feat(namespace): conformance green 19/19 — data-aware did-you-mean on unindexed bare addresses, ordering contract on the column top-K path (never drop, nulls last, ties by id), shape-complete addressed reads (entity views AND raw storage shapes, shadow-proof both scopes), per-key source matching for dotted addresses; refusal classes unified under UnresolvableFieldError

src/aggregation/AggregationIndex.ts

@@ -110,11 +110,15 @@ function matchesSource(entity: Record<string, unknown>, source: AggregateDefinit
   // live in the custom bag, so those filters could never match anything.
   if (source.where && Object.keys(source.where).length > 0) {
     const e = entity as unknown as HNSWNounWithMetadata
-    const resolved: Record<string, unknown> = {}
+    for (const [key, condition] of Object.entries(source.where)) {
-    for (const key of Object.keys(source.where)) {
+      // Evaluate ONE field at a time under a neutral key: the address may be
-      resolved[key] = readAddressed(e, key)
+      // dotted ('system.subtype'), and the filter evaluator would otherwise
+      // walk dots as a nested path instead of treating the key as an address.
+      const value = readAddressed(e, key)
+      if (!matchesMetadataFilter({ v: value }, { v: condition } as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+        return false
+      }
     }
-    if (!matchesMetadataFilter(resolved, source.where)) return false
   }
 
   return true

src/db/fieldAddressing.ts

@@ -167,10 +167,39 @@ export function readEntityFieldAddress(
   entity: HNSWNounWithMetadata,
   address: FieldAddress
 ): unknown {
+  const rec = entity as unknown as Record<string, unknown>
+  const bag =
+    rec.metadata && typeof rec.metadata === 'object'
+      ? (rec.metadata as Record<string, unknown>)
+      : null
+
   if (address.scope === 'system') {
-    return (entity as unknown as Record<string, unknown>)[address.field]
+    // Entity views carry system scalars top-level; raw storage shapes carry
+    // them inside the stored metadata record (where `type` is spelled `noun`).
+    // Read top-level first, then the record — never the user's namespace.
+    const top = rec[address.field]
+    if (top !== undefined) return top
+    if (bag) {
+      if (address.field === 'type') return bag.type ?? bag.noun
+      return bag[address.field]
+    }
+    return undefined
   }
-  return entity.metadata?.[address.field]
+
+  // User scope. The write-path remap guarantees the user can never OWN a
+  // field named like a system scalar (those lift top-level at write), so a
+  // bare system name reads as ABSENT — reading the stored record's reserved
+  // key here would re-create the shadow this module exists to kill. Same for
+  // plumbing and the legacy 'noun' spelling.
+  if (
+    SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS.has(address.field) ||
+    PLUMBING_FIELDS.has(address.field) ||
+    address.field === 'noun'
+  ) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+  if (bag) return bag[address.field]
+  return rec[address.field]
 }
 
 /**
@@ -222,29 +251,6 @@ export function buildUnresolvableMessage(
   )
 }
 
-/**
- * @description Refusal for a malformed or out-of-map field ADDRESS —
- * `system.<anything-not-in-the-map>` (including all plumbing), an empty
- * name, or a bare `metadata.` prefix. The message carries the full valid
- * system map so the fix never needs a docs lookup.
- */
-export class InvalidFieldAddressError extends Error {
-  public readonly raw: string
-  public readonly kind: FieldAddressKind
-
-  constructor(raw: string, kind: FieldAddressKind, systemMap: ReadonlySet<string>) {
-    const valid = [...systemMap].map((f) => `system.${f}`).join(', ')
-    super(
-      `'${raw}' is not an addressable ${kind} field. Bare names address your own ` +
-        `metadata fields; engine fields are exactly: ${valid}. Engine plumbing ` +
-        `(vector, connections, level, data, _rev) is not part of the query surface.`
-    )
-    this.name = 'InvalidFieldAddressError'
-    this.raw = raw
-    this.kind = kind
-  }
-}
-
 /**
  * @description Refusal for a syntactically valid address that resolves to
  * NOTHING — a bare name no user field carries. Carries the did-you-mean
@@ -256,14 +262,35 @@ export class UnresolvableFieldError extends Error {
   public readonly raw: string
   public readonly kind: FieldAddressKind
 
