response (201):
{
"id": "...",
"documentId": "...",
"schemaId": "019577a3-...",
"metadata": { ... },
"version": 1,
"createdAt": "...",
"createdBy": "analyst@acme.com"
}
Validation:
- Document must have a
custom_schema_idassigned (400 if not -- a super_admin must have assigned the schema first) - Document must NOT have any legacy field extractions (409 if it does -- mutual exclusivity, also enforced by DB trigger on schema assignment)
- The
metadatapayload must be <= 1MB in size (MaxMetadataPayloadBytes = 1048576). Returns 400 if exceeded. - The
metadatapayload is validated against the JSON Schema stored inclient_metadata_schemas.schema_def - The request body does NOT include
schemaId-- the server derives it from the document'scustom_schema_id. This prevents client/server drift. - If validation fails, returns 400 with detailed validation errors:
{ "error": "Metadata does not conform to schema", "validationErrors": [ {"field": "engine_count", "message": "must be >= 1, got 0"}, {"field": "aircraft_model", "message": "required field missing"} ] } - On first write, locks the document's
custom_schema_id(makes it immutable via app-layer flag + DB trigger) - Subsequent writes create new versions but must use the same schema
GET /custom-metadata
Get current (latest version) custom metadata for a document.
Query Parameters:
documentId(required)
Response (200):
{
"id": "...",
"documentId": "...",
"schemaId": "019577a3-...",
"schemaName": "aircraft-engineering",
"metadata": { ... },
"version": 3,
"createdAt": "...",
"createdBy": "..."
}
GET /custom-metadata/version
Get a specific version of custom metadata.
Query Parameters:
documentId(required)version(required, >= 1)
GET /custom-metadata/history
Get version history for a document's custom metadata.
Query Parameters:
documentId(required)limit(optional, default: 50, max: 200): Maximum number of versions to returnoffset(optional, default: 0): Number of versions to skip for pagination
Response (200):
{
"versions": [
{"id": "...", "documentId": "...", "version": 3, "createdAt": "...", "createdBy": "..."},
{"id": "...", "documentId": "...", "version": 2, "createdAt": "...", "createdBy": "..."},
{"id": "...", "documentId": "...", "version": 1, "createdAt": "...", "createdBy": "..."}
]
}
6. Validation Strategy
6.1 JSON Schema Validation
Use a Go JSON Schema validation library for both:
- Schema validation (meta-validation): When a super_admin submits a new schema, validate it against the JSON Schema meta-schema to ensure it is a well-formed JSON Schema document.
- Metadata validation: When custom metadata is submitted, validate the payload against the document's assigned schema.
Recommended library: github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6
Reasons:
- Supports JSON Schema draft 2020-12
- Active maintenance
- Good error reporting
- Supports custom formats
6.2 Schema Definition Requirements
When a schema definition is submitted (via POST or PUT), the server validates:
- It is a valid JSON object
- It compiles successfully as a JSON Schema document (meta-validation)
- Root
typeis"object" - Root
additionalPropertiesis explicitly present (eithertrueorfalse). This is required because JSON Schema defaultsadditionalPropertiestotruewhen omitted, which silently accepts any extra fields. Requiring explicit declaration forces a conscious choice. - Size is <= 64KB
6.3 Supported JSON Schema Features
The system will support the following JSON Schema keywords for custom field definitions:
| Feature | JSON Schema Keyword | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Data type | type |
"string", "number", "integer", "boolean", "array", "object" |
| Required fields | required |
["field1", "field2"] |
| String length | minLength, maxLength |
"maxLength": 100 |
| Numeric range | minimum, maximum |
"minimum": 0 |
| Pattern matching | pattern |
"pattern": "^[A-Z]{2}$" |
| Enum values | enum |
"enum": ["active", "inactive"] |
| Date/time format | format |
"format": "date" |
| Array items | items, minItems, maxItems |
Nested array support |
| Nested objects | properties |
Hierarchical field groups |
| No extra fields | additionalProperties |
false to enforce strict schemas |
6.4 Validation Error Reporting
Validation errors will be returned as structured JSON with:
- The JSON pointer to the failing field (
/aircraft_model) - The constraint that was violated (
maxLength) - A human-readable message
7. Service Layer Design
7.1 New Service: internal/customschema/
internal/customschema/
service.go -- CustomSchemaService (CRUD + validation)
models.go -- Input/output types
validator.go -- JSON Schema meta-validation + payload validation
constants.go -- MaxSchemaDefinitionBytes and other limits
service_test.go -- Integration tests
Constants (constants.go):
const (
// MaxSchemaDefinitionBytes is the maximum size of a JSON Schema definition.
// This limit can be increased if clients need larger schemas.
MaxSchemaDefinitionBytes = 65536 // 64KB
// MaxMetadataPayloadBytes is the maximum size of a custom metadata JSON payload.
// Prevents unbounded JSONB blobs when schemas use additionalProperties: true.
MaxMetadataPayloadBytes = 1048576 // 1MB
// MaxBulkAssignDocuments is the maximum number of documents that can be updated
// in a single bulk folder schema assignment. Prevents unbounded transactions.
