feat(service-ai)!: rename data agent data_chat → ask (Path A) with back-compat alias (#2144)

* feat(service-ai)!: rename data agent data_chat -> ask (Path A) with alias

The platform data agent's identifier is renamed so the friendly console
URL equals the real name (/ai/ask). Back-compat is preserved:

- DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME = 'ask' (was 'data_chat'); LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME
  kept for migrations/diagnostics.
- New process-wide alias registry (agent-aliases.ts): seeds data_chat->ask;
  AgentRuntime.loadAgent normalizes a requested name through it, so
  /agents/data_chat/chat and persisted agent_id='data_chat' keep resolving.
  Exposes registerAgentAlias() so other packages register their OWN renames
  (cloud AI Studio: metadata_assistant->build) — keeping the two renames
  decoupled and independently safe; no alias points at an unregistered id.
- Aliases are resolution-only (not records), so GET /ai/agents still lists
  each agent once. On upgrade, the plugin prunes the stale 'data_chat'
  registry entry so the catalog isn't doubled.

Unit-tested: alias table + loadAgent legacy resolution (5 cases). The
objectui console already resolves both legacy and renamed catalogs (its
agentAliases layer is verified live), so no client change is required.

BREAKING CHANGE: the built-in data agent's canonical name is now 'ask'.
The legacy 'data_chat' name remains accepted via the alias table.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: changeset for data_chat->ask rename

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* chore: remove accidentally-committed node_modules symlinks

git add -A swept in local worktree node_modules symlinks (the repo
.gitignore matches node_modules/ as a dir, not a symlink), which broke CI
install (ENOTDIR). Untracked; functionally inert.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* test(service-ai): update agent-name assertions for data_chat->ask rename

chatbot-features: catalog/loadAgent/agent-spec now assert canonical 'ask';
legacy '/agents/data_chat/chat' POST tests kept as back-compat (resolve via
alias). 83 AI tests pass locally.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* ci: re-trigger checks

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Jack Zhuang <zhuangjianguo@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: 3 people

.changeset/rename-data-chat-to-ask.md

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/service-ai": minor
+---
+
+Rename the built-in data agent `data_chat` → `ask` (Path A: friendly console URL == real id). Back-compat preserved via a new process-wide alias registry: `AgentRuntime.loadAgent` normalizes legacy names, so `/agents/data_chat/chat` and persisted `agent_id='data_chat'` keep resolving. `registerAgentAlias()` is exported so other packages register their own renames (cloud AI Studio: `metadata_assistant`→`build`). The plugin prunes the stale legacy agent record on upgrade so the catalog isn't doubled.

packages/services/service-ai/src/__tests__/agent-aliases.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * Back-compat for the Path A agent rename (`data_chat`→`ask`, and cloud's
+ * `metadata_assistant`→`build` registered via the public registry). Verifies
+ * the alias table and that AgentRuntime.loadAgent normalizes a legacy name to
+ * its canonical record so old `/agents/:name/chat` links keep resolving.
+ */
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import type { IMetadataService } from '@objectstack/spec/contracts';
+import { AgentRuntime } from '../agent-runtime.js';
+import { DATA_CHAT_AGENT, DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME, LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME } from '../agents/index.js';
+import { registerAgentAlias, resolveAgentAlias } from '../agents/agent-aliases.js';
+
+function mockMetadata(overrides: Partial<IMetadataService> = {}): IMetadataService {
+  return {
+    register: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+    get: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+    list: vi.fn(async () => []),
+    unregister: vi.fn(async () => {}),
+    exists: vi.fn(async () => false),
+    listNames: vi.fn(async () => []),
+    getObject: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
+    listObjects: vi.fn(async () => []),
+    ...overrides,
+  } as unknown as IMetadataService;
+}
+
+describe('agent-aliases', () => {
+  it('seeds the framework data-agent rename', () => {
+    expect(DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME).toBe('ask');
+    expect(LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME).toBe('data_chat');
+    expect(resolveAgentAlias('data_chat')).toBe('ask');
+  });
+
+  it('passes unknown / canonical names through unchanged', () => {
+    expect(resolveAgentAlias('ask')).toBe('ask');
+    expect(resolveAgentAlias('sales_assistant')).toBe('sales_assistant');
+  });
+
+  it('lets another package register its own rename (e.g. cloud build agent)', () => {
+    registerAgentAlias('metadata_assistant', 'build');
+    expect(resolveAgentAlias('metadata_assistant')).toBe('build');
+    // No-ops that must not corrupt the table.
+    registerAgentAlias('', 'x');
+    registerAgentAlias('same', 'same');
+    expect(resolveAgentAlias('same')).toBe('same');
+  });
+});
+
+describe('AgentRuntime.loadAgent (alias-aware)', () => {
+  it('resolves a legacy name to the renamed agent record', async () => {
+    const get = vi.fn(async (_type: string, name: string) =>
+      name === DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME ? DATA_CHAT_AGENT : undefined,
+    );
+    const runtime = new AgentRuntime(mockMetadata({ get: get as never }));
+
+    const viaLegacy = await runtime.loadAgent('data_chat');
+    expect(viaLegacy?.name).toBe('ask');
+    expect(get).toHaveBeenCalledWith('agent', 'ask');
+
+    const viaCanonical = await runtime.loadAgent('ask');
+    expect(viaCanonical?.name).toBe('ask');
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined for a genuinely unknown agent', async () => {
+    const runtime = new AgentRuntime(mockMetadata());
+    expect(await runtime.loadAgent('nope')).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});

