ADR-0029: An allowlist for a whole rule namespace¶
Status: Accepted Date: 2026-10-12 Deciders: Alex Nodeland Amends: ADR-0020: allowlists were keyed by a rule's name alone
Context¶
Rules drafted in chat are installed at runtime, under names no one can list in advance, in the namespaces reflexr's StoredRules allows, such as chat. Their first action posts a notice in a thread the drafter named, which isn't in their chain. Outbound(allowlists=...) looked a rule's allowlist up by its exact name, so these rules could only have the default, which allows notices in the chain's threads alone.
Decision¶
- A key of
Outbound(allowlists=...)may name a whole namespace, as"chat:*". It applies to every rule in that namespace that has no allowlist of its own; a rule's own name comes first. - That is the only wildcard.
Outboundchecks every key when it is made: a key is a rule's name, as reflexr names rules, or<namespace>:*. Anything else is refused,reflexr's reserved namespace included: no globbing within a name, and no wildcard across namespaces. - Phase 5b, rules from chat in stackr's template, is to give
chat:*Allowlist(threads="any"): notices in any thread, and nothing more. Such a rule posts as its own principal, which holds only notices in its own workspace (grantr ADR-0029).
Options considered¶
| Option | For | Against |
|---|---|---|
| A namespace's key, after the rule's own (chosen) | Plain data still; one line covers every rule a namespace will hold | A rule in the namespace gets what the namespace has, unless named |
| Patterns over names | Finer grouping | Matching rules no one reviews by name |
| A callback from the rule to its allowlist | Anything can decide | The limit moves into code, as ADR-0020 rejected |
Consequences¶
- Easier: rules installed at runtime get an allowlist from their namespace, reviewed with the application's code.
- Harder: every rule in the namespace gets what the namespace's allowlist grants, so it should grant only what all of them need.