Testing and Review Checklist

Use this reference when adding specs or reviewing ACL-backed features.

Backend Specs

For target models:

• Include AclTarget.
• Cover mandatory_acl if the target defines one.
• Cover domain helper methods such as anonymous_can_read? or can_write? that wrap permission_acl.
• Cover .with_acl_permission and .with_any_acl_permissions when index/list actions depend on the shared scopes.

For Guardian methods:

• Cover anonymous, logged-in, direct group membership, writer-implies-reader, and manager cases as applicable.
• Cover target-id list helpers when an index action scopes resources by ACL.
• If pseudo groups are involved, cover granular_anonymous_and_logged_in_groups_permissions behavior when relevant.

For services using AccessControlListManager:

• Creation with omitted acl persists mandatory ACLs.
• Creation with acl: [] persists mandatory ACLs or fails closed when no mandatory ACL exists.
• Update with explicit acl: [] replaces existing ACLs with mandatory ACLs.
• Submitted ACLs that match the target class's banned_acl fail the has_no_banned_acl policy.
• Update with a non-empty ACL replaces old rows and logs/records permission history if the feature has history.
• After a successful manager call, the target instance has been reloaded and should not retain a stale permission_acl cache.
• Unauthorized actors fail before the manager mutates ACL rows.
• Invalid group IDs fail at the service/contract boundary when user input can supply IDs.

For cleanup behavior:

• Destroying a group enqueues :cleanup_acls_for_deleted.
• Jobs::CleanupAclsForDeleted removes the group id from ACL rows.
• ACL rows with no remaining group or user ids are deleted.
• ACL rows that still have user ids are preserved.

For lookup objects:

• Acl::Target#permission_group_ids returns [] for missing permissions and a defensive copy for present permissions.
• Acl::Target#group_ids_with_any_permission replaces the older multi_permission_group_ids name.
• Acl::User#target_ids_with_permission and #target_ids_with_any_permissions return defensive array copies.

For migration specs:

• Blank legacy arrays.
• Existing read/write/manage group values.
• Default setting fallback when no setting row exists.
• Raw setting rows that omit mandatory values.

Frontend Specs

For DAccessControl consumers:

• Rendered permissions match target-specific labels/descriptions.
• Mandatory ACL from site.access_control.mandatory_acl[targetKey] appears and is locked.
• Banned ACL from site.access_control.banned_acl[targetKey] removes matching permission options for the matching grantee.
• Existing rows with the same group as a mandatory row are not duplicated.
• onChange writes updated ACL arrays into parent state.
• The final save payload includes the intended ACL array.

Use .skills/discourse-writing-js-tests for QUnit patterns.

Review Checklist

Ask these questions during code review:

• Is every ACL write routed through AccessControlListManager?
• Does the caller authorize the actor before the manager can replace ACL rows?
• Does the service distinguish omitted ACL params from explicit empty ACL params when that matters?
• Are mandatory ACLs enforced in both backend writes and frontend display?
• Are banned ACLs enforced in backend writes and filtered from the frontend for matching grantees?
• Does the UI @aclTarget string match the target's acl_target_key?
• Is ACL serialization limited to users who can manage the specific target?
• Are list/index queries using Target.with_acl_permission, Target.with_any_acl_permissions, guardian.target_ids_with_acl_permission, or target_ids_with_any_acl_permissions instead of ad hoc SQL?
• Are group IDs validated before persistence when they come from params?
• Are plugin target classes registered with DiscoursePluginRegistry.register_acl_target_class?
• Do tests cover anonymous users and pseudo-group semantics if anonymous_users, logged_in_users, or everyone can appear in ACLs?
• Do tests cover stale group rows or missing plugin target classes if the code serializes ACLs that may outlive their original target or group?

Known Sharp Edges

• AccessControlListManager currently assumes caller-side authorization.
• Group support is complete enough for current UI; user ACL support is not.
• DAccessControl injects mandatory rows for display but does not notify the parent on render.
• DAccessControl filters banned permission options for UX, but hidden options are not authorization. The manager policy is the enforcement point.
• Mandatory ACLs from site settings need extra care in migrations because raw stored settings may omit mandatory_values.
• flattened_list skips stale group IDs and unknown target classes, so a missing row can disappear from serialized ACL output while cleanup or validation catches up.