fix(metadata): resolve bare root-level @objectRef in Java loader

AGENTS.md

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ PyPI has had no product change since `0.25.0` — nothing is broken.
 - **Kotlin** — `codegen-kotlin` (KotlinPoet on JVM): entity + Exposed table + Spring controller + payload + relations + filter allowlist + validator + stored-proc + output-parser generators. `integration-tests-kotlin` runs the persistence-conformance corpus through Exposed against Testcontainers Postgres.
 
 **Cross-port conformance corpora** (every port runs the shared corpus):
-- Metamodel: `fixtures/conformance/` (421 fixtures; 35 shared corpora in total — per-corpus counts + the corpus x port matrix live in `docs/CONFORMANCE.md`). TS / C# / Java / Python all green.
+- Metamodel: `fixtures/conformance/` (423 fixtures; 35 shared corpora in total — per-corpus counts + the corpus x port matrix live in `docs/CONFORMANCE.md`). TS / C# / Java / Python all green.
 - Render: `fixtures/render-conformance/`. TS / C# / Java / Kotlin / Python byte-identical.
 - Persistence: `fixtures/persistence-conformance/`. **Query** scenarios run on every port (TS / C# / Java / Kotlin / Python), each provisioning its test DB by executing the committed, TS-produced `canonical/schema.postgres.sql` (Postgres only — Derby dropped for the cross-port query corpus, ADR-0015; the FR-044 `report-*` scenarios also run on SQLite, MySQL and D1 where a port has the engine, see [docs/CONFORMANCE.md](docs/CONFORMANCE.md)). The **migration** scenarios are exercised by **TS only** (TS owns schema migrations). **The corpus now gates WRITES, not just reads (SP-H):** an `op: roundtrip` scenario type INSERTs through each port's runtime/ORM write codec (NOT raw SQL), reads the row back, and asserts the wire-normalized value. The `AllTypes` entity (`roundtrip-all-types.yaml`) carries one field of **every** persistable `field.*` subtype — string/int/long/double/float/decimal/boolean/date/time/timestamp(+tz)/currency/enum/uuid/object — plus an **array-of-VO** `field.object @isArray @storage:jsonb` column (`labels`, written as 2-element / empty-`[]` / single-element arrays across the three rows) — so every subtype write+read (incl. the array-of-value-object jsonb codec) round-trips through every port against Testcontainers PG. (`field.byte`/`field.short`/`field.class` were cut as non-functional registration-only stubs — the matrix tracks only genuinely-supported subtypes; see `fixtures/registry-conformance/README.md` → "Per-subtype write-round-trip matrix".)
 - API-contract: `fixtures/api-contract-conformance/`. TS / C# / Java / Kotlin / Python all green — each port runs **two lanes**: a hand-rolled reference server AND its **generated** API artifact booted over HTTP (the deployed controller/routes; TS+C# full-stack vs Testcontainers PG, Java/Kotlin/Python generated controller + in-memory repo behind the consumer seam). The generated fan-out found 10 real deployment bugs golden snapshots missed. Three sub-corpora run the **generated lane only, on all five ports** — `write-through/`, `projection/` (F22: a view-only `object.projection` serves GET list + GET by id and answers every write verb with `405 {"error": "method_not_allowed"}`) and `report/` (FR-044: a view-backed `object.report` serves GET list, answers `POST` with that same `405`, and mounts no `/{id}` route). That is deliberate, not a gap: what is under test is whether a port's GENERATOR emits those routes, and a hand-rolled reference server would answer every scenario by construction. The `m2m/` sub-corpus also gates **TPH x M:N together** (base-declared, subtype-declared, abstract-mid-declared, a non-subtype source onto a subtype TARGET, and the cross-subtype source id answering `200 []`) — the two corpora were originally built disjoint (`tph/` had no relationships, `m2m/` no discriminators), which is precisely how that defect class survived.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -56,6 +56,14 @@ here.**
   It now generates `tags: list[str] = []`, from the same four spellings TypeScript accepts, or
   from a native YAML list such as `default: [a, b]`. A default Python cannot spell as a list is
   left to the database.
+- **Java: a bare `@objectRef` on a field declared directly under `metadata.root` now resolves.**
+  A root-level `field.object` (the reusable template other fields `extends`) with
+  `@objectRef: "Address"` failed to load in Java even when `Address` sat in the same package,
+  while TypeScript loaded it. A root-level node now resolves a bare reference in its own
+  package, as ADR-0042 specifies, and a real miss still fails with `ERR_UNRESOLVED_OBJECT_REF`.
+  The error no longer names the loader as the owner of a root-level node. Two new conformance
+  fixtures (`root-level-field-object-bare-ref`, `error-root-level-field-objectref-unresolved`)
+  hold every port to it; C#, Python and TypeScript already passed.
 