MaxBulkAssignDocuments = 10000
)
Key methods:
type Service struct {
cfg serviceconfig.ConfigProvider
validator *SchemaValidator
}
// Schema management (super_admin operations)
func (s *Service) CreateSchema(ctx, input CreateSchemaInput) (*Schema, error)
func (s *Service) UpdateSchema(ctx, schemaID uuid.UUID, input UpdateSchemaInput) (*Schema, error)
func (s *Service) GetSchema(ctx, schemaID uuid.UUID) (*Schema, error)
func (s *Service) ListSchemas(ctx, clientID string, filters ListFilters) ([]SchemaSummary, error)
func (s *Service) DeleteSchema(ctx, schemaID uuid.UUID) error
// Metadata operations (client_user / admin operations)
func (s *Service) SetDocumentMetadata(ctx, input SetMetadataInput) (*CustomMetadata, error)
func (s *Service) GetCurrentMetadata(ctx, documentID uuid.UUID) (*CustomMetadata, error)
func (s *Service) GetMetadataByVersion(ctx, documentID uuid.UUID, version int) (*CustomMetadata, error)
func (s *Service) GetMetadataHistory(ctx, documentID uuid.UUID) ([]MetadataVersion, error)
// Document schema binding (super_admin operations)
func (s *Service) AssignSchema(ctx, documentID uuid.UUID, schemaID uuid.UUID) error
func (s *Service) AssignSchemaToFolder(ctx, folderID uuid.UUID, schemaID uuid.UUID, createdBy string) (*BulkAssignResult, error)
func (s *Service) ResetDocumentMetadata(ctx, documentID uuid.UUID, resetBy string) (*ResetMetadataResult, error)
ResetMetadataResult:
type ResetMetadataResult struct {
DocumentID uuid.UUID
PreviousSchemaID *uuid.UUID // nil if document had no schema bound
PreviousSchemaName *string // nil if document had no schema bound
PreviousSchemaVersion *int // nil if document had no schema bound
MetadataVersionsDeleted int
ResetAt time.Time
ResetBy string
}
ResetDocumentMetadata runs a single transaction that: locks the document row (SELECT ... FOR UPDATE), rejects documents with legacy field extractions (409), captures the previous schema binding metadata (via join to client_metadata_schemas) and the count of metadata versions for the response, executes the DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata and NullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId queries from Section 8.2 (already present for the delete cascade, reused here verbatim), writes an audit log entry, and returns the captured "previous" state. See Section 5.2 for the full endpoint semantics and rationale.
BulkAssignResult:
type BulkAssignResult struct {
FolderID uuid.UUID
SchemaID uuid.UUID
DocumentsUpdated int
DocumentsSkipped int
SkippedReasons []SkippedDocument
}
type SkippedDocument struct {
DocumentID uuid.UUID
Reason string
}
Authorization is enforced at the HTTP middleware layer via Permit.io, not inside these service methods. The service methods are agnostic to the caller's role. The routing layer for
/super-admin/*endpoints is what ensures onlysuper_admincan invokeCreateSchema,UpdateSchema,DeleteSchema,AssignSchema, andAssignSchemaToFolder. Keeping the service layer role-unaware preserves testability and makes integration tests simpler.
7.2 Validator Component
type SchemaValidator struct{}
// ValidateSchemaDefinition checks that a schema_def is valid JSON Schema.
// Returns error if: not a valid JSON object, fails meta-validation,
// root type is not "object", or additionalProperties is not explicitly present.
func (v *SchemaValidator) ValidateSchemaDefinition(schemaDef json.RawMessage) error
// ValidateMetadata checks that metadata conforms to a compiled schema
func (v *SchemaValidator) ValidateMetadata(schemaDef json.RawMessage, metadata json.RawMessage) ([]ValidationError, error)
7.3 Mutual Exclusivity Guard
The service layer enforces mutual exclusivity at two points:
- Schema assignment (
AssignSchema): Before settingcustom_schema_idon a document, check that no rows exist indocumentFieldExtractionVersionsfor that document. If they do, return409 Conflict. - Legacy field extraction write (modification to existing
FieldExtractionService): Before creating a new field extraction, check thatdocuments.custom_schema_id IS NULLfor the target document. If it is not null, return409 Conflictwith a message explaining that the document uses the custom schema system.
Note
: The DB trigger on
documents.custom_schema_id(Section 4.7, Trigger 1) also prevents schema assignment if legacy extractions exist. This is the defense-in-depth pattern: the service layer returns a clean 409; the trigger catches anything that slips through.
7.4 API Controller: api/queryAPI/customschemas.go
Follows the same pattern as fieldextractions.go:
- Parse and validate request
- Call service layer
- Convert between API and service types
- Return appropriate HTTP status codes
The controller file holds all /super-admin/custom-schemas/*, /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema, and /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema handlers. A separate controller file api/queryAPI/custommetadata.go holds the user-facing /custom-metadata/* handlers. Separating them by file mirrors the separation of authorization tiers and makes it obvious at code-review time which handlers are super_admin-gated.
8. Migration Plan
8.1 Migration Files
Four new migrations. The repo already contains migrations through 00000000000126_batch_document_outcomes_delete_actions, so v3 starts at 127. If another branch lands new migrations before this feature merges, renumber the four files below to the next free sequence and update all references in this plan and the tracking doc.