packages/services/service-ai/src/__tests__/chatbot-features.test.ts

@@ -560,12 +560,13 @@ describe('AgentRuntime', () => {
   });
 
   describe('loadAgent', () => {
-    it('should return agent definition from metadata service', async () => {
+    it('should return agent definition from metadata service (legacy name resolves via alias)', async () => {
       (metadataService.get as any).mockResolvedValue(DATA_CHAT_AGENT);
       const agent = await runtime.loadAgent('data_chat');
 
-      expect(metadataService.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith('agent', 'data_chat');
-      expect(agent?.name).toBe('data_chat');
+      // Path A: `data_chat` is an alias for the renamed `ask` agent.
+      expect(metadataService.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith('agent', 'ask');
+      expect(agent?.name).toBe('ask');
       expect(agent?.role).toBe('Business Application Assistant');
     });
 
@@ -717,7 +718,7 @@ describe('AgentRuntime', () => {
       ]);
       const agents = await runtime.listAgents();
       expect(agents).toHaveLength(2);
-      expect(agents[0]).toEqual({ name: 'data_chat', label: 'Assistant', role: 'Business Application Assistant' });
+      expect(agents[0]).toEqual({ name: 'ask', label: 'Assistant', role: 'Business Application Assistant' });
       expect(agents[1]).toEqual({ name: 'metadata_assistant', label: 'Metadata Assistant', role: 'Schema Architect' });
     });
 
@@ -728,7 +729,7 @@ describe('AgentRuntime', () => {
       ]);
       const agents = await runtime.listAgents();
       expect(agents).toHaveLength(1);
-      expect(agents[0].name).toBe('data_chat');
+      expect(agents[0].name).toBe('ask');
     });
 
     it('should return empty array when no agents registered', async () => {
@@ -744,7 +745,7 @@ describe('AgentRuntime', () => {
       ]);
       const agents = await runtime.listAgents();
       expect(agents).toHaveLength(1);
-      expect(agents[0].name).toBe('data_chat');
+      expect(agents[0].name).toBe('ask');
     });
   });
 });
@@ -765,7 +766,8 @@ describe('Agent Routes', () => {
     aiService = new AIService({ adapter, logger: silentLogger, toolRegistry: registry });
     metadataService = createMockMetadataService({
       get: vi.fn(async (_type, name) => {
-        if (name === 'data_chat') return DATA_CHAT_AGENT;
+        // Canonical name after Path A rename; `data_chat` resolves here via alias.
+        if (name === 'ask') return DATA_CHAT_AGENT;
         if (name === 'inactive_agent') return { ...DATA_CHAT_AGENT, name: 'inactive_agent', active: false };
         return undefined;
       }),
@@ -791,7 +793,7 @@ describe('Agent Routes', () => {
     expect(resp.status).toBe(200);
     const body = resp.body as { agents: Array<{ name: string; label: string; role: string }> };
     expect(body.agents).toHaveLength(2);
-    expect(body.agents[0].name).toBe('data_chat');
+    expect(body.agents[0].name).toBe('ask');
     expect(body.agents[1].name).toBe('metadata_assistant');
   });
 
