DEFERRED — No `@link` / `@id` resolution utilities for cross-resource reference following

[Sam-Bolling]

Summary

The library provides no utility functions for resolving @link or @id cross-reference fields into usable resources or URLs. Even once #103, #108, and #109 are resolved and @link fields survive parsing, consumers will have a typed CSAPIResourceRef object (e.g., { href: "http://.../procedures/abc123", uid: "urn:...", title: "..." }) but no library support for:

• Fetching the referenced resource
• Resolving relative href values against the API root
• Extracting the resource type and ID from an href
• Falling back to @link when server navigation endpoints fail

Every consumer must independently implement these operations — as ogc-csapi-explorer had to do with its tryLinkFallback() workaround (~105 lines).

What Exists Today

scanCsapiLinks() — Collection-Level Only

scanCsapiLinks() (helpers.ts ~L131–172) scans the document-level HATEOAS links[] array for resource type navigation URLs. It does not operate on inline @link properties within individual resources:

// helpers.ts ~L131 — operates on collection/root document links
export function scanCsapiLinks(
 links: Array<{ rel?: string; href?: string }>
): Map {
 // Looks for rel="ogc-cs:systems", rel="items", etc.
 // Does NOT handle systemKind@link, platform@link, etc.
}

CSAPIQueryBuilder — Server-Dependent Navigation

CSAPIQueryBuilder (url_builder.ts, 2329 lines) provides complete URL construction for server-side navigation endpoints:

getSystemProcedures(systemId: string): string // → /systems/{id}/procedures
getSystemDeployments(systemId: string): string // → /systems/{id}/deployments
getDeploymentSystems(deploymentId: string): string // → /deployments/{id}/systems
getProcedureSystems(procedureId: string): string // → /procedures/{id}/systems
// ... etc.

These work only when the server implements the endpoints. OSH SensorHub returns 400 Bad Request for all cross-resource navigation endpoints, making these methods useless for association discovery on that server.

Gap: No @link Utilities

There is no code anywhere in the library that:

1. Parses an @link object's href into a resource type + ID
2. Resolves a relative href against the API root URL
3. Fetches a resource from an @link reference
4. Extracts all @link / @id fields from a resource
5. Falls back from failed navigation endpoints to @link data

Why This Matters

1. @link Is the Universal Fallback

Server-side navigation (the CSAPIQueryBuilder approach) requires the server to implement every cross-resource endpoint. The OGC spec defines many optional endpoints, and no server implements all of them. @link fields are the baseline mechanism — they're embedded in the resource JSON by servers that provide them, regardless of which navigation endpoints are available.

A library that can construct navigation URLs but cannot resolve @link references is missing half of the association-discovery story.

2. Real-World Impact: ogc-csapi-explorer

The ogc-csapi-explorer had to implement tryLinkFallback() in ResourceDetail.vue (commit ad06b52) — approximately 105 lines that manually:

1. Check if raw resource properties contain systemKind@link, platform@link, deployedSystems@link, etc.
2. Validate the href is a string
3. Fetch the referenced resource directly via the href
4. Parse and display the result

// ResourceDetail.vue — ~105 lines of boilerplate that should be in the library
async function tryLinkFallback(resource: any, resourceType: string) {
 const props = resource.properties ?? resource;
 
 if (props['systemKind@link']?.href) {
 const resp = await fetch(props['systemKind@link'].href, { headers });
 if (resp.ok) {
 const procedure = await resp.json();
 // Display procedure info
 }
 }
 
 if (props['platform@link']?.href) {
 const resp = await fetch(props['platform@link'].href, { headers });
 if (resp.ok) {
 const platform = await resp.json();
 // Display platform info
 }
 }
 
 // ... repeat for every @link field type
}

This pattern will need to be independently reimplemented by every library consumer that encounters a server with incomplete navigation endpoint support.

3. Graceful Degradation Pattern

The ideal consumer workflow is:

1. Try server-side navigation → /systems/{id}/deployments
2. If 4xx/5xx → fall back to @link fields from the parsed resource
3. If no @link fields → report "association unknown"

The library provides step 1 (CSAPIQueryBuilder) but not step 2. Consumers must implement step 2 from scratch.