Migration 127: Create schema_status_type enum + client_metadata_schemas table
00000000000127_create_client_metadata_schemas.up.sql
00000000000127_create_client_metadata_schemas.down.sql
Migration 128: Create document_custom_metadata table + view
00000000000128_create_document_custom_metadata.up.sql
00000000000128_create_document_custom_metadata.down.sql
Migration 129: Add custom_schema_id to documents table
00000000000129_add_custom_schema_id_to_documents.up.sql
00000000000129_add_custom_schema_id_to_documents.down.sql
Migration 130: Add database triggers for invariant enforcement
00000000000130_add_schema_invariant_triggers.up.sql
00000000000130_add_schema_invariant_triggers.down.sql
Contents:
trg_prevent_schema_reassignmentfunction + trigger (Section 4.7, Trigger 1)trg_validate_schema_client_matchfunction + trigger (Section 4.7, Trigger 2)trg_enforce_consistent_schema_idfunction + trigger (Section 4.7, Trigger 3)- Down migration drops triggers and functions
8.2 SQLC Queries
New query file: internal/database/queries/customschemas.sql
Schema operations:
CreateClientMetadataSchema- Insert new schemaGetClientMetadataSchema- Get by IDListClientMetadataSchemas- List by client with filters (status filter)GetLatestSchemaByName- Get latest version of a named schemaGetSchemaDocumentCount- Count documents using a schemaGetSchemaMetadataRecordCount- Count metadata records referencing a schema (forcanDelete)SetSchemaStatus- Update status (for supersede/retire)GetMaxSchemaVersion- For auto-incrementing versionLockSchemaVersionsForName-SELECT ... FOR UPDATEon all versions of a (client_id, name) pair to prevent concurrent version creation race
Metadata operations:
CreateDocumentCustomMetadata- Insert new metadata versionGetCurrentDocumentCustomMetadata- Latest version (via view)GetDocumentCustomMetadataByVersion- Specific versionGetDocumentCustomMetadataHistory- All versionsLockDocumentCustomMetadataForVersion- Row-level locking (SELECT FOR UPDATE on max version)
Document modifications:
SetDocumentCustomSchemaId- Update documents.custom_schema_idGetDocumentCustomSchemaId- Read documents.custom_schema_idBulkSetDocumentCustomSchemaIdInFolderTree- Set schema for all docs in folder subtree (WITH RECURSIVE)GetDocumentsWithMetadataInFolderTree- Find docs that already have metadata (for skip reporting)GetDocumentsWithLegacyExtractionsInFolderTree- Find docs that have legacy extractions (for skip reporting)DocumentHasLegacyExtractions- Check if a single document has any legacy field extraction versionsCountDocumentsInFolderTree- Count total documents in a folder subtree (forMaxBulkAssignDocumentslimit check)
Delete cascade operations (additions to document.sql and client.sql):
DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata- Delete all custom metadata versions for a documentNullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId- Setcustom_schema_id = NULLon a document (before hard delete)DeleteClientMetadataSchemas- Delete all schemas for a client (after all documents deleted)
Reset-metadata support queries (v3, additions to customschemas.sql):
LockDocumentForReset-SELECT id, "clientId", custom_schema_id FROM documents WHERE id = @document_id FOR UPDATE(used byResetDocumentMetadata; reuses the same row-level lock shape thatAssignSchemauses so the two operations serialize correctly against each other)GetDocumentSchemaBindingForReset- Joindocumentstoclient_metadata_schemasto return the document's currentcustom_schema_id, the schemaname, andversion. Used to populate theprevious*fields of the reset response. Returns all-null columns cleanly when the document has no schema bound.CountDocumentCustomMetadataVersions-SELECT COUNT(*) FROM document_custom_metadata WHERE document_id = @document_id. Used to populatemetadataVersionsDeletedin the reset response.DocumentHasLegacyExtractionsis already listed above and is reused by the reset endpoint for the mutual-exclusivity guard (returns 409 if true).DeleteDocumentCustomMetadataandNullifyDocumentCustomSchemaIdare already listed above (for the delete cascade) and are reused verbatim by the reset endpoint -- no new queries for the wipe itself.
8.3 OpenAPI Spec Changes
Add to serviceAPIs/queryAPI.yaml:
New SuperAdminSchemaService tag for super_admin-only endpoints:
POST /super-admin/custom-schemasGET /super-admin/custom-schemasGET /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}PUT /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}DELETE /super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schemaPOST /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schemaPOST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata(v3)
New CustomMetadataService tag for end-user endpoints:
GET /custom-metadataPOST /custom-metadataGET /custom-metadata/versionGET /custom-metadata/history
New schemas: CustomSchemaRequest, CustomSchemaResponse, CustomSchemaListResponse, CustomMetadataRequest, CustomMetadataResponse, CustomMetadataHistoryResponse, ValidationErrorResponse, BulkSchemaAssignRequest, BulkSchemaAssignResponse, DocumentSchemaAssignRequest, DocumentSchemaAssignResponse, ResetDocumentMetadataResponse (v3)
New enum: SchemaStatus with values active, superseded, retired
Modified schemas: DocumentEnriched (add customSchemaId, customSchemaName, hasCustomMetadata, customMetadata fields)
Tag descriptions should explicitly call out the authorization boundary:
SuperAdminSchemaServicedescription: "Custom metadata schema management and assignment. Restricted to thesuper_adminrole. Not accessible touser_admin."CustomMetadataServicedescription: "Per-document custom metadata read/write. Accessible toclient_user,user_admin, andsuper_admin."
8.4 Legacy Field Extraction Guard
Add a check to the existing field extraction service (internal/fieldextraction/service.go):
Before creating a new field extraction, verify that documents.custom_schema_id IS NULL for the target document. If the document has a custom schema assigned, return a 409 Conflict error explaining that the document uses the custom schema system and legacy field extractions are not allowed.
This is a small modification to the existing code path, not a new endpoint.
8.5 Delete Path Updates (Cascade Cleanup)
The new tables and FKs require updates to existing delete paths. Without these changes, hard-deleting a document or client will fail with FK violations.