@@ -1047,7 +1049,8 @@ describe('Agent Routes', () => {
 
 describe('DATA_CHAT_AGENT', () => {
   it('should be a valid agent definition', () => {
-    expect(DATA_CHAT_AGENT.name).toBe('data_chat');
+    // Path A rename: canonical id is now `ask` (was `data_chat`).
+    expect(DATA_CHAT_AGENT.name).toBe('ask');
     expect(DATA_CHAT_AGENT.role).toBe('Business Application Assistant');
     expect(DATA_CHAT_AGENT.active).toBe(true);
     expect(DATA_CHAT_AGENT.visibility).toBe('global');

packages/services/service-ai/src/agent-runtime.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { AgentSchema } from '@objectstack/spec/ai';
 import { SkillRegistry, type SkillContext } from './skill-registry.js';
 import { SchemaRetriever, type ObjectShape } from './schema-retriever.js';
 import { DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME } from './agents/index.js';
+import { resolveAgentAlias } from './agents/agent-aliases.js';
 
 /**
  * Context passed alongside a user message when chatting with an agent.
@@ -96,7 +97,10 @@ export class AgentRuntime {
    * or validation fails.
    */
   async loadAgent(agentName: string): Promise<Agent | undefined> {
-    const raw = await this.metadataService.get('agent', agentName);
+    // Normalize legacy ids (e.g. `data_chat`→`ask`, `metadata_assistant`→`build`)
+    // so old `/agents/:name/chat` links and persisted conversation `agent_id`s
+    // keep resolving after the Path A rename.
+    const raw = await this.metadataService.get('agent', resolveAgentAlias(agentName));
     if (!raw) return undefined;
 
     const result = AgentSchema.safeParse(raw);

packages/services/service-ai/src/agents/agent-aliases.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * Back-compat aliases for renamed built-in agents.
+ *
+ * The platform's built-in agents were renamed (Path A) so the friendly console
+ * URL equals the real identifier: the data agent `data_chat`→`ask`. Old clients,
+ * bookmarks, and persisted `ai_conversations.agent_id` values still carry the
+ * legacy name, so {@link AgentRuntime.loadAgent} normalizes a requested name
+ * through this table before loading the record — `/agents/data_chat/chat` keeps
+ * resolving to the `ask` agent.
+ *
+ * The table is a process-wide registry so each package that owns a built-in
+ * agent registers ITS OWN rename and the two stay decoupled: the framework
+ * seeds `data_chat`→`ask` here, and the cloud AI Studio plugin registers
+ * `metadata_assistant`→`build` at init via {@link registerAgentAlias}. That
+ * decoupling is what makes the two renames independently safe — neither alias
+ * points at an id its owning package hasn't registered yet.
+ *
+ * Aliases are resolution-only: they are NOT separate metadata records, so the
+ * agent list (`GET /api/v1/ai/agents`) still shows each agent exactly once
+ * under its canonical name.
+ */
+const AGENT_NAME_ALIASES = new Map<string, string>([
+  // The framework's own data agent rename.
+  ['data_chat', 'ask'],
+]);
+
+/**
+ * Register a legacy→canonical agent-name alias. Idempotent; a later call for the
+ * same legacy name wins. Call at plugin init, BEFORE the canonical agent is
+ * looked up, so a legacy request resolves to the registered canonical id.
+ */
+export function registerAgentAlias(legacy: string, canonical: string): void {
+  if (legacy && canonical && legacy !== canonical) {
+    AGENT_NAME_ALIASES.set(legacy, canonical);
+  }
+}
+
+/** Resolve a (possibly legacy) agent name to its canonical id, or itself. */
+export function resolveAgentAlias(name: string): string {
+  return AGENT_NAME_ALIASES.get(name) ?? name;
+}
+
+/** Test/diagnostics helper: a snapshot of the current alias table. */
+export function agentAliasEntries(): Array<[string, string]> {
+  return Array.from(AGENT_NAME_ALIASES.entries());
+}

