StringColumn hint is silently dropped from the build output since 4.10 (still broken in 4.11.2; docs still advertise the property)

[jsouza65]

Summary

Since SDK 4.10, the hint property of column definitions is silently dropped from the generated install payload. The build completes successfully, no warning or error is emitted, and the installed sys_documentation records carry no hint. The property is still documented as supported in 4.11.2 (now-sdk explain stringcolumn-api / docs/api/stringcolumn-api.md).

Last known good version: 4.9.2. Reproduced on 4.10.1 and 4.11.2.

Steps to reproduce

1. now-sdk init a new scoped app (any scope name), pin @servicenow/sdk to 4.11.2.
2. Declare a table with a column carrying a hint:

import { Table, StringColumn } from '@servicenow/sdk/core'

export const x_demo_thing = Table({
    name: 'x_demo_thing',
    schema: {
        u_code: StringColumn({
            label: 'Code',
            maxLength: 40,
            hint: 'Internal tracking code, format ABC-123',
        }),
    },
})

3. now-sdk build.
4. Inspect dist/ — grep the generated sys_documentation XML for the hint text.

Expected

The hint text is present in the generated sys_documentation payload (as it is when building the same source with SDK 4.9.2), or — if the property is no longer supported — the build fails or at least warns, and the API docs stop advertising it.

Actual

• 4.9.2: hint present in dist/.
• 4.10.1 and 4.11.2: hint absent from dist/. Build output: Build completed successfully, exit code 0, no diagnostic.
• Measured on a real mid-size app: 169 populated hints under 4.9.2 → 0 under 4.11.2, same source.

Impact

Field-level hints are end-user-facing help text. Teams upgrading from 4.9.x lose all of them on the next install with no signal at build time; the loss is only visible by re-reading sys_documentation on the instance. This is the reason our projects remain pinned to 4.9.2 and skipped both 4.10 and 4.11.

Environment

• @servicenow/sdk 4.11.2 (also reproduced on 4.10.1); baseline comparison against 4.9.2
• Node 20.x, macOS 15 (darwin arm64)
• Scoped app, npm-workspaces monorepo layout

[matthew-clase]

Thanks for calling this out. We will look into getting it fixed

[matthew-clase]

You can also add a hint in a label array like this

[venkat-kaluva]

This is now fixed with 4.12.1