Document Delete Cascade
The existing DeleteDocumentCascade function (in internal/document/) and the SQLC queries in internal/database/queries/document.sql must be updated to delete custom metadata before deleting the document:
New SQLC queries to add to document.sql:
DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata-DELETE FROM document_custom_metadata WHERE document_id = @document_idNullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId-UPDATE documents SET custom_schema_id = NULL WHERE id = @document_id
Updated delete order in DeleteDocumentCascade:
- Delete
documentFieldExtractionArrayFields(existing) - Delete
documentFieldExtractionVersions(existing) - Delete
documentFieldExtractions(existing) - Delete
document_custom_metadata(new -- must come before document row delete) - Nullify
documents.custom_schema_id(new -- removes FK toclient_metadata_schemasbefore document delete) - Delete
documentCleanEntries/documentCleans/documentEntries(existing) - Delete
documentsrow (existing)
Note
: Step 5 (nullify
custom_schema_id) must happen before step 7 because the FK fromdocuments.custom_schema_idtoclient_metadata_schemaswould block deletion otherwise. The nullify is safe because step 4 already removed all custom metadata, and Trigger 1 only fires on changes when metadata exists.
Client Delete Cascade
The existing client.HardDelete and deleteClientDependencies functions must be updated to clean up schema data after all documents are deleted:
New SQLC queries:
DeleteClientMetadataSchemas-DELETE FROM client_metadata_schemas WHERE client_id = @client_id
Updated delete order in client.HardDelete:
- Delete all documents with full cascade (existing, now includes custom metadata cleanup per above)
- Delete
documentUploads(existing) - Delete all folders (existing)
- Delete
client_metadata_schemas(new -- safe after all documents are gone since no FKs reference these rows) - Delete collector data, batch uploads, sync records (existing)
- Delete client row (existing)
8.6 Permit.io Setup Tool Run
After updating permit_policies.yaml per Section 5.3, run the permit setup tool in each environment:
cmd/auth_related/permit.setup/run.tool.dev.sh
cmd/auth_related/permit.setup/run.tool.uat.sh
cmd/auth_related/permit.setup/run.tool.prod.sh
The tool is idempotent and will provision the new super-admin and custom-metadata resources and update role grants without disturbing existing resources. Run this before deploying the API code so the new endpoints are authorized the moment they go live.
9. Invariants & Business Rules
| # | Rule | Enforcement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schema must be valid JSON Schema with explicit additionalProperties |
Application: meta-validation on create/update |
| 2 | Schema name + version unique per client |
Database: unique constraint |
| 3 | Updated schema gets new ID and version; old version becomes superseded |
Application: INSERT new row, UPDATE old status |
| 4 | Schema deletion blocked if documents reference it | Application: count check before retirement |
| 5 | Document's custom_schema_id is immutable once any extraction exists |
Application: check in AssignSchema + DB trigger: trg_prevent_schema_reassignment |
| 6 | Custom metadata must conform to assigned schema | Application: JSON Schema validation on write |
| 7 | All custom metadata versions for a document use same schema ID | Application: consistency check on write + DB trigger: trg_enforce_consistent_schema_id |
| 8 | Schema must belong to same client as document | Application: cross-reference check + DB trigger: trg_validate_schema_client_match |
| 9 | Only active schemas can be assigned to new documents |
Application: status check |
| 10 | Custom metadata is versioned (no in-place updates) | Database: version column + unique constraint |
| 11 | Schema definition must be <= 64KB | Application: size check + Database: CHECK constraint |
| 12 | Schema management requires super_admin role (NOT user_admin) |
Permit.io: role-based access on new super-admin resource; user_admin is explicitly NOT granted this resource |
| 13 | No query/filter on custom metadata values | By design: not implemented (see Principle 9) |
| 14 | A document uses EITHER legacy extractions OR custom metadata, never both | Application: mutual exclusivity checks in both services + DB trigger: trg_prevent_schema_reassignment |
| 15 | Legacy field extraction writes rejected if document has custom_schema_id set |
Application: guard in FieldExtractionService |
| 16 | Custom schema assignment rejected if document has legacy extractions | Application: guard in AssignSchema + DB trigger |
| 17 | Metadata payload must be <= 1MB | Application: size check (MaxMetadataPayloadBytes) |
| 18 | Bulk folder assignment capped at 10,000 documents | Application: count check (MaxBulkAssignDocuments), returns 422 if exceeded |
| 19 | Schema assignment (single doc + bulk folder) requires super_admin role |
Permit.io: endpoints under /super-admin/ prefix map to super-admin resource; user_admin is NOT granted |
| 20 | Delete cascade must clean up custom metadata and schema bindings | Application: updated DeleteDocumentCascade + deleteClientDependencies (Section 8.5) |
| 21 | Metadata read/write is available to client_user, user_admin, super_admin (not auditor for writes) |
Permit.io: custom-metadata resource grants on each role per Section 5.3 |
| 22 | Reset-metadata is atomic: all document_custom_metadata rows deleted AND custom_schema_id nulled, or neither |
Application: single transaction with row-level lock on the document (Section 5.2, POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata) |
| 23 | Reset-metadata requires super_admin role |
Permit.io: endpoint under /super-admin/ prefix maps to super-admin resource; user_admin / client_user / auditor denied |
| 24 | Reset-metadata is rejected if the document has legacy field extractions | Application: DocumentHasLegacyExtractions guard in ResetDocumentMetadata returns 409 (mutual exclusivity -- Invariant 14 still holds) |
| 25 | Reset-metadata is idempotent on already-clean documents | Application: transaction succeeds with metadataVersionsDeleted: 0 when no custom metadata and no schema binding exist |
10. Relationship to Existing Field Extraction System
The existing static field extraction system (/field-extractions) and the new custom schema system (/super-admin/custom-schemas + /custom-metadata) are mutually exclusive per document:
- A document uses EITHER the legacy static field extraction system OR the custom schema system
- A document CANNOT have both legacy field extractions AND custom metadata
- Assigning a custom schema to a document that already has legacy extractions returns
409 Conflict - Writing a legacy field extraction to a document that has a custom schema assigned returns
409 Conflict - Documents without a custom schema (the default) continue to use the legacy system unchanged
- There is no migration path from legacy to custom for individual documents. If a document needs custom metadata, it should not have legacy extractions written to it first.
