T-M8AL-name-and-field-spec-validation

State: planning/proposed · Impact: high · Complexity: small

Goal

Every name and description in the experience is validated only on the Rust side, at publish or read time — the wizard and rename dialog accept anything and echo nothing back. A user who types an uppercase or over-long name learns it is invalid only after the file already exists with a silently-slugged name, or not at all until a build refuses it. This task moves the Agent Skills spec’s name and description rules to the input, and closes a length disagreement between the two Rust validators along the way.

Today

Location	Role today
`solutions/agent-pants/crates/agent-adapt-core/src/discover.rs#validate_name`	Checks a name is 1–63 chars of `a-z0-9-`, no edge/doubled hyphen; message says “1–63” though the spec caps at 64
`packages/rust/agent-adapt/src/naming.rs`	`SKILL_NAME_MAX_LEN = 64`; `slugify_skill_name` truncates to 64 and refuses an empty slug
`solutions/agent-pants/crates/agent-adapt-core/src/discover.rs`	`description.chars().count() > 1024` is refused (line ~836), naming the field and the overrun
`solutions/determined/crates/determined-agent-skills/src/lib.rs#derive_create`	Slugifies via `agent_adapt`’s `slugify` (not `slugify_skill_name`) and refuses only an empty slug; no length or charset echo back to the caller
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/components/ApNewComponentWizard.vue`	`fields.name` is a plain `v-model` text input (`DFieldRow label="Name"`); the only client check is `fields.value.name.trim() === ''` → “Needs a name.”
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/components/ApRenameDialog.vue`	`newName` is a plain `ref` bound to `DInput`; validation is “type something different from the current name”, no slug echo, no charset or length check
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/components/SkillFieldsForm.vue`	`description` field (`s('description')`) has no character counter and no 1024 cap
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/utils/fieldSpec.ts`	`FIELD_SPECS` carries label/help/kinds per field; no validation rule
`solutions/agent-pants/docs/vault/research/agent-skills-conformance.md`	Names the 63-vs-64 disagreement and the missing client validation as open findings

Proposed

A shared TS validator, app/utils/skillSpec.ts, mirrors the spec exactly: ^[a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)*$ for name (1–64 chars), description 1–1024 chars, compatibility 1–500 chars, metadata a string-to-string map. ApNewComponentWizard.vue normalizes the name as the user types — live slug echo, refuses an invalid result — and ApRenameDialog.vue does the same for its newName field. SkillFieldsForm.vue’s description field shows a live character counter and refuses past 1024. On the Rust side, discover.rs#validate_name and agent-adapt’s SKILL_NAME_MAX_LEN agree on 64, backed by a test that pins the shared limit.

Approach

Decide and fix the 63-vs-64 disagreement: raise validate_name’s cap to 64 (value.len() <= 64) and its message, matching SKILL_NAME_MAX_LEN; add a test asserting a 64-char name passes and a 65-char name is refused by both validators.
Write app/utils/skillSpec.ts: a pure function validateSkillName(input): { slug: string } | { error: string } mirroring validate_name’s charset/length/hyphen rule, plus validateDescription, validateCompatibility, validateMetadata.
Wire ApNewComponentWizard.vue’s name field through skillSpec.ts: show the live slug as the user types (a muted preview line under the input, matching how the plugin key preview already works at line ~836), and disable Next/Create on an invalid result with the validator’s message.
Wire ApRenameDialog.vue’s newName the same way: live slug preview, refuse an invalid result before the preview fetch fires.
Add a character counter and 1024 cap to SkillFieldsForm.vue’s description field, reading the cap from skillSpec.ts rather than a hardcoded number.
Add fixtures from the spec’s invalid examples (empty, uppercase, edge hyphen, doubled hyphen, over-length) as a skillSpec.test.ts table test.

Areas

Area	Note
`solutions/agent-pants/crates/agent-adapt-core/src/discover.rs`	`validate_name` cap 63 → 64; message text; a boundary test
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/utils/skillSpec.ts`	Shared name/description/compatibility/metadata validator mirroring the spec
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/utils/skillSpec.test.ts`	Table test over the spec’s invalid examples plus boundary cases
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/components/ApNewComponentWizard.vue`	Live slug echo and inline refusal on the name field
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/components/ApRenameDialog.vue`	Live slug echo and inline refusal on `newName`
`solutions/determined/experiences/agent-pants/app/components/SkillFieldsForm.vue`	Description character counter and 1024 cap

Acceptance criteria

AC-1: Typing My Skill!, an uppercase name, or a 70-character name into the wizard’s Name field shows a live slug or an inline refusal before Create is pressed; the same holds for ApRenameDialog.vue’s field.
AC-2: SkillFieldsForm.vue’s description field shows a running character count and refuses to accept a 1025th character.
AC-3: discover.rs#validate_name and agent-adapt::naming::SKILL_NAME_MAX_LEN both cap at 64, asserted by a shared-limit test in each crate.
AC-4: skillSpec.test.ts passes against every invalid example in the spec’s name grammar (empty, uppercase, edge hyphen, doubled hyphen, over-64) and the description/compatibility boundaries (0, 1, 1024, 1025, 500, 501 characters).
AC-5: moon run experience-agent-pants:check passes.

Out of scope

license, compatibility, and metadata as modelled fields on Skill/SkillContent — T-GLK0-spec-fields-and-skills-ref-oracle.
Running skills-ref validate over rendered output — also T-GLK0-spec-fields-and-skills-ref-oracle.
The empty-slug collapse hazard (G6) and peer-resource path escape (G8) from agent-skills-conformance.md — neither is this task’s scope.

Dependencies

none

Discovery context

From the user’s Agent Manager planning request of 2026-09-07, “Spec adherence today” section: naming and validation is the first of eight brain-dump areas. Findings sourced from solutions/agent-pants/docs/vault/research/agent-skills-conformance.md’s name/description rows and the 63-vs-64 disagreement it documents between discover.rs#validate_name and agent-adapt’s SKILL_NAME_MAX_LEN. Spec facts from agentskills.io/specification, fetched 2026-09-07: name required, 1–64, a-z0-9-, no edge or doubled hyphen; description required, 1–1024.

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