fix: validate where-operators and align the in-memory matcher to the documented set

`find({ where })` had two gaps that could silently return nothing. The in-memory
matcher (`matchesQuery`, used for egress re-validation and historical reads) was
missing several documented operators — `in`, `greaterThanOrEqual`,
`lessThanOrEqual` — so it disagreed with the index path, which does handle them.
And an unknown operator key (a typo, or `notIn` written where `not: { in }` was
meant) fell through to a nested-object-field interpretation and matched nothing.

- Align `matchesQuery` to the full documented operator set (add the missing
  aliases; the default branch now throws instead of treating an unknown key as a
  nested field — dotted paths remain the supported nested form).
- Validate the `where` filter up front (`validateWhereFilter`), throwing a typed
  `BrainyError('INVALID_QUERY')` that names the unknown operator, recursing into
  `allOf` / `anyOf` / `not`.
- Stop excluding a user field literally named `level` from the metadata index
  (it collided with an internal never-index key), so numeric/exact filters on it
  resolve instead of returning 0.

Adds unit coverage for the operator set and the throw-on-unknown behavior.

src/errors/brainyError.ts

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ export type BrainyErrorType =
   | 'NOT_FOUND'
   | 'RETRY_EXHAUSTED'
   | 'VALIDATION'
+  | 'INVALID_QUERY'
   | 'FIELD_NOT_INDEXED'
   | 'GRAPH_INDEX_NOT_READY'
   | 'METADATA_INDEX_NOT_READY'

src/utils/metadataFilter.ts

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { SearchResult, HNSWNoun, HNSWNounWithMetadata } from '../coreTypes.js'
+import { BrainyError } from '../errors/brainyError.js'
 
 /**
  * Brainy Field Operators (BFO) - Our own field query system
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ export interface BrainyFieldOperators {
   
   // Array/Set operators
   oneOf?: any[]
+  in?: any[] // documented alias for oneOf
   noneOf?: any[]
   contains?: any
   excludes?: any
@@ -70,6 +72,65 @@ export interface MetadataFilterOptions {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Value-level operators (the keys inside `{ field: { <op>: operand } }`) — the
+ * complete documented set, kept in lockstep with the `matchesQuery` switch below
+ * and the metadata-index path. `in` is the documented alias for `oneOf`.
+ */
+const VALUE_OPERATORS = new Set<string>([
+  'equals', 'eq', 'notEquals', 'ne',
+  'greaterThan', 'gt', 'greaterThanOrEqual', 'gte',
+  'lessThan', 'lt', 'lessThanOrEqual', 'lte',
+  'between', 'oneOf', 'in', 'noneOf',
+  'contains', 'excludes', 'hasAll', 'length',
+  'exists', 'missing', 'matches', 'startsWith', 'endsWith'
+])
+
+/** Filter-level logical operators (siblings of field names). */
+const LOGICAL_OPERATORS = new Set<string>(['allOf', 'anyOf', 'not'])
+
+/**
+ * Validate a `where` filter's operators up front, throwing a typed
+ * `BrainyError('INVALID_QUERY')` on the first unrecognized operator — so a typo
+ * like `{ subtype: { notIn: [...] } }` fails LOUD instead of silently matching
+ * nothing (the invisible-degrade class). Called by `find()` before either the
+ * index path or the in-memory matcher runs, so the throw fires even when the
+ * result set is empty (the index path would otherwise return `[]` without ever
+ * invoking the matcher). Nested fields use dot notation (`{ 'a.b': v }`), so a
+ * field's object value carries operators, never sub-field names.
+ *
+ * @param filter - the user-supplied `where` clause (validated raw, before any
+ *   internal field injection like visibility or `type`→`noun`).
+ * @throws BrainyError('INVALID_QUERY') naming the bad operator + the valid set.
+ */
+export function validateWhereFilter(filter: unknown): void {
+  if (!filter || typeof filter !== 'object' || Array.isArray(filter)) return
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(filter as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+    if (LOGICAL_OPERATORS.has(key)) {
+      if (key === 'not') {
+        validateWhereFilter(value)
+      } else if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+        for (const sub of value) validateWhereFilter(sub)
+      }
+      continue
+    }
+    // A field key. Its value is a scalar/array (equality) — nothing to validate —
+    // or an object of value-operators, every key of which must be recognized.
+    if (value && typeof value === 'object' && !Array.isArray(value)) {
+      for (const op of Object.keys(value as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+        if (!VALUE_OPERATORS.has(op)) {
+          throw new BrainyError(
+            `Unknown filter operator "${op}" on field "${key}". Valid operators: ` +
+              `${[...VALUE_OPERATORS].sort().join(', ')}. For nested fields use dot ` +
+              `notation, e.g. { '${key}.subfield': value }.`,
+            'INVALID_QUERY'
+          )
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Check if a value matches a query with operators
  */
@@ -103,6 +164,7 @@ function matchesQuery(value: any, query: any): boolean {
         if (typeof value !== 'number' || typeof operand !== 'number' || !(value > operand)) return false
         break
       case 'gte':
+      case 'greaterThanOrEqual':
         if (typeof value !== 'number' || typeof operand !== 'number' || !(value >= operand)) return false
         break
       case 'lessThan':
@@ -110,6 +172,7 @@ function matchesQuery(value: any, query: any): boolean {
         if (typeof value !== 'number' || typeof operand !== 'number' || !(value < operand)) return false
         break
       case 'lte':
+      case 'lessThanOrEqual':
         if (typeof value !== 'number' || typeof operand !== 'number' || !(value <= operand)) return false
         break
       case 'between':
@@ -119,6 +182,7 @@ function matchesQuery(value: any, query: any): boolean {
         