 ## [1.2.0] — 2026-10-30
 

docs/1.0-readiness.md

@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ Status legend: ✅ done · 🔶 in progress · ⬜ not started · ❓ **[RATIFY]
   (attribute ⇒ PATCH, top-level type ⇒ MINOR, subtype ⇒ PATCH when inert), and Amendment 2
   separates the package and metamodel axes. Trigger
   is *new public surface, not code size*: package **MINOR** only for newly-dependable
-  surface (codegen output, CLI flag, a newly-supported vocab member); package **PATCH**
+  surface (codegen-engine surface, CLI flag, a new top-level type); package **PATCH**
   for bugfix/refactor; the **Metamodel spec version** bumps only on a shared
   vocabulary/wire change. The fast `7.3→7.7` minor run was breaking *velocity*; decouple
   + this rule ends the churn.

docs/CONFORMANCE.md

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ regenerate with `ls -d fixtures/<corpus>/*/ | wc -l` for directory-shaped corpor
 
 | Corpus | Fixtures | TS | Java | Kotlin | C# | Python |
 |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
-| [`fixtures/conformance/`](../fixtures/conformance/) (metamodel) | 421 | ✓ | ✓ | inherits via `metadata-ktx` | ✓ | ✓ |
+| [`fixtures/conformance/`](../fixtures/conformance/) (metamodel) | 423 | ✓ | ✓ | inherits via `metadata-ktx` | ✓ | ✓ |
 | [`fixtures/yaml-conformance/`](../fixtures/yaml-conformance/) | 16 | 16 / 16 | 15 / 16 (1 ledgered: `yaml-quoted-leading-zero` — Java pipeline strips quotes off `"007"`) | inherits via Java | 15 / 16 (1 ledgered: `error-yaml-coerced-hex-in-string` — YamlDotNet doesn't coerce `0xFF`) | 16 / 16 |
 | [`fixtures/verify-conformance/`](../fixtures/verify-conformance/) | 45 | ✓ | ✓ | inherits via Java | ✓ | ✓ |
 | [`fixtures/verify-strict-conformance/`](../fixtures/verify-strict-conformance/) | 1 | ✓ | — | — | — | ✓ |
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ unit-test runners (`bun test`, `dotnet test`, `pytest`, `mvn test`) pull Docker.
 
 ## Fixture-to-doc mapping
 
-### `fixtures/conformance/` — metamodel loader + canonical serializer (421)
+### `fixtures/conformance/` — metamodel loader + canonical serializer (423)
 
 | Fixture prefix | Feature doc |
 |---|---|
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ files into a real Cube.
 
 ## Orphaned fixtures (tested but not yet documented)
 
-The fixtures in the nine corpora mapped above (metamodel 421 + yaml 16 + verify 45
+The fixtures in the nine corpora mapped above (metamodel 423 + yaml 16 + verify 45
 + render 18 + persistence 59 + api-contract 119 + source-resolution 25 + scope 10 +
 dependency 37) each map to a feature doc, and so do the two requirement corpora, `shared-model-conformance` and the
 `cube-model` corpus, whose case lists live in their own READMEs. None are orphaned today. The remaining

docs/RELEASING.md

@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ what they render is generator output and does not.)
 | Codegen **ENGINE** public surface **additive** (new `render*` primitive, new `GenContext` field, optional param) | new `render*` primitive | PATCH (MINOR if it headlines a feature release) | MINOR |
 | Codegen **ENGINE** public surface **breaking**, or changed **CLI semantics** | `relativeModuleSpecifier` +required param | **MINOR** | MAJOR |
 | A **runtime library**'s public surface (`runtime-ts`, `render`, OMDB, ObjectManager, web client) — additive / breaking | a new mount option / a removed export | PATCH / **MINOR** | MINOR / MAJOR |
-| New **attribute** on an existing type/subtype | `@intValueMap`, `@lenient`, `@maxTokens` | **PATCH** | MINOR |
+| New **attribute** on an existing type/subtype | `@intValueMap`, `@lenient`, `@maxTokens` | **PATCH** | **PATCH** |
 | New **subtype** of an existing type | `field.uri`, `index.lookup`, `attr.intMap` | **PATCH** when inert (see the vocabulary rule below); **MINOR** when it changes existing metadata's meaning/output, narrows something previously permitted, or headlines a feature | MINOR |
 | New top-level metadata **type** | `requirement.*`, `index.*`, `api.*` | **MINOR** | MINOR |
 | **Breaking** metamodel-vocabulary change (retire an attr/subtype/type; narrow what is permitted) | FR-037 `@readOnly`, FR-038 `@verifiedBy`, ADR-0052 `@promptStyle` re-homing | **MINOR** (pre-1.0 MINOR *is* the breaking slot) | **`metamodelVersion` MAJOR**, package MINOR (ADR-0035 Am. 2) |

examples/showcase/site-payload.json

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     "metamodel": "1.2"
   },
   "counts": {
-    "fixtures": 421,
+    "fixtures": 423,
     "corpora": 35,
     "baseTypes": 17
   },

fixtures/conformance/error-root-level-field-objectref-unresolved/expected-errors.json

