Declarative UI DSL with embedded permissions, validation, and actions

frameworkactive owner: philip · updated 2026-11-14

relates: yaml-dsl-form-runtime · fail-safe-decision-table · dual-deployment-serverless-container

Declarative UI DSL with embedded permissions, validation, and actions

Operational screens (application detail, repayment lists, collections, decision views) are YAML DSL documents — never hand-built React per screen. Permissions, validation constraints, conditional visibility, KPIs, tables, row actions, and decision blocks are all data, compiled to runtime by the renderer.

Problem it solves

• Hand-built screens per customer/role don't scale and drift from backend permissions; bespoke JS per form is unreviewable. The DSL makes UI a reviewable, versioned artifact (git diff = UI change) with permissions enforced in the definition, not sprinkled through components.

Shape

• UIForm DSL v2 mode: applications: screen = header (badges, facts, actions) + KPIs + tabs of blocks (section/detail/table/upload/decision).
• Permissions as data: read/write role lists on screen, block, field, and action — enforced by the renderer, previewable per role.
• Conditional logic as data: visible_if / required_if / disabled_if with all/any/nested conditions over record fields.
• Tables: keyset pagination (cursor_param/limit_param), filters as params, row actions with confirm + success.toast + refresh lists — the UI declares its own invalidation.
• Data binding: data_sources with response.record_path, cache TTL, prefill maps; {{record.*}} templating everywhere.
• Decision blocks render fail-safe outcomes (DECLINE/REFER/APPROVE) with per-rule detail — UI and decision engine share the same facts.

Rules

• Permissions live in the DSL and mirror backend enforcement — the DSL is the first gate, never the only one.
• Every mutation declares confirm text, success feedback, and what to refresh.
• Keyset pagination for large tables — never offset pagination on growing datasets.
• Validation constraints carry custom messages; async validation via async_validate endpoint for server-side checks.
• Screens are YAML in git; changes are PRs through the compile/validation gates (see kb:yaml-dsl-form-runtime).

Anti-patterns

• Role checks only in React components (bypassable, untested).
• Offset pagination on transaction tables.
• Actions without confirm/refresh — stale UI after mutation.
• DSL escaping into bespoke per-screen JavaScript (drift, unreviewable).
• Decision UI showing outcomes without the rule detail that produced them (audit gap).

Sources

• app-builder/DESIGN.md (§3.9 Applications Mode, permissions, conditions, hooks, tables)
• factory/forms/form-engine, factory/forms/form-edit-custom
• factory/ui-security/ (probes, perf-contract, management report)