fix(register): drop the unresolvable $ref on the cross-app decisions relation (gate-54 1 → PASS)

[rubenvdlinde]

gate-54 relation-dialect: 1 → PASS. hydra-gates 365fa31d09a26f980e6dc76cb0800575ef005a4e, measured at the CI scope (--scope-to-diff --base origin/beta).

The defect

contract.decisions references decidesk Decision objects (ADR-066). It carried both x-external-register: "decidesk" and $ref: "Decision".

OpenRegister resolves $ref inside one register set and can never reach another app's schema, so that $ref is dead weight — it names a target nothing will ever look up.

I had this wrong earlier today, and I am correcting it

Measuring the same finding against package 651e5c5, I concluded it was an unclosable gate gap and left it red on that basis — and I added my instance to .github#305 arguing the gate could not express a sanctioned ADR-066 relation.

That conclusion is now wrong. .github#286 landed hours later and gave the cross-app case a dialect. The gate is right; the register was wrong. I have followed up on #305 rather than leaving my earlier comment as the last word there.

The sanctioned form, and why the old message fired

_is_external_ref() reads x-external-register on the property. This register had it on items only — invisible to the gate — which is why the generic "$ref 'Decision' does not resolve to a schema key" fired instead of the new, actionable cross-app message.

 "decisions": {
   "type": "array",
+  "x-external-register": "decidesk",
   "items": {
     "type": "string",
     "format": "uuid",
-    "$ref": "Decision",
     "x-external-register": "decidesk"
   },

The annotation is kept on items too — it documents the item, and the exemption is what the property carries.

Can-fail proof

Restoring the $ref puts gate-54 straight back to 1 finding.

Other measurements

• gate-51 schema-property-titles stays PASS.
• The register still parses (json.load).
• No other gate count moved.

[github-actions]

Quality Report — ConductionNL/softwarecatalog @ 943b4f3

Check	PHP	Vue	Security	License	Tests
lint	✅
phpcs	✅
phpmd	✅
psalm	✅
phpstan	✅
phpmetrics	✅
eslint		✅
stylelint		✅
build		✅
check-manifest		✅
check-vue-demi		✅
test-l10n		✅
composer			✅	✅ 128/128
npm			✅	✅ 718/718
PHPUnit					✅
Newman					⏭️
Playwright					✅
Hydra gates					✅

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Quality workflow — 2026-08-09 21:13 UTC

Download the full PDF report from the workflow artifacts.