Rationale: This prevents ambiguity about which system is "authoritative" for a document's metadata. With mutual exclusivity, there is exactly one source of truth per document. This is simpler to reason about, simpler to query, and avoids the data governance problem of conflicting data in two stores.
No breaking changes to the existing API or database schema for documents that do not opt into custom schemas. The existing /field-extractions endpoints remain on the field-extractions resource and are unaffected by the new super-admin resource.
11. Implementation Order
| Phase | Work | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Database migrations (enum, tables, view, document column, triggers) | None |
| 2 | SQLC queries + task generate |
Phase 1 |
| 3 | Schema validator component (internal/customschema/validator.go) |
JSON Schema library added to go.mod |
| 4 | Service layer (internal/customschema/service.go) incl. bulk folder assignment + mutual exclusivity guards |
Phase 2, 3 |
| 5a | Legacy field extraction guard (add check to existing FieldExtractionService) |
Phase 2 |
| 5b | Delete cascade updates (DeleteDocumentCascade, deleteClientDependencies, new SQLC queries) |
Phase 2 |
| 6 | OpenAPI spec updates (SuperAdminSchemaService + CustomMetadataService tags) |
None (can parallel with 1-3) |
| 7a | Permit.io policy file updates (permit_policies.yaml: new super-admin + custom-metadata resources, role grants) |
None (can parallel with 1-6) |
| 7b | Run permit setup tool against dev/uat/prod to provision new resources and role permissions | Phase 7a |
| 8 | API controllers + code generation (super_admin schema CRUD in customschemas.go, metadata CRUD in custommetadata.go) |
Phase 4, 6 |
| 9 | Document endpoint modifications (PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema, GET /document/{id} enrichment) |
Phase 4, 8 |
| 10 | Bulk folder schema assignment endpoint (POST /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema) |
Phase 4, 8 |
| 10b | Reset-metadata endpoint (POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata) -- service method ResetDocumentMetadata, handler in customschemas.go, OpenAPI ResetDocumentMetadataResponse schema, policy mapping entry |
Phase 4, 5b (reuses DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata + NullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId already landed for delete cascade), 8 |
| 11 | Integration tests (including explicit role-based authorization tests per Section 12) | Phase 10b, 7b |
| 12 | Documentation updates (docs/ai.generated/) incl. sample schemas, authorization matrix, reset-metadata runbook ("how to upgrade a document to a new schema version") |
Phase 11 |
Ordering constraint: Phase 7b (permit setup run) must complete in each environment before Phase 8 code is deployed to that environment. Otherwise the new endpoints will be rejected by Permit.io (fail-closed) until the setup runs.
12. Testing Strategy
- Schema validation tests: Valid and invalid JSON Schema documents, edge cases (empty schema, deeply nested, self-referential, oversized >64KB, missing
additionalProperties) - Metadata validation tests: Conforming and non-conforming payloads, all supported JSON Schema keywords
- Service integration tests: Full CRUD lifecycle using testcontainers (real PostgreSQL)
- API integration tests: HTTP-level tests for all new endpoints under both
/super-admin/*and/custom-metadata/* - Invariant tests: Schema immutability, cross-client isolation, deletion guards, size limits
- DB trigger tests: Verify triggers fire correctly when bypassing the service layer (direct SQL inserts/updates via testcontainers)
- Schema status lifecycle tests:
active->supersededon version create,active->retiredon delete, assignment rejected for non-activeschemas - Mutual exclusivity tests: Legacy extraction blocked when schema assigned, schema assignment blocked when legacy extractions exist, bulk folder assignment skips documents with legacy extractions
- Bulk folder assignment tests: Recursive assignment, skip behavior for locked docs and legacy docs, empty folders, deeply nested folder trees
- Authorization tests (expanded for v2):
super_adminCAN create, list, get, update, delete schemas, assign schemas to documents, assign schemas to foldersuser_adminCANNOT access any/super-admin/*endpoint (expect 403 on every method + path combination)user_adminCAN read and write custom metadata via/custom-metadata(no regression)client_userCANNOT access any/super-admin/*endpoint (expect 403)client_userCAN read and write custom metadata via/custom-metadataauditorCAN read (GET)/super-admin/custom-schemasand/super-admin/custom-schemas/{schemaId}but CANNOT POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETEauditorCAN read but CANNOT write/custom-metadata- Each test should assert both the HTTP status code AND that the database state is unchanged on denial
- Backward compatibility tests: Existing field extraction endpoints continue to work unchanged for documents without custom schemas; existing
/admin/*endpoints are unaffected by the newsuper-adminresource - Delete cascade tests: Document hard-delete succeeds when document has custom metadata, client hard-delete succeeds when client has schemas and metadata, verify no orphaned rows remain
- Metadata size limit tests: Payloads at/above 1MB boundary, verify 400 response with clear message
- Bulk assignment limit tests: Folder trees exceeding
MaxBulkAssignDocuments, verify 422 response - Schema version concurrency tests: Concurrent PUT requests for same schema name produce distinct version numbers
- Permit.io setup tool tests: After running the setup tool against a disposable dev tenant, verify that the
super-adminandcustom-metadataresources exist with the expected actions and that each role has exactly the grants defined in Section 5.3 - Reset-metadata tests (v3):
- Happy path: document with schema v1 and N metadata versions -> reset -> assign schema v2 -> POST metadata ->
GET /document/{id}reflects schema v2 and version 1 metadata;metadataVersionsDeletedin the response equals N;previousSchemaId/previousSchemaName/previousSchemaVersionreflect the wiped binding. - Atomicity: inject a failure between
DELETE FROM document_custom_metadataandUPDATE documents SET custom_schema_id = NULL(e.g., by killing the DB connection mid-transaction in a testcontainers run) and verify thatdocument_custom_metadatarows for the document are NOT missing after the failed transaction. - Idempotency: reset a document that has no custom schema and no custom metadata -> 200 OK with
metadataVersionsDeleted: 0,previousSchemaId: null, DB state unchanged. - Legacy extraction guard: reset a document that has rows in
documentFieldExtractionVersions-> 409 Conflict, no DB state change. - Document not found: reset a non-existent document ID -> 404, no DB state change.
