fix(workflows): evaluate 'in'/'not in' safely on a non-iterable right operand (#3447)

[Noor-ul-ain001]

Summary

Closes #3447. The in / not in operators in _evaluate_simple_expression (src/specify_cli/workflows/expressions.py) only guarded right is not None:

if op == " in ":
    return left in right if right is not None else False

But left in right also raises TypeError for any other non-iterable right operand (int, bool, float). So a workflow condition like {{ inputs.tag in inputs.count }} where count is a number leaked a raw TypeError: argument of type 'int' is not iterable and crashed the whole run, instead of evaluating like the None case right beside it.

This is asymmetric with _safe_compare, which already swallows TypeError and returns False for the ordering operators (<, >, etc.).

Before:

evaluate_condition("{{ inputs.tag in inputs.count }}", StepContext(inputs={"tag":"x","count":5}))
# TypeError: argument of type 'int' is not iterable  (crashes the run)

After: evaluates to False (nothing is contained in a non-container), same as the right is None branch.

Changes

• Add a _safe_contains(left, right) helper mirroring _safe_compare: a None or non-container right means "nothing is contained", so in → False and not in → True rather than a raw TypeError.
• Route both membership branches through it (not in negates the result), so the two operators can't drift.

Testing

• Added test_in_operator_non_iterable_right_operand: asserts in/not in against int/bool/float/None right operands don't crash and return the None-branch result, and that genuine containment against iterables still works.
• Test-the-test: confirmed the new test fails without the source change (raw TypeError propagates).
• pytest tests/test_workflows.py → 395 passed, 1 skipped. (The 11 TestWorkflow*SymlinkGuard failures are pre-existing on Windows without elevation and unrelated to this change.)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Fixes workflow expression evaluation so in / not in conditions don’t crash the run when the right-hand operand isn’t iterable (e.g., int, bool, float), aligning membership semantics with the existing “safe” behavior used for ordering comparisons.

Changes:

• Added _safe_contains(left, right) to handle in safely (returning False on None or TypeError instead of raising).
• Routed both " in " and " not in " operator handling through _safe_contains to keep behavior consistent and avoid drift.
• Added regression tests covering in/not in against non-iterable right operands, plus a quick iterable containment sanity check.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/specify_cli/workflows/expressions.py	Introduces _safe_contains and uses it for "in" / "not in" to prevent TypeError crashes on non-iterable RHS.
tests/test_workflows.py	Adds a focused regression test ensuring non-iterable RHS doesn’t crash and returns the expected boolean results.

Review details

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• Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
• Comments generated: 1
• Review effort level: Low

[Copilot]

Review details

• Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
• Comments generated: 1
• Review effort level: Medium

[Copilot]

Review details

• Files reviewed: 2/2 changed files
• Comments generated: 2
• Review effort level: Medium

[mnriem]

Please address Copilot feedback

[Noor-ul-ain001]

Thanks for the review. Addressed the Copilot feedback:

On the redundant refactor (main finding): You are right — #3447 was fixed independently by #3448, which merged first and added the same _safe_membership helper this branch introduced. I have reverted the _safe_contains rename so expressions.py now matches main exactly (empty diff). The membership guard that fixes #3447 already lives on main.

On the duplicate test: Removed test_in_operator_non_iterable_right_operand and folded its only genuinely-new coverage into the existing test_membership_against_non_iterable_is_false_not_error — the base test only exercised not in for the int case, so I extended it to loop not in over the float/bool/None right operands too. No second regression test.

On rebase: Merged the latest upstream/main into the branch.

The remaining diff is now just that small test-hardening addition on top of the already-merged fix. The earlier docstring/indentation comments were resolved in prior commits. pytest tests/test_workflows.py::TestExpressions → 42 passed.

[Copilot]

Review details

• Files reviewed: 1/1 changed files
• Comments generated: 0 new
• Review effort level: Medium

[mnriem]

Thank you!