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+{
+  "errors": [
+    {
+      "code": "ERR_UNRESOLVED_OBJECT_REF",
+      "source": {
+        "format": "json",
+        "files": [
+          "meta.json"
+        ],
+        "jsonPath": "$['metadata.root'].children[0]['field.object']"
+      }
+    }
+  ],
+  "warnings": []
+}

fixtures/conformance/error-root-level-field-objectref-unresolved/input/meta.json

@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "metadata.root": {
+    "package": "acme::shop",
+    "children": [
+      {
+        "field.object": {
+          "name": "AddrTemplate",
+          "abstract": true,
+          "@objectRef": "Missing"
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}

fixtures/conformance/error-root-level-field-objectref-unresolved/providers.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+["metaobjects-core-types","metaobjects-db"]

fixtures/conformance/root-level-field-object-bare-ref/expected.json

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+{
+  "metadata.root": {
+    "package": "acme::shop",
+    "children": [
+      {
+        "object.value": {
+          "name": "Address",
+          "children": [
+            {
+              "field.string": {
+                "name": "street"
+              }
+            },
+            {
+              "field.string": {
+                "name": "city"
+              }
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "field.object": {
+          "name": "AddrTemplate",
+          "package": "acme::shop",
+          "abstract": true,
+          "@objectRef": "acme::shop::Address"
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "object.value": {
+          "name": "Contact",
+          "children": [
+            {
+              "field.string": {
+                "name": "name"
+              }
+            },
+            {
+              "field.object": {
+                "name": "billing",
+                "extends": "acme::shop::AddrTemplate"
+              }
+            }
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
+

fixtures/conformance/root-level-field-object-bare-ref/input/meta.json

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+{
+  "metadata.root": {
+    "package": "acme::shop",
+    "children": [
+      {
+        "object.value": {
+          "name": "Address",
+          "children": [
+            { "field.string": { "name": "street" } },
+            { "field.string": { "name": "city" } }
+          ]
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "field.object": {
+          "name": "AddrTemplate",
+          "abstract": true,
+          "@objectRef": "Address"
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "object.value": {
+          "name": "Contact",
+          "children": [
+            { "field.string": { "name": "name" } },
+            { "field.object": { "name": "billing", "extends": "AddrTemplate" } }
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}

fixtures/conformance/root-level-field-object-bare-ref/providers.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+["metaobjects-core-types","metaobjects-db"]

server/java/metadata/src/main/java/com/metaobjects/loader/validation/RegisteredValidation.java

@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ private static void walk(MetaData node, MetaDataRegistry registry, ValidationCon
         // BARE refs against it. Nested nodes carry no package of their own, so they inherit the
         // enclosing object's. Mirrors TS validation-registry.ts.
         String pkg = referrerPkg;
-        if (node instanceof MetaObject) {
+        // A root-level node of any type (e.g. an abstract field.object template that other
+        // fields extend) is a top-level declaration too: it carries its own package and its
+        // bare refs resolve in it, not against the empty context.
+        if (node instanceof MetaObject || node.getParent() instanceof MetaRoot) {
             String p = node.getPackage();
             pkg = (p != null && !p.isEmpty()) ? p : referrerPkg;
         }
@@ -64,7 +67,10 @@ private static void walk(MetaData node, MetaDataRegistry registry, ValidationCon
                     MetaObject target = ctx.symbols().resolveObject(entityRef, pkg);
                     // Qualify the node name with its owning entity (e.g. "Order.items") so the
                     // error is locatable from the message alone, not just the source envelope.
-                    String qname = (node.getParent() != null && node.getParent().getShortName() != null
+                    // A root-level node has no owning entity: the parent is the loader/root, whose
+                    // name must not be printed as an owner.
+                    String qname = (node.getParent() != null && !(node.getParent() instanceof MetaRoot)
+                            && node.getParent().getShortName() != null
                             && !node.getParent().getShortName().isEmpty())
                         ? node.getParent().getShortName() + "." + node.getShortName()
                         : node.getShortName();