- Trigger 1 still fires normally after a reset: reset, reassign schema v2, write a metadata row, then attempt a second schema reassignment -> trigger fires with the existing error message (confirms no trigger was weakened).
- Trigger 3 still fires normally after a reset: reset, reassign schema v2, write a metadata row under schema v2, then attempt a direct INSERT into
document_custom_metadatareferencing schema v1 -> trigger fires with the existing error message. - Authorization:
super_adminsucceeds;user_admin,client_user, andauditorall receive 403 with the DB state unchanged. - Concurrency: two concurrent resets against the same document -> one succeeds, one observes the locked row and serializes (either succeeding on the already-clean state with
metadataVersionsDeleted: 0or blocking until the first completes). No orphaned rows. - Concurrency against assign-schema: a reset and a
PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schematargeting the same document concurrently -> both serialize viaFOR UPDATE; either ordering produces consistent final state with no trigger violations. - Audit log: every successful reset writes an audit entry containing the actor, document ID, previous schema ID, and metadata version count.
- Happy path: document with schema v1 and N metadata versions -> reset -> assign schema v2 -> POST metadata ->
13. Resolved Design Decisions
| # | Question | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schema size limits | 64KB cap via MaxSchemaDefinitionBytes constant (tunable) |
| 2 | Schema backward compatibility | Not required. New version = new ID. Old docs keep old schema. |
| 3 | Bulk operations | Yes. POST /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema assigns recursively through folder tree. |
| 4 | Custom metadata search/filter | Not supported. No GIN indexes, no query API. Metadata is opaque storage. |
| 5 | Schema templates | No system templates. Documentation will include sample schemas covering all supported types. |
| 6 | Existing field migration path | Out of scope. Static fields and custom schemas are mutually exclusive per document. |
| 7 | Endpoint naming/placement | Schema CRUD under /super-admin/custom-schemas (requires the super_admin role on the new super-admin Permit.io resource). Metadata CRUD under /custom-metadata (regular client_user access; also granted to user_admin and super_admin). |
| 8 | Legacy/custom coexistence | Mutually exclusive. A document uses EITHER legacy OR custom, never both. Simplifies data governance and prevents source-of-truth ambiguity. |
| 9 | Schema status model | Three-state enum (active/superseded/retired) instead of boolean. Distinguishes automatic version succession from explicit admin retirement. |
| 10 | DB-level invariant enforcement | Yes. Three database triggers enforce schema lock, client ownership match, and consistent schema_id as defense-in-depth alongside application-layer checks. |
| 11 | additionalProperties in schemas |
Required to be explicitly present (not necessarily false). Prevents the common mistake of omitting it and silently accepting arbitrary extra fields. |
| 12 | Metadata table design | Single table with version column (simpler than the legacy two-table pattern). Sufficient for our concurrency needs. Can split later if needed. |
| 13 | Schema assignment endpoint path | Under /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema (NOT /admin/document/{id}/schema as in v1 and NOT /document/{id}/schema). The /super-admin first segment maps to the new super-admin Permit.io resource which only super_admin holds. Placing it under /admin would also grant user_admin; placing it under /document would also grant client_user. |
| 14 | Metadata payload size limit | 1MB cap via MaxMetadataPayloadBytes constant. Prevents unbounded JSONB blobs when schemas allow additionalProperties: true. |
| 15 | Bulk assignment document limit | 10,000 documents via MaxBulkAssignDocuments constant. Prevents unbounded transactions and lock contention. |
| 16 | Schema_id consistency trigger | DB trigger trg_enforce_consistent_schema_id on document_custom_metadata INSERT enforces same schema across all metadata versions for a document (defense-in-depth for Invariant 7). |
| 17 | v2: Who can administer schemas? | Only super_admin. v1 unintentionally granted user_admin access by placing endpoints under /admin/*. v2 moves them to /super-admin/* and introduces a new super-admin Permit.io resource that only super_admin holds. user_admin retains its existing capabilities (user creation, field extractions, documents/folders, admin endpoints) but has no schema administration rights. |
| 18 | v2: Why a new resource instead of path-specific rules? | The Permit.io middleware resolves resources from the first path segment. Adding path-specific overrides would require middleware code changes. Adding a new first-segment resource (super-admin) is a pure configuration change and keeps the middleware simple. |
| 19 | v2: Does the service layer enforce role checks? | No. Authorization lives in the HTTP/Permit.io layer. The service layer (internal/customschema/) is role-agnostic and remains easy to test without fake identity contexts. |
| 20 | v3: How does a document move to a newer schema version once it has metadata? | Explicit, destructive reset. POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata wipes all metadata rows and nulls custom_schema_id in a single transaction; the caller then re-binds via PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema and re-enters values via POST /custom-metadata. |
| 21 | v3: Why destructive instead of an in-place compatible-schema swap? | Keeps Invariant 5 strict and trivially auditable; no JSON Schema compatibility comparator to maintain in sync across app and DB; forces explicit re-validation of stored values against the new schema; preserves a clean audit trail. See Section 5.2 for the full rationale. |
