Query syntax problems with TypeBox 0.26

[daffl]

The query syntax helper creates two different types between TypeBox 0.25:

And 0.26:

While the local package tests are passing, in a generated app this means that any operator like

app.service('messages').find({
  query: {
    createdAt: {
      $gte: Date.now() - 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000
    }
  }
})

Will receive a TypeScript error like this:

Property '$something' is incompatible with index signature.
          Type '<type>' is not assignable to type 'never'.

The current solution is to revert to TypeBox 0.25 and probably add a better integration like

Type.QuerySyntax(queryProperties, ['text', 'id'])

To v5.1

[daedalus28]

Is there any way to help move this along? The typebox dependency is very stale - nearly two years out of date.

I'm happy to attempt a PR for this, but I'm not sure I completely follow the issue being described here. Can you provide a unit test that passes on 0.25 but fails on the latest version?

Alternatively, is there a way we can use the latest typebox directly in our apps while feathers itself still relies on the older version?

[daedalus28]

I also see https://github.com/feathersjs/feathers/pull/3532 was opened 5 months ago with no engagement on it.

@daffl Any thoughts?

[daffl]

The update is probably still not possible without introducing a breaking change (as the breaking tests in #3532 showed before the logs expired).

I recommend installing your own Typebox dependency in the latest version and using that to explicitly define the schemas you need including the query syntax you actually use.

[daedalus28]

So if I understand right, the recommended path is for users to install typebox themselves to construct schemas. Does that mean we should avoid using getValidator and querySyntax from @feathersjs/typebox as well? Or are they safe to mix?

Assuming this is true, it would be great to update the docs to reflect it.

[daffl]

getValidator will work but querySyntax is where the compatibility issue is happening.

There was an attempt for compatibility in https://github.com/feathersjs/feathers/commit/962bd87217212320b1a68f6556a16b8a6b8f757c - I haven't tested it with newer versions of Typebox.

[daedalus28]

Got it, so we need to construct our own query syntax or use Type from @feathers/typebox for query based schemas and are free to import from the latest typebox otherwise. I think a note about that should be added to the docs.

The commit you linked was merged. Is there currently a unit test in the repo that was known to fail when upgrading? Like I said, I'm happy to assist here - but since I don't fully understand what part of querySyntax would break, I'm not sure where to begin.

[daffl]

The commit was merged but reverted later since it caused the issue described here. I put up a new PR to the latest TypeBox in https://github.com/feathersjs/feathers/pull/3565 might be worth iterating there.