[finding] After sideEffects:false + PURE-marked lazySchema/strictObject/defineForm, a /security one-predicate import still retains ~174 KB minified — top-level z.* chain constructions are the unshakeable residue

[qq9340100]

Measured while landing #10031 (branch claude/issue-10096-schema-free-meta-spelling @a9be45a86); filed unassigned as an observation — the #10031 verification criterion (delta reproduced shrinking) is met, this records what the chosen instrument cannot reach.

What was measured

esbuild --bundle --minify --format=esm --platform=browser --external:fs, probe importing only postureEnforcesWall from @objectstack/spec/security, workspace spec dist:

state	root + /security marginal (min)	(gz)
origin/main @cc21aad8e	+261.5 KB	+82.4 KB
after sideEffects: false + PURE-marked lazySchema	+202.0 KB	+63.8 KB
+ PURE-marked strictObject, defineForm	+177.8 KB	+56.6 KB

Identical in both graph directions (/ui + /security gives the same marginal), same as the card's original observation.

Why the residue resists name-based PURE marking

The tsup esbuild onLoad transform annotates call sites by callee name, which only makes a top-level statement droppable when EVERY call in the initializer is annotated. The dist/security/index.mjs survey (pre-annotation) counted, at top level: 109 lazySchema( (now annotated), 27 z.enum(, 5 z.object(, 4 z.union(, 4 z.string(, 4 z.lazy(, 1 z.discriminatedUnion(, 9 strictObject( and 1 defineForm( (now annotated). The z.* sites are mostly CHAINED (z.enum([...]).describe(...)) — the outermost call is a method on an intermediate result, which no callee-name list can mark, so the statement and everything it transitively retains (zod core included) stays in the consumer bundle.

Directions (not a decided fix)

• Wrap the remaining bare/chained top-level z.* constructions in lazySchema where they are schema definitions (the package's own convention; each wrap is a reviewed source edit, and two files are held by in-flight claims as of 2026-08-20).
• An AST-based build transform that annotates the outermost call of a top-level initializer when the whole expression tree is drawn from a declared-pure vocabulary — heavier instrument, no source churn.
• Accept the residue: the schema-free-entry principle (Mechanize the schema-free-export principle as a gate: a declared browser-reachable spec entry must link no zod in its module graph #10199, ruling on @objectstack/spec/shared costs a consumer 60.1 KB gzipped to import one string fold — the /meta spelling contract has no fine-grained export #10096) makes new browser-reachable vocabulary cheap regardless; the residue only prices reaching into schema-carrying entries from a browser.

[qq9340100]

Triage first-touch (centralized round cont., session session_01C5fGRTUHXFevsEdMEFDadM): closed not planned — measurement record, direction already chosen elsewhere. The card's own direction 3 is the repo's ruled posture: the #10096 ruling's schema-free-entry principle (being mechanized as #10199, queued this round) makes new browser-reachable vocabulary cheap regardless, so the ~174 KB residue only prices reaching into schema-carrying entries — a path the principle steers consumers away from. The z.*-chain measurement stays linked from #10199 as the evidence for why the gate matters; the lazySchema-wrap sweep (direction 1) can be re-opened free of charge if a browser consumer with a measured need for a schema-carrying entry ever appears.

---

Generated by Claude Code