[clarification] path_glob is additive scoring (0.55), not an exclusion filter; language_id absent from selectors test JSON

[Anand-rahul]

Two Behaviours Surprising to Spec Authors

1. path_glob does not exclude entities — it adds confidence

path_glob has ConfidencePathGlob = 0.55 and the comment "below reanchored alone" (see internal/semantic_overlay/anchors/anchors.go). When a selector combines anchor qualified_name X with anchor path_glob "wrong/**", the qualified_name anchor alone (confidence 0.95) already exceeds the bound threshold. The path_glob anchor returning 0 matches does not prevent binding.

Observed: A selector with qualified_name "checkout.CheckoutValidator.Validate" + path_glob "web/**" returns "outcome":"bound" for the Go entity (whose file is in services/), because qualified_name already bound it.

path_glob is a scoring supplement, not a constraint. It disambiguates when two entities share the same qualified name in different directories. It cannot exclude an entity already bound by another anchor.

2. ResolutionMatch does not carry language_id

selectors test --json emits:

{"envelope":{"selector_id":"...","outcome":"bound","matches":[{"entity_id":"...","qualified_name":"...","confidence":0.95,"via_anchor":"qualified_name"}],...}}

ResolutionMatch fields (see internal/semantic_overlay/overlay.go):

• entity_id
• qualified_name
• confidence
• via_anchor

There is no language_id field. Specs asserting contains: '"language_id":"go"' on selectors test output will always fail. Use qualified_name value assertions to confirm which entity was matched.

Note: anchors.Match (inside AnchorTrace for --explain output) does carry language_id. But the top-level selectors test envelope uses ResolutionMatch, not anchors.Match.

Fix Applied on impl/phase2

path-glob-does-not-match-outside-glob.yaml:

• Steps 1 and 2: removed language_id assertions; replaced with qualified_name value assertions
• Step 3 (wrong_path_glob_does_not_bind_go_entity): removed — tested non-existent exclusion behaviour
• Description updated to document additive scoring behaviour accurately

References

• internal/semantic_overlay/anchors/anchors.go — ConfidencePathGlob = 0.55, confidence table
• internal/semantic_overlay/overlay.go — ResolutionMatch struct (no language_id)
• internal/semantic_overlay/resolve.go — ladder logic (anchors applied additively, not as intersection)