| 22 | v3: Any trigger changes? | None. Triggers 1, 2, and 3 are unchanged. The reset endpoint deletes metadata rows before updating custom_schema_id, so Trigger 1's EXISTS check observes an empty set and permits the UPDATE. No relaxation or bypass of any trigger. |
| 23 | v3: Any new Permit.io resource or action? | None. The existing super-admin:post grant on the super_admin role covers POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata because the first path segment is already super-admin. Only a policy-mapping doc entry is added. |
| 24 | v3: New migrations or tables? | None. The endpoint reuses DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata and NullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId queries already added for the delete cascade (Section 8.2). Three read-only queries (LockDocumentForReset, GetDocumentSchemaBindingForReset, CountDocumentCustomMetadataVersions) are added to customschemas.sql. No DDL. |
14. v1 -> v2 Change Log
For reviewers comparing to plans/mutable.metadata.plan.combo.md:
| Area | v1 | v2 |
|---|---|---|
| Schema CRUD path | /admin/custom-schemas |
/super-admin/custom-schemas |
| Single-doc schema assignment path | /admin/document/{id}/schema |
/super-admin/documents/{id}/schema |
| Bulk folder assignment path | /admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema |
/super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema |
| Permit.io resource for schema admin | admin (shared by user_admin and super_admin) |
NEW super-admin (held only by super_admin) |
user_admin schema CRUD |
Allowed (unintentional) | Denied |
user_admin schema assignment |
Allowed (unintentional) | Denied |
user_admin custom metadata read/write |
Allowed | Allowed (unchanged) |
client_user custom metadata read/write |
Allowed | Allowed (unchanged) |
auditor read schemas / metadata |
Allowed (read-only) | Allowed (read-only, now via super-admin:get grant) |
| OpenAPI tag for schema admin | AdminService |
NEW SuperAdminSchemaService |
| Service layer | Role-agnostic | Role-agnostic (unchanged) |
| Database schema, triggers, migrations | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Validation strategy, size limits, constants | Unchanged | Unchanged |
No database migration or data change is required to move from v1 to v2 -- this is strictly a routing and authorization change. If v1 were already deployed, the migration would be: (1) add the new Permit.io resource and grants, (2) add the new endpoints alongside the old ones, (3) point clients at the new paths, (4) remove the old paths once all clients have migrated. Since v1 is not deployed, v2 simply supersedes it.
15. v2 -> v3 Change Log
For reviewers comparing to plans/mutable.metadata.plan.combo.v2.md:
| Area | v2 | v3 |
|---|---|---|
| Reset-metadata endpoint | Not present | NEW POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata (Section 5.2) |
| Service method | Not present | NEW ResetDocumentMetadata(ctx, documentID, resetBy) on CustomSchemaService (Section 7.1) |
| Response type | Not present | NEW ResetDocumentMetadataResponse OpenAPI schema (Section 8.3) |
| SQLC queries | Not present | NEW LockDocumentForReset, GetDocumentSchemaBindingForReset, CountDocumentCustomMetadataVersions in customschemas.sql; reuses existing DeleteDocumentCustomMetadata, NullifyDocumentCustomSchemaId, DocumentHasLegacyExtractions (Section 8.2) |
| Database migrations | 4 migrations (120-123) | Unchanged -- no new migrations |
| Database triggers | Triggers 1, 2, 3 | Unchanged -- triggers are reused as-is. Reset works by clearing the state that Trigger 1 guards against, not by bypassing the trigger. |
| Permit.io resources | super-admin, custom-metadata |
Unchanged -- reset inherits super-admin:post |
| Permit.io policy mapping doc | Lists 4 super_admin endpoints | Adds POST /super-admin/documents/{id}/reset-metadata -> super-admin:post (Section 5.3) |
| Authorization matrix | 5 columns (CRUD, Assignment, Read, Write) | Adds a "Reset Metadata" column; super_admin = Yes, everyone else = No (Section 5.3) |
| Invariants table | 21 rows | Adds rows 22-25 covering atomicity, role confinement, legacy-extraction rejection, and idempotency of reset (Section 9) |
| Resolved design decisions | 19 entries | Adds entries 20-24 explaining the destructive-reset decision, why not in-place, trigger/resource/migration invariance (Section 13) |
| Implementation order | 12 phases | Inserts Phase 10b (reset-metadata endpoint) between bulk-folder assignment and integration tests (Section 11) |
| Testing strategy | Role-based authz, bulk assign, cascades, concurrency, etc. | Adds reset-metadata test block: happy path, atomicity under injected failure, idempotency, legacy-extraction guard, not-found, trigger-still-fires, authz matrix, concurrency with itself and with assign-schema, audit log (Section 12) |
| Documentation updates | Sample schemas, authorization matrix | Adds reset-metadata runbook ("how to upgrade a document to a new schema version") to docs/ai.generated/ |
| Database schema, migrations, validators, constants | Unchanged | Unchanged |
Existing endpoints (/custom-metadata/*, PATCH /super-admin/documents/{id}/schema, POST /super-admin/folders/{folderId}/assign-schema, schema CRUD) |
As specified in v2 | Unchanged |
No database migration or data change is required to move from v2 to v3. The reset-metadata endpoint is purely additive: new service method, new handler, new OpenAPI schema, new SQLC queries, new policy mapping doc entry, new test cases. If v2 were already deployed, the migration would be: (1) ship the new code, (2) ship the new OpenAPI client so super_admin callers can invoke the endpoint, (3) no Permit.io re-run required because super-admin:post is already granted. Since v2 is not deployed, v3 simply supersedes it.