       // Array/Set operators
       case 'oneOf':
+      case 'in': // documented alias for oneOf
         if (!Array.isArray(operand) || !operand.includes(value)) return false
         break
       case 'noneOf':
@@ -161,22 +225,26 @@ function matchesQuery(value: any, query: any): boolean {
         break
         
       default:
-        // Unknown operator, treat as field name
+        // Unknown operator. The old behavior treated any unknown key as a
-        if (!matchesFieldQuery(value, op, operand)) return false
+        // nested-object field name (an UNDOCUMENTED fallback — dot notation
+        // `{ 'a.b': v }` is the supported nested form), which silently swallowed
+        // operator typos: `{ x: { notIn: [...] } }` matched nothing instead of
+        // erroring. Fail loud. find() validates the whole where clause up front
+        // (validateWhereFilter), so a typo throws even on an empty result set;
+        // this is the belt-and-suspenders for any matcher caller that bypasses
+        // that path.
+        throw new BrainyError(
+          `Unknown filter operator "${op}". Valid operators: ` +
+            `${[...VALUE_OPERATORS].sort().join(', ')}. For nested fields use dot ` +
+            `notation, e.g. { 'address.city': 'NYC' }.`,
+          'INVALID_QUERY'
+        )
     }
   }
 
   return true
 }
 
-/**
- * Check if a field matches a query
- */
-function matchesFieldQuery(obj: any, field: string, query: any): boolean {
-  const value = getNestedValue(obj, field)
-  return matchesQuery(value, query)
-}
-
 /**
  * Get nested value from object using dot notation
  */

src/utils/metadataIndex.ts

@@ -1166,8 +1166,17 @@ export class MetadataIndexManager implements MetadataIndexProvider {
   private extractIndexableFields(data: any): Array<{ field: string, value: any }> {
     const fields: Array<{ field: string, value: any }> = []
 
-    // Fields that should NEVER be indexed (vectors, embeddings, large arrays, HNSW internals)
+    // Fields that should NEVER be indexed: bulk structural payloads that would
-    const NEVER_INDEX = new Set(['vector', 'embedding', 'embeddings', 'connections', 'level', 'id'])
+    // blow up the index (the 384-dim vector, embeddings, the adjacency list).
+    // These are also caught by the array-size guard below, but naming them is
+    // belt-and-suspenders. NOTE: `level` was previously here (an HNSW node's
+    // layer) but it never actually reaches this path — every caller passes a
+    // metadata bag or Entity record, neither of which carries the node's
+    // `level` — so its only effect was to silently drop a legitimate USER
+    // metadata field named `level` (log level, skill level, access level…),
+    // making `where: { level: … }` return nothing. Removed. (`id` stays: it is
+    // the reserved entity-identity field, resolved specially by find().)
+    const NEVER_INDEX = new Set(['vector', 'embedding', 'embeddings', 'connections', 'id'])
 
     const extract = (obj: any, prefix = ''): void => {
       for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(obj)) {
@@ -1278,7 +1287,10 @@ export class MetadataIndexManager implements MetadataIndexProvider {
       return data.map(d => this.extractTextContent(d)).filter(Boolean).join(' ')
     }
     if (typeof data === 'object') {
-      const skipKeys = new Set(['vector', 'embedding', 'embeddings', 'connections', 'level', 'id'])
+      // Mirror of NEVER_INDEX for the text-extraction path: bulk structural
+      // payloads only. `level` removed for the same reason (it silently dropped
+      // a real user field from hybrid text search too).
+      const skipKeys = new Set(['vector', 'embedding', 'embeddings', 'connections', 'id'])
       const texts: string[] = []
       for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(data)) {
         // Skip internal fields and numeric keys (array indices)

