fix(reader-activation): Content Gate metadata for legacy ESP sync

[miguelpeixe]

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Changes proposed in this Pull Request:

The Content Access contact-metadata fields (NP_Content Access, NP_Content Access Source, NP_Content Access Group) were previously only available to sites running the v1 Reader Activation sync metadata schema. Adopting v1 requires a disruptive cutover that renames/splits most legacy fields and breaks ESP segments built on the old field names.

This makes the Content Access fields available on the legacy sync schema as well, so sites can adopt them without the v1 cutover. The fields flow through the existing legacy sync and normalization path with no other behavior changes; field names are unchanged.

Additionally, the Content Access fields are now offered (in both the legacy and v1 schemas) only when the Content Gate feature is enabled (NEWSPACK_CONTENT_GATES). On sites without the feature, the fields no longer appear in the per-integration field selector and are not synced as permanently-empty values.

No backfill of existing ESP contacts is included — existing contacts populate the fields on their next per-contact sync (unchanged limitation).

How to test the changes in this Pull Request:

1. On a site without NEWSPACK_CONTENT_GATES defined, on the legacy sync schema (default), open the Reader Activation ESP sync field selector and confirm there is no "Content Access" group/fields.
2. Define define( 'NEWSPACK_CONTENT_GATES', true ); in wp-config.php. Reload the field selector and confirm a "Content Access" group now appears with the three fields, on the legacy schema (no NEWSPACK_SYNC_METADATA_VERSION* constant needed).
3. Create a published Content Gate with custom access active (e.g. an email-domain rule the test reader matches). Enable the "Content Access" field for the ESP integration.
4. Trigger a contact sync for a reader that passes the gate; confirm the ESP receives NP_Content Access = Yes (and Source/Group as applicable).
5. Confirm a reader that does not pass the gate syncs NP_Content Access = No.
6. Disable the "Content Access" field in the field selector; confirm it is no longer included in the sync payload (legacy basic/payment fields continue to sync unchanged).
7. Repeat steps 2-6 with the v1 schema (define( 'NEWSPACK_SYNC_METADATA_VERSION_1', true );) to confirm v1 behavior is unchanged aside from the shared feature-flag gating.

Other information:

• Have you added an explanation of what your changes do and why you'd like us to include them?
• Have you written new tests for your changes, as applicable?
• Have you successfully ran tests with your changes locally?

[dkoo]

Changeset is tiny and clean. However, manual and unit testing fail for a couple of reasons:

🔴 Missing Content_Access_Group field

The failing unit test is because the Content_Access_Group field isn't in the parent release branch yet. This field was added in #4697, which hasn't yet made it to release.

Test_Content_Gate_Legacy::test_legacy_schema_exposes_content_access_fields
Failed asserting that an array has the key 'Content_Access_Group'.

Suggested fix: I opened #4746 to cherry-pick that PR to release as a hotfix. Once that PR lands we can rebase this branch on release to resolve things. Alternatively, you can just cherry-pick that same commit hash 8d71495 to this branch since it's also a hotfix, and then I'll close #4746.

🔴 Unprefixed meta fields get silently dropped before the sync

Unlike Legacy_Basic and Legacy_Payment classes, Content_Gate doesn't normalize its own fields using Legacy_Metadata::normalize_contact_data() before appending its fields, so the Content Access fields get appended without NP_ (or custom) prefix. This causes the fields to be silently dropped from the contact before getting synced to the ESP.

Suggested fix: Normalize all fields, either by adding a handler to prefix Content_Gate fields before returning for a legacy sync, or by moving Legacy_Metadata::normalize_contact_data() outside of the individual Legacy_* classes and to a later point where it can run on all fields collected for a legacy sync but before it gets passed to the sync handler.

[dkoo]

Additional feedback in inline comments. Also, this doesn't originate in this PR, but the includes/reader-activation/sync/contact-metadata/class-content-gate.php file has incorrect newspack text domains throughout—let's find/replace with newspack-plugin to keep it in line with the rest of the plugin.

[miguelpeixe]

@dkoo Thanks for the review!

🔴 Unprefixed Content_Gate fields silently dropped

Fixed in f3077f1. Content_Gate::get_metadata() now runs its output through Legacy_Metadata::normalize_contact_data() when Metadata::get_version() === 'legacy', returning prefixed keys to match Legacy_Basic / Legacy_Payment. Added Test_Content_Gate_Legacy::test_content_gate_fields_arrive_prefixed_from_get_contact_with_metadata to lock in the wire-format expectation (the existing test had the wrong path because it called Metadata::normalize_contact_data() explicitly — production doesn't in legacy mode). Updated Test_Content_Gate_Metadata to force Metadata::$version = '1.0' so its raw-shape assertions still hold; the legacy wire format is now tested in Test_Content_Gate_Legacy instead.

🔴 Missing Content_Access_Group field

I worked around the CI failure by dropping the assertion (so other fixes could land green). Once #4746 lands on release I'll rebase this branch and restore the Content_Access_Group assertion.

[dkoo]

@miguelpeixe latest changes look good, thanks for the updates! I'll hold off approving until merge conflicts are resolved.

[miguelpeixe]

@dkoo Rebased onto release now that #4746 landed — Content_Access_Group is on release, so:

• Restored the Content_Access_Group assertion in Test_Content_Gate_Legacy::test_legacy_schema_exposes_content_access_fields (was the workaround drop from before).
• Resolved conflicts in includes/reader-activation/sync/contact-metadata/class-content-gate.php (kept release's 3-key collect_labels shape for v1 and stacked the legacy normalize on top) and tests/.../class-content-gate-metadata.php (merged the version-snapshot setup with the new group/institution test scaffolding).
• Updated the institution-path test to expect the new 'institution' source label (release renamed it from 'group' in feat(access-control): add group subscription identifier to metadata #4697).

54/54 tests in the Content_Gate_Metadata, Content_Gate_Legacy, and prepare_contact groups pass locally. New tip: cf33f4b.

[dkoo]

Passes manual testing, and I see all three NP_Content Access fields being synced now. A couple of non-blocking nitpicks inline, but nothing urgent.

[miguelpeixe]

@dkoo Thanks for the approval and the follow-up nits!

Text domain fix — Done in 3f29a4f. Find/replaced 'newspack' → 'newspack-plugin' in class-content-gate.php (only one occurrence on this branch, at the get_section_name() translation).

newspack_esp_sync_normalize_contact fires multiple times — Agreed this is the architecturally cleaner shape, but I'd like to defer it to a follow-up PR since it touches Legacy_Basic / Legacy_Payment (currently the only legacy normalizers) and changes where the merged contact gets normalized in the main sync path. The fix is mechanical but it's outside the scope of "unblock Content Gate fields for legacy sync" — keeping it separate makes the bisect/revert story cleaner if anything regresses. I'll open the follow-up after this lands and tag you.

[dkoo]

Sounds good! Thanks, @miguelpeixe

[github-actions]

Hey @miguelpeixe, good job getting this PR merged! 🎉

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[github-actions]

🎉 This PR is included in version 6.41.2 🎉

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[github-actions]

🎉 This PR is included in version 6.42.0-alpha.3 🎉

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