Proposed Utilities

CSAPIResourceRef Type

(Defined in #108)

export interface CSAPIResourceRef {
 href: string;
 uid?: string;
 title?: string;
 rt?: string;
}

resolveResourceRef() — Fetch a Referenced Resource

/**
 * Fetches the resource referenced by a `@link` property.
 *
 * Handles both absolute and relative hrefs by resolving against the
 * provided API root URL.
 *
 * @param ref - The `@link` reference object (e.g., from `systemKindLink`)
 * @param apiRootUrl - The CS API root URL for resolving relative hrefs
 * @param fetchOptions - Optional fetch configuration (headers, auth, etc.)
 * @returns The fetched resource as parsed JSON
 */
export async function resolveResourceRef(
 ref: CSAPIResourceRef,
 apiRootUrl: string,
 fetchOptions?: RequestInit,
): Promise {
 const url = new URL(ref.href, apiRootUrl).toString();
 const response = await fetch(url, fetchOptions);
 if (!response.ok) {
 throw new Error(`Failed to resolve @link: ${response.status} ${url}`);
 }
 return response.json();
}

parseResourceRefHref() — Extract Type and ID from href

/**
 * Extracts the resource type and ID from a `@link` href.
 *
 * Handles hrefs like:
 * - "http://server/api/procedures/abc123" → { type: 'procedures', id: 'abc123' }
 * - "/api/systems/xyz" → { type: 'systems', id: 'xyz' }
 *
 * @param href - The href string from a `@link` object
 * @returns Parsed resource type and ID, or null if the href doesn't match a known pattern
 */
export function parseResourceRefHref(
 href: string,
): { resourceType: string; resourceId: string } | null {
 const segments = new URL(href, 'http://placeholder').pathname
 .replace(/\/+$/, '')
 .split('/');
 const id = segments.pop();
 const type = segments.pop();
 if (!id || !type) return null;
 return { resourceType: type, resourceId: id };
}

extractCrossReferences() — Collect All @link / @id Fields

/**
 * Extracts all `@link` and `@id` cross-reference fields from a raw
 * resource object.
 *
 * Useful for discovering what associations a server provided, regardless
 * of whether the typed model includes them.
 *
 * @param raw - Raw JSON object from the server
 * @returns Map of field name → value (CSAPIResourceRef for @link, string for @id)
 */
export function extractCrossReferences(
 raw: Record,
): Map {
 const refs = new Map();
 const props = (raw.properties as Record) ?? raw;

 for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(props)) {
 if (key.endsWith('@link') && typeof value === 'object' && value !== null) {
 const obj = value as Record;
 if (typeof obj.href === 'string') {
 refs.set(key, {
 href: obj.href,
 ...(typeof obj.uid === 'string' ? { uid: obj.uid } : {}),
 ...(typeof obj.title === 'string' ? { title: obj.title } : {}),
 ...(typeof obj.rt === 'string' ? { rt: obj.rt } : {}),
 });
 }
 }
 if (key.endsWith('@id') && typeof value === 'string') {
 refs.set(key, value);
 }
 }

 return refs;
}

resolveWithLinkFallback() — Try Navigation, Fall Back to @link

/**
 * Attempts server-side navigation first, then falls back to `@link` data
 * if the server returns an error.
 *
 * This is the recommended pattern for consumers that need to discover
 * associations on servers with varying endpoint support.
 *
 * @param navigationUrl - The server-side navigation endpoint URL
 * @param linkRef - The `@link` reference to use as fallback (may be undefined)
 * @param apiRootUrl - The CS API root URL for resolving relative hrefs
 * @param fetchOptions - Optional fetch configuration
 * @returns The fetched resource(s), or null if both approaches fail
 */
export async function resolveWithLinkFallback(
 navigationUrl: string,
 linkRef: CSAPIResourceRef | undefined,
 apiRootUrl: string,
 fetchOptions?: RequestInit,
): Promise {
 // Step 1: Try server-side navigation
 try {
 const response = await fetch(navigationUrl, fetchOptions);
 if (response.ok) return response.json();
 } catch { /* fall through */ }