Appendix A: Sample JSON Schemas
These examples demonstrate all supported JSON Schema features and data types. They should be included in the API documentation.
A.1 Comprehensive Schema (All Supported Types)
{
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"document_title": {
"type": "string",
"minLength": 1,
"maxLength": 500,
"description": "Title of the document"
},
"document_code": {
"type": "string",
"pattern": "^[A-Z]{3}-[0-9]{4}$",
"description": "Document code in format XXX-0000"
},
"status": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["draft", "review", "approved", "rejected", "archived"],
"description": "Current document status"
},
"review_date": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date",
"description": "Date of last review (YYYY-MM-DD)"
},
"created_timestamp": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"description": "Creation timestamp (ISO 8601)"
},
"page_count": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 10000,
"description": "Total number of pages"
},
"confidence_score": {
"type": "number",
"minimum": 0.0,
"maximum": 1.0,
"description": "Extraction confidence (0.0 to 1.0)"
},
"is_verified": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Whether the extraction has been human-verified"
},
"tags": {
"type": "array",
"items": { "type": "string", "maxLength": 50 },
"minItems": 0,
"maxItems": 20,
"description": "Classification tags"
},
"numeric_values": {
"type": "array",
"items": { "type": "number" },
"maxItems": 100,
"description": "Extracted numeric values"
},
"contact_info": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"name": { "type": "string", "maxLength": 200 },
"email": { "type": "string", "format": "email" },
"phone": { "type": "string", "pattern": "^\\+?[0-9\\-\\s()]+$" }
},
"required": ["name"],
"additionalProperties": false,
"description": "Primary contact information"
}
},
"required": ["document_title", "status"],
"additionalProperties": false
}
A.2 Aircraft Engineering Schema (Domain Example)
{
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"aircraft_model": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100
},
"manufacturer": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["Boeing", "Airbus", "Embraer", "Bombardier", "Other"]
},
"certification_date": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date"
},
"max_altitude_ft": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 0,
"maximum": 100000
},
"max_range_nm": {
"type": "number",
"minimum": 0
},
"engine_count": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 12
},
"engine_type": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["turbofan", "turboprop", "turbojet", "piston", "electric"]
},
"wingspan_meters": {
"type": "number",
"minimum": 0,
"maximum": 100
},
"is_pressurized": {
"type": "boolean"
},
"applicable_regulations": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string",
"pattern": "^(FAR|EASA|CAAC)-[0-9A-Z\\.]+$"
},
"maxItems": 50
}
},
"required": ["aircraft_model", "manufacturer"],
"additionalProperties": false
}
A.3 Auto Engineering Schema (Domain Example)
{
"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"vehicle_make": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100
},
"vehicle_model": {
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 100
},
"model_year": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1900,
"maximum": 2100
},
"vin": {
"type": "string",
"pattern": "^[A-HJ-NPR-Z0-9]{17}$",
"description": "17-character Vehicle Identification Number"
},
"engine_displacement_liters": {
"type": "number",
"minimum": 0,
"maximum": 20
},
"horsepower": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 0
},
"transmission_type": {
"type": "string",
"enum": ["manual", "automatic", "cvt", "dct", "ev"]
},
"is_electric": {
"type": "boolean"
},
"safety_ratings": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"nhtsa_overall": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 5 },
"iihs_rating": { "type": "string", "enum": ["Poor", "Marginal", "Acceptable", "Good", "Good+"] }
},
"additionalProperties": false
},
"recall_ids": {
"type": "array",
"items": { "type": "string", "maxLength": 20 },
"maxItems": 100
}
},
"required": ["vehicle_make", "vehicle_model", "model_year"],
"additionalProperties": false
}
Supported JSON Schema Data Types Summary
| JSON Schema Type | Go Equivalent | Example Constraint Keywords |
|---|---|---|
string |
string |
minLength, maxLength, pattern, format, enum |
integer |
int64 |
minimum, maximum |
number |
float64 |
minimum, maximum |
boolean |
bool |
(none) |
array |
[]T |
items, minItems, maxItems |
object |
map/struct |
properties, required, additionalProperties |
Supported format values: date, date-time, email, uri, uuid
Implemnentation journal
In order to be able to have another agent pick up the work in progress, all completed work and milestones must be journaled to the ./journals/implement_mutableMetadata.md
Each time a milestone or signficant part of a milestone is completed there needs to be a date/time stamped journal entry showing the item is done. So that a new agent taking over will know exactly where we are in the process and can resume the work.
At any give time I should be able to clear your context and have you resume your work based on this document, the code (git diffs) and the journal of what is completed.
If we run into any issues where Q has to be consulted about an issue that needs a decision , then Qs answer should also be written to the journal along with the question.
Updating the plans/mutable.metadata.plan.combo.v3.tracking.md doc.
As we progress through the phases of development , as each task is verified complete it should be marked off (with the date and time) next to the item.