packages/services/service-ai/src/agents/data-chat-agent.ts

@@ -32,11 +32,17 @@ import type { Agent } from '@objectstack/spec/ai';
  *
  * This is the implicit default copilot for every application that does
  * not pin its own `app.defaultAgent`. Studio is the only built-in app
- * that overrides it (→ `metadata_assistant`). Keeping the name as an
- * exported constant lets the runtime resolve the fallback
+ * that overrides it (→ the `build` authoring agent). Keeping the name as
+ * an exported constant lets the runtime resolve the fallback
  * deterministically instead of guessing "first active agent".
+ *
+ * Path A renamed this from `data_chat`→`ask`; the legacy name stays
+ * resolvable via the alias table (see `agent-aliases.ts`).
  */
-export const DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME = 'data_chat';
+export const DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME = 'ask';
+
+/** Legacy id this agent was renamed from (kept for back-compat / migrations). */
+export const LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME = 'data_chat';
 
 export const DATA_CHAT_AGENT: Agent = {
   name: DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME,

packages/services/service-ai/src/agents/index.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2025 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
 
-export { DATA_CHAT_AGENT, DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME } from './data-chat-agent.js';
-// The metadata_assistant authoring agent moved to the cloud-only
-// @objectstack/service-ai-studio package.
+export { DATA_CHAT_AGENT, DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME, LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME } from './data-chat-agent.js';
+export { registerAgentAlias, resolveAgentAlias, agentAliasEntries } from './agent-aliases.js';
+// The build (authoring) agent moved to the cloud-only
+// @objectstack/service-ai-studio package; it registers its own
+// `metadata_assistant`→`build` alias via `registerAgentAlias`.

packages/services/service-ai/src/index.ts

@@ -57,7 +57,10 @@ export { SkillRegistry } from './skill-registry.js';
 export type { SkillContext, SkillSummary } from './skill-registry.js';
 
 // Built-in agents
-export { DATA_CHAT_AGENT } from './agents/index.js';
+export { DATA_CHAT_AGENT, DEFAULT_DATA_AGENT_NAME, LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME } from './agents/index.js';
+// Back-compat agent-name aliases (Path A rename). Other packages register their
+// own renames (e.g. cloud AI Studio: `metadata_assistant`→`build`).
+export { registerAgentAlias, resolveAgentAlias, agentAliasEntries } from './agents/index.js';
 
 // Built-in skills
 export {

packages/services/service-ai/src/plugin.ts

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import { registerVisualizeDataTool, VISUALIZE_DATA_TOOL } from './tools/visualiz
 import { registerActionsAsTools } from './tools/action-tools.js';
 import { AgentRuntime } from './agent-runtime.js';
 import { SkillRegistry } from './skill-registry.js';
-import { DATA_CHAT_AGENT } from './agents/index.js';
+import { DATA_CHAT_AGENT, LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME } from './agents/index.js';
 import { DATA_EXPLORER_SKILL, ACTIONS_EXECUTOR_SKILL } from './skills/index.js';
 import { VercelLLMAdapter } from './adapters/vercel-adapter.js';
 import { MemoryLLMAdapter } from './adapters/memory-adapter.js';
@@ -848,6 +848,20 @@ export class AIServicePlugin implements Plugin {
             }
           };
           await upsertBuiltin('agent', DATA_CHAT_AGENT.name, DATA_CHAT_AGENT);
+          // Path A rename (`data_chat`→`ask`): drop the stale legacy agent
+          // record on upgrade so the catalog doesn't list the agent twice. The
+          // legacy NAME stays resolvable for chat via the alias table; this only
+          // removes the now-duplicate registry entry. Idempotent on fresh installs.
+          if (DATA_CHAT_AGENT.name !== LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME) {
+            try {
+              if (await withTimeout(metadataService.exists('agent', LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME))) {
+                await withTimeout(metadataService.unregister('agent', LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME));
+                ctx.logger.info(`[AI] removed legacy agent record "${LEGACY_DATA_AGENT_NAME}" (renamed → "${DATA_CHAT_AGENT.name}")`);
+              }
+            } catch (err) {
+              ctx.logger.warn('[AI] Failed to remove legacy data agent record', err instanceof Error ? { error: err.message } : { error: String(err) });
+            }
+          }
           await upsertBuiltin('skill', DATA_EXPLORER_SKILL.name, DATA_EXPLORER_SKILL);
           await upsertBuiltin('skill', ACTIONS_EXECUTOR_SKILL.name, ACTIONS_EXECUTOR_SKILL);
         }