{$now} param marker: dispatch-time dates with optional day offset

[aaltshuler]

Real-graph mutations carry timestamp params by convention (update_issue_status($slug, $status, $actor, $at: Date) in the dev graph), but notebook YAML had no way to say "today" — a literal date goes stale; a manual session-date control is user ritual.

The marker: { $now: date } resolves at dispatch/read time to YYYY-MM-DD; { $now: datetime } to full ISO 8601. Optional offset_days shifts the instant — before: { $now: date, offset_days: -60 } is a sliding 60-days-ago threshold for stale-style queries. Resolved centrally in resolveExpr, so it works in mutation params and query params alike.

Validate: $now is treated like $row/$input — reliably present at dispatch (no spurious "can't confirm it will be set" warning) and never mistaken for a literal param value.

Verified live against the dev graph (graph.modernrelay.ai): a priority-edit round-trip carried at=<today> through the server's required-params contract, and a Triage stale list reads with before={$now, offset_days:-60} (58 truly-stale rows vs 227 unfiltered).

Tests: +2 (marker resolution date/datetime; offset window) — core at 116.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

https://claude.ai/code/session_011TrhtF1SiJghJASMWECzBh

Greptile Summary

Introduces a { $now: "date" | "datetime", offset_days?: number } param marker that resolves at dispatch/read time to the local calendar date or a full UTC ISO-8601 instant, with an optional day offset for sliding-window thresholds. Previous review feedback has been addressed: the date form uses local date components instead of UTC, and any value other than "date" / "datetime" now resolves to undefined so the server's required-param check surfaces typos.

• resolve.ts: New branch in resolveExpr handles $now before the plain-object recursion; uses getFullYear/getMonth/getDate (local) for "date" and toISOString() (UTC) for "datetime". The offset_days multiplier shifts by whole millisecond-equivalent days.
• validate.ts: $now is classified as a "reliably present" dynamic source (same treatment as $row/$input) so no spurious "can't confirm it will be set" warning is emitted, and containsStateExpr recognises it so nested markers are detected correctly.
• index.test.ts: Three new suites cover date/datetime resolution against local wall-clock, the typo-guard, and the offset window (59–62 day bounds).

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge; all logic is additive, the previous round's timezone and typo-guard concerns are addressed, and the new code is well-tested.

The change is a clean, self-contained addition to resolveExpr with no modifications to existing branches. The local-date fix and the undefined-for-typos guard are correctly implemented and covered by tests. The only item worth a second look is the isFinite gap on offset_days, which only affects obscure YAML edge cases (.nan, .inf) and does not touch any production path used today.

No files require special attention. The resolve.ts isFinite note is a minor hardening suggestion.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
packages/core/src/runtime/resolve.ts	Adds $now marker resolution in resolveExpr: local date components for "date", UTC ISO string for "datetime", optional offset_days shift, and an undefined guard for unrecognized format values.
packages/cli/src/commands/validate.ts	Registers $now as a "reliably present" dynamic source in literalForValidation and adds it to containsStateExpr, eliminating spurious "can't confirm it will be set" warnings.
packages/core/src/runtime/index.test.ts	Adds three test suites: date/datetime resolution, the typo-guard (unrecognized format → undefined), and offset_days shifting with a 59–62 day bounds check.

Sequence Diagram

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
sequenceDiagram
    participant YAML as Notebook YAML
    participant Validate as validate.ts
    participant Runtime as resolveExpr
    participant Server as OmniGraph Server

    YAML->>Validate: "param: { $now: "date", offset_days: -60 }"
    Validate->>Validate: "literalForValidation → {kind:"dynamic", source:"input"}"
    Note over Validate: No spurious "can't confirm" warning

    YAML->>Runtime: "dispatch("mutate", { params: { before: { $now: "date", offset_days: -60 } } })"
    Runtime->>Runtime: "$now" in value → resolve
    Runtime->>Runtime: "offsetDays = -60"
    Runtime->>Runtime: "d = new Date(Date.now() - 60d)"
    Runtime->>Runtime: local components → "YYYY-MM-DD"
    Runtime->>Server: "resolvedParams: { before: "2026-05-05" }"
    Server-->>Runtime: ok

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sequenceDiagram
    participant YAML as Notebook YAML
    participant Validate as validate.ts
    participant Runtime as resolveExpr
    participant Server as OmniGraph Server

    YAML->>Validate: "param: { $now: "date", offset_days: -60 }"
    Validate->>Validate: "literalForValidation → {kind:"dynamic", source:"input"}"
    Note over Validate: No spurious "can't confirm" warning

    YAML->>Runtime: "dispatch("mutate", { params: { before: { $now: "date", offset_days: -60 } } })"
    Runtime->>Runtime: "$now" in value → resolve
    Runtime->>Runtime: "offsetDays = -60"
    Runtime->>Runtime: "d = new Date(Date.now() - 60d)"
    Runtime->>Runtime: local components → "YYYY-MM-DD"
    Runtime->>Server: "resolvedParams: { before: "2026-05-05" }"
    Server-->>Runtime: ok

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_{Reviews (2): Last reviewed commit: "$now: local calendar date + typo guard" | Re-trigger Greptile}