-  constructor(raw: string, kind: FieldAddressKind) {
+  constructor(raw: string, kind: FieldAddressKind, messageOverride?: string) {
-    super(buildUnresolvableMessage(raw, kind))
+    super(messageOverride ?? buildUnresolvableMessage(raw, kind))
     this.name = 'UnresolvableFieldError'
     this.raw = raw
     this.kind = kind
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * @description Refusal for a malformed or out-of-map field ADDRESS —
+ * `system.<anything-not-in-the-map>` (including all plumbing), an empty
+ * name, or a bare `metadata.` prefix. The message carries the full valid
+ * system map so the fix never needs a docs lookup.
+ */
+export class InvalidFieldAddressError extends UnresolvableFieldError {
+  constructor(raw: string, kind: FieldAddressKind, systemMap: ReadonlySet<string>) {
+    const valid = [...systemMap].map((f) => `system.${f}`).join(', ')
+    super(
+      raw,
+      kind,
+      `'${raw}' is not an addressable ${kind} field. Bare names address your own ` +
+        `metadata fields; engine fields are exactly: ${valid}. Engine plumbing ` +
+        `(vector, connections, level, data, _rev) is not part of the query surface.`
+    )
+    this.name = 'InvalidFieldAddressError'
+  }
+}
+
+
 /**
  * @description Refusal for a find() option that is accepted by the type
  * surface but NOT implemented — an accepted option must work or refuse;

src/utils/metadataIndex.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { StorageAdapter, resolveEntityField, NounMetadata, VerbMetadata } from '../coreTypes.js'
-import { SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS, parseFieldAddress } from '../db/fieldAddressing.js'
+import { SYSTEM_ENTITY_SCALARS, parseFieldAddress, UnresolvableFieldError } from '../db/fieldAddressing.js'
 import { ColumnStore } from '../indexes/columnStore/ColumnStore.js'
 import type { MetadataIndexProvider } from '../plugin.js'
 import { MetadataIndexCache, MetadataIndexCacheConfig } from './metadataIndexCache.js'
@@ -2250,6 +2250,18 @@ export class MetadataIndexManager implements MetadataIndexProvider {
     const orderKey =
       orderAddress.scope === 'system' ? `system.${orderAddress.field}` : orderAddress.field
 
+    // DATA-AWARE REFUSAL (the did-you-mean): a bare address no user field
+    // carries cannot mean anything as a sort key — and when the name collides
+    // with a system scalar the caller almost certainly meant system.<field>.
+    // Refusing loudly with both candidates beats silently sorting nothing.
+    if (
+      orderAddress.scope === 'metadata' &&
+      !(this.columnStore && this.columnStore.hasField(orderKey)) &&
+      !(await this.loadSparseIndex(orderKey))
+    ) {
+      throw new UnresolvableFieldError(orderAddress.raw, 'entity')
+    }
+
     // Column store path: O(K log S) sort via k-way merge across segments.
     // No per-entity storage reads, no precision loss from bucketing.
     if (this.columnStore && this.columnStore.hasField(orderKey)) {
@@ -2283,9 +2295,30 @@ export class MetadataIndexManager implements MetadataIndexProvider {
 
       // Convert int IDs back to UUIDs. Number() narrowing is lossless — the
       // shipped EntityIdSpaceExceeded guard caps the JS mapper at u32.
-      return sortedIntIds
+      const sortedUuids = sortedIntIds
         .map(intId => this.idMapper.getUuid(Number(intId)))
         .filter((uuid): uuid is string => uuid !== undefined)
+
+      // ORDERING CONTRACT (cross-engine, sealed): rows missing the field are
+      // NEVER dropped — they sort LAST in both directions — and ties break by
+      // id ascending. The column only contains rows that HAVE the field, so
+      // (1) re-sort the page deterministically (value, then id) with K cheap
+      // value reads, and (2) append the filtered rows the column omitted,
+      // id-ascending, filling any remaining page budget.
+      const page = await Promise.all(
+        sortedUuids.map(async id => ({ id, value: await this.getFieldValueForEntity(id, orderKey) }))
+      )
+      page.sort((a, b) => this.compareAddressedValues(a.value, b.value, a.id, b.id, order))
+      let result = page.map(p => p.id)
+
+      if (hasFilter) {
+        const present = new Set(sortedUuids)
+        if (topK === undefined || result.length < topK) {
+          const missing = filteredIds.filter(id => !present.has(id)).sort()
+          result = result.concat(missing)
+        }
+      }
+      return topK !== undefined ? result.slice(0, topK) : result
     }
 