tests/unit/where-operator-validation.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/**
+ * Where-clause operator correctness (8.0.12) — the three query-layer fixes:
+ *
+ *  1. Unknown operators fail LOUD. A typo like `{ role: { notIn: [...] } }` or
+ *     any gibberish operator now throws BrainyError('INVALID_QUERY') instead of
+ *     silently matching nothing (the invisible-degrade class). Validated up
+ *     front in find(), so it throws even when the result set is empty.
+ *  2. Documented operators the in-memory matcher was missing now work: `in`
+ *     (alias for oneOf) and the long-form comparison aliases
+ *     `greaterThanOrEqual` / `lessThanOrEqual`.
+ *  3. A user metadata field named `level` is indexable + queryable — it was
+ *     silently dropped by an over-broad HNSW-internal skip-list, so
+ *     `where: { level: ... }` returned nothing.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach } from 'vitest'
+import { Brainy, NounType, BrainyError } from '../../src/index.js'
+
+const brains: any[] = []
+async function makeBrain(): Promise<any> {
+  const brain: any = new Brainy({ storage: { type: 'memory' }, requireSubtype: false, silent: true, plugins: [] })
+  await brain.init()
+  brains.push(brain)
+  return brain
+}
+afterEach(async () => {
+  for (const b of brains.splice(0)) await b.close().catch(() => {})
+})
+
+const V = () => Array.from({ length: 384 }, () => Math.random())
+
+describe('Where-operator validation + documented-operator coverage (8.0.12)', () => {
+  it('unknown operators throw INVALID_QUERY instead of silently returning [] (item 3)', async () => {
+    const brain = await makeBrain()
+    for (const role of ['staff', 'customer', 'vendor']) {
+      await brain.add({ data: role, type: NounType.Person, metadata: { role }, vector: V() })
+    }
+    // notIn is not an operator (use ne / not+in). It must THROW, not match nothing.
+    await expect(brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { role: { notIn: ['staff'] } } }))
+      .rejects.toBeInstanceOf(BrainyError)
+    await expect(brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { role: { notIn: ['staff'] } } }))
+      .rejects.toMatchObject({ type: 'INVALID_QUERY' })
+    // Gibberish likewise.
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { role: { blorp: 1 } } })).rejects.toMatchObject({ type: 'INVALID_QUERY' })
+    // Nested inside a logical operator is still validated.
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { not: { role: { nope: 1 } } } })).rejects.toMatchObject({ type: 'INVALID_QUERY' })
+    await expect(brain.find({ where: { anyOf: [{ role: { xx: 1 } }] } })).rejects.toMatchObject({ type: 'INVALID_QUERY' })
+  })
+
+  it('the documented `in` alias and long-form comparison aliases work (item 2)', async () => {
+    const brain = await makeBrain()
+    for (let i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
+      await brain.add({ data: 'n' + i, type: NounType.Person, metadata: { role: ['staff', 'customer', 'vendor'][i % 3], score: i }, vector: V() })
+    }
+    await brain.flush()
+    // `in` === oneOf
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { role: { in: ['customer', 'vendor'] } } })).length).toBe(6)
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { not: { role: { in: ['staff'] } } } })).length).toBe(6)
+    // long-form comparison aliases (were silently unhandled by the in-memory matcher)
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { score: { greaterThanOrEqual: 6 } } })).length).toBe(3) // 6,7,8
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { score: { lessThanOrEqual: 2 } } })).length).toBe(3) // 0,1,2
+  })
+
+  it('a user metadata field named "level" is indexable + queryable (item: HNSW field-name collision)', async () => {
+    const brain = await makeBrain()
+    for (let i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
+      await brain.add({ data: 'entity ' + i, type: NounType.Person, metadata: { level: i }, vector: V() })
+    }
+    await brain.flush()
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { level: 4 } })).length).toBe(1) // exact
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { level: { gt: 4 } } })).length).toBe(4) // 5..8
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Person, where: { level: { exists: true } } })).length).toBe(9)
+  })
+
+  it('valid operators are unaffected — control', async () => {
+    const brain = await makeBrain()
+    for (const s of ['a', 'b', 'c']) await brain.add({ data: s, type: NounType.Concept, metadata: { tag: s }, vector: V() })
+    await brain.flush()
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Concept, where: { tag: { oneOf: ['a', 'b'] } } })).length).toBe(2)
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Concept, where: { tag: 'c' } })).length).toBe(1)
+    expect((await brain.find({ type: NounType.Concept, where: { tag: { exists: true } } })).length).toBe(3)
+  })
+})