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`GambitManager.from()` breaks negated filters: `-is:` gambits lose their `-` and negated key-value gambits throw

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@HawkForge is already working on this.

Since Oct 15, 2026.

  • #5202 by @HawkForge — open

Assessment

Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
88/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
javascript, php
Domain
frontend, search, testing

Research direction

Start in framework/core/js/src/common/GambitManager.ts and trace GambitManager.from() alongside apply() to see how filter keys and values are converted. Add unit coverage for negated yes/no gambits and key-value gambits, then run the relevant GambitManager tests. Done means the filters round-trip correctly and the reported search link restores test -author:admin without an error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

Summary

GambitManager.from() turns API filters back into search text. It mishandles negated filter keys (-author, -unread, …). This affects every page that rebuilds its search box from the URL (GlobalSearchState.searchToQuery()), so it breaks the search modal's "Search all discussions" link whenever the query has a negated gambit.

Steps to reproduce

As a logged-in member, open the search modal and search for:

  1. test -author:admin, then choose Search all discussions. The link is /?q=test&filter[-author]=admin. The index page throws TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'toString') (from filterValueToGambitValue), shows no discussions, and the header search falls back to "Search Forum".
  2. test -is:unread, then choose Search all discussions. The list is filtered correctly, but the header search shows test is:unread. Searching again from there returns the opposite results.

Results of from('discussions', 'foo', filter):

filter result
{ author: 'admin' } foo author:admin
{ '-author': 'admin' } throws
{ '-created': '2026-01-01' } throws
{ '-hidden': true } foo is:hidden
{ '-unread': true } foo is:unread

Extensions' gambits behave the same way. For example, fof/best-answer's -is:solved comes back as is:solved.

Cause

framework/core/js/src/common/GambitManager.ts, from():

Object.keys(filter).forEach((key) => {
  for (const gambit of gambits) {
    const negate = key[0] === '-';

    if (negate) key = key.substring(1);

    if (gambit.filterKey() !== key) continue;

    q += ` ${gambit.fromFilter(filter[key], negate)}`;
  }
});

There are two bugs:

  1. key is reassigned inside the per-gambit loop. The first gambit, AuthorGambit for discussions, strips the -. Every later gambit then sees negate === false, so negated yes/no gambits come back un-negated.
  2. The value is read with the stripped key. filter['author'] is undefined when the filter holds '-author'. Key-value gambits then call undefined.toString() in filterValueToGambitValue(). That's why -author throws even though AuthorGambit is first and still sees negate === true.
Fix

Work out the negation and the bare key once per filter key, outside the gambit loop, and read the value with the original key:

Object.keys(filter).forEach((filterKey) => {
  const negate = filterKey[0] === '-';
  const key = negate ? filterKey.substring(1) : filterKey;

  for (const gambit of gambits) {
    if (gambit.filterKey() !== key) continue;

    q += ` ${gambit.fromFilter(filter[filterKey], negate)}`;
  }
});
Done when
  • from() round-trips apply() for negated yes/no gambits that aren't first in the list (-is:unread, -is:hidden) and for negated key-value gambits (-author:x, -created:x).
  • The search modal's Search all discussions link for test -author:admin opens the index without an error, with test -author:admin in the search box.
  • A unit test covers GambitManager.from() with negated filters.
Dominant language
PHP
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
12h 56m
Merged PRs (30d)
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