     // Fallback: sparse index path (for fields not yet in column store).
@@ -2302,33 +2335,7 @@ export class MetadataIndexManager implements MetadataIndexProvider {
       idValuePairs.push({ id, value })
     }
 
-    idValuePairs.sort((a, b) => {
+    idValuePairs.sort((a, b) => this.compareAddressedValues(a.value, b.value, a.id, b.id, order))
-      // Ordering contract (cross-engine, ruled 2026-08-03): missing/null
-      // values sort LAST in BOTH directions — the direction flip never moves
-      // them to the front — and ties break by id ascending, so an ordered
-      // read is deterministic and identical on both engines. Rows are never
-      // dropped for lacking the field.
-      const aNull = a.value == null
-      const bNull = b.value == null
-      if (aNull || bNull) {
-        if (aNull && bNull) return a.id < b.id ? -1 : a.id > b.id ? 1 : 0
-        return aNull ? 1 : -1
-      }
-      // Numbers compare numerically; everything else by code-point (UTF-8 byte) order.
-      // This makes the JS fallback sort match cor's native column store exactly
-      // (numeric i64/f64 vs code-point strings) and stay deterministic across
-      // environments, unlike the `<` operator's UTF-16 ordering for strings.
-      let comparison = 0
-      if (a.value !== b.value) {
-        if (typeof a.value === 'number' && typeof b.value === 'number') {
-          comparison = a.value < b.value ? -1 : 1
-        } else {
-          comparison = compareCodePoints(String(a.value), String(b.value))
-        }
-      }
-      if (comparison === 0) return a.id < b.id ? -1 : a.id > b.id ? 1 : 0
-      return order === 'asc' ? comparison : -comparison
-    })
 
     const sorted = idValuePairs.map(p => p.id)
     return topK !== undefined ? sorted.slice(0, topK) : sorted
@@ -2362,6 +2369,39 @@ export class MetadataIndexManager implements MetadataIndexProvider {
    *
    * @public (called from brainy.ts for sorted queries)
    */
+  /**
+   * The cross-engine ordering contract in one comparator (sealed 2026-08-03):
+   * missing/null values sort LAST in BOTH directions — the direction flip
+   * never moves them to the front — and ties break by id ascending, so an
+   * ordered read is deterministic and identical on both engines. Numbers
+   * compare numerically; everything else by code-point (UTF-8 byte) order,
+   * matching the native column store exactly.
+   */
+  private compareAddressedValues(
+    aVal: any,
+    bVal: any,
+    aId: string,
+    bId: string,
+    order: 'asc' | 'desc'
+  ): number {
+    const aNull = aVal == null
+    const bNull = bVal == null
+    if (aNull || bNull) {
+      if (aNull && bNull) return aId < bId ? -1 : aId > bId ? 1 : 0
+      return aNull ? 1 : -1
+    }
+    let comparison = 0
+    if (aVal !== bVal) {
+      if (typeof aVal === 'number' && typeof bVal === 'number') {
+        comparison = aVal < bVal ? -1 : 1
+      } else {
+        comparison = compareCodePoints(String(aVal), String(bVal))
+      }
+    }
+    if (comparison === 0) return aId < bId ? -1 : aId > bId ? 1 : 0
+    return order === 'asc' ? comparison : -comparison
+  }
+
   async getFieldValueForEntity(entityId: string, field: string): Promise<any> {
     // `field` arrives as a FROZEN INDEX KEY (bare = user metadata;
     // 'system.<field>' = engine scalar). Storage fallbacks read the matching

tests/conformance/namespace-law.test.ts

@@ -294,7 +294,9 @@ describe.skipIf(!lawActive)('namespace law — bare/system/metadata field addres
 
     brain.defineAggregate({
       name: 'ns_law_by_team_bare',
-      source: { type: NounType.Document, where: { subtype: 'ns-law-group-bare' } },
+      // system.subtype — bare 'subtype' would address user metadata under the
+      // law (the exact migration every fleet consumer's aggregates make).
+      source: { type: NounType.Document, where: { 'system.subtype': 'ns-law-group-bare' } },
       groupBy: ['team'],
       metrics: { count: { op: 'count' } }
     })