 // Step 2: Fall back to @link
 if (linkRef) {
 try {
 return await resolveResourceRef(linkRef, apiRootUrl, fetchOptions);
 } catch { /* fall through */ }
 }

 return null;
}

Design Notes

• File location: New file src/ogc-api/csapi/link-resolution.ts (parallels existing link-utils.ts which handles HATEOAS links)
• Independent of Part 1 (GeoJSON) TypeScript interfaces omit all @link association properties #108/Part 1 extractCSAPIFeature() silently drops all @link properties during parsing #109: extractCrossReferences() operates on raw JSON and can be used immediately, even before interfaces/parsers are updated
• Composable: Each utility is independently useful — consumers can use just parseResourceRefHref() without the fetch-based functions
• No new dependencies: Uses only the standard fetch API and URL constructor
• Mirrors CSAPIQueryBuilder pattern: Just as the query builder constructs navigation URLs, these utilities resolve @link URLs — two complementary approaches to association discovery

OGC Spec References

• OGC 23-001 §16 — JSON encoding for Part 1 resources, defines @link inline property format: { href, uid?, title?, rt? }
• OGC 23-002 §16.1 — JSON encoding for Part 2 resources, defines @id inline property format (scalar string)
• OGC 23-001 §8.3, §8.5, §8.9 — Resource association tables defining which @link fields exist per resource type

Related Issues

• Part 1 (GeoJSON) TypeScript interfaces omit all @link association properties #108 — Part 1 interfaces: adds CSAPIResourceRef type and @link fields to interfaces
• Part 1 extractCSAPIFeature() silently drops all @link properties during parsing #109 — Part 1 parser: extracts @link properties in extractCSAPIFeature()
• Parsed Part 2 models discard all cross-reference fields — parent resource navigation impossible without raw JSON #103 — Part 2 parsers: preserves @id/@link fields in Part 2 parse functions
• Gap analysis report — Full audit documenting all @link gaps in the library
• ogc-csapi-explorer ad06b52 — Explorer tryLinkFallback() workaround that this utility would replace

[Sam-Bolling]

Findings Report — Recommendation: DO NOT IMPLEMENT

A comprehensive findings report has been created for this issue:

📄 Issue #110 Findings Report — @link Resolution Utilities

Summary

After reviewing all related source code, the ROADMAP, Implementation Guide, Contribution Goal, AI Operational Constraints, and the upstream library's architectural patterns, the recommendation is DO NOT IMPLEMENT at this time. Key reasons:

1. Outside contribution scope — No ROADMAP task, Implementation Guide section, or Contribution Goal statement defines @link resolution utilities as a deliverable. The scope says "recognizing" (parsing/exposing), not "resolving" (fetching). Adding unplanned functionality would violate AI Operational Constraints §2.1.

2. Architectural layer violation — The CSAPI module (src/ogc-api/csapi/) is a parse-and-build layer with zero fetch calls. The proposed utilities would introduce fetch() into this layer, breaking the established layering where fetch calls happen at the endpoint.ts level.

3. Root cause already resolved — Issues Part 1 (GeoJSON) TypeScript interfaces omit all @link association properties #108 (interfaces) and Part 1 extractCSAPIFeature() silently drops all @link properties during parsing #109 (parser extraction) fixed the actual problem that motivated this issue. @link data is now parsed into typed CSAPIResourceRef fields, exported, and documented with JSDoc. The ogc-csapi-explorer's 105-line tryLinkFallback() workaround existed because @link data was invisible — silently dropped during parsing. That is no longer the case. Consumer resolution code is now ~5 lines per @link field.

4. Application-specific concern — Different consumers need different authentication, error handling, caching, and retry strategies. A library-level resolution function would either be too generic (just wrapping fetch()) or too opinionated (prescribing error handling).

What the Library Provides Today (Post #108/#109)

Responsibility	Status
Parse @link from JSON	✅ Done (#109)
Type @link data	✅ Done (#108)
Export types for consumers	✅ Done (CSAPIResourceRef exported)
Build navigation URLs	✅ Done (CSAPIQueryBuilder, 68 methods)
Resolve @link by fetching	Consumer responsibility — trivial with typed data

This issue is being deferred as a documented future enhancement. No code changes are being made to protect the integrity of the CSAPI client library contribution.