fix: handle array frontmatter values in selector matching (#213)

* test: add failing tests for array frontmatter selector matching

* fix: handle array frontmatter values in selector matching

* test: use YAML array format as well in integration test

* fix: remove shadow

Author: nettapper

integration_test.go

@@ -413,6 +413,83 @@ Go specific guidelines.
 	}
 }
 
+// TestSelectorFiltering_LanguagesField verifies that the typed `languages` field
+// on RuleFrontMatter participates in selector matching via `-s languages=X`.
+func TestSelectorFiltering_LanguagesField(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	dirs := setupTestDirs(t)
+
+	// Rule with inline array languages (YAML flow sequence)
+	nodeRule := filepath.Join(dirs.rulesDir, "nodejs.md")
+
+	nodeContent := "---\nlanguages: [nodejs]\n---\n# Node.js Guidelines\n\nNode.js specific guidelines.\n"
+	if err := os.WriteFile(nodeRule, []byte(nodeContent), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write nodejs rule file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Rule with multi-element array languages
+	multiRule := filepath.Join(dirs.rulesDir, "multi-lang.md")
+
+	multiContent := `---
+languages:
+  - go
+  - python
+---
+# Multi-Language Guidelines
+
+Go and Python guidelines.
+`
+	if err := os.WriteFile(multiRule, []byte(multiContent), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write multi-lang rule file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// Rule with scalar languages value
+	rustRule := filepath.Join(dirs.rulesDir, "rust.md")
+
+	rustContent := `---
+languages:
+  - rust
+---
+# Rust Guidelines
+
+Rust specific guidelines.
+`
+	if err := os.WriteFile(rustRule, []byte(rustContent), 0o600); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to write rust rule file: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	createStandardTask(t, dirs.tasksDir)
+
+	// Run with selector filtering for nodejs
+	output := runTool(t, "-C", dirs.tmpDir, "-s", "languages=nodejs", "test-task")
+
+	// The nodejs rule (languages: [nodejs]) should be included
+	if !strings.Contains(output, "# Node.js Guidelines") {
+		t.Errorf("Node.js guidelines not found in output when filtering for languages=nodejs")
+	}
+
+	// The multi-lang rule should NOT be included (it has [go, python], not nodejs)
+	if strings.Contains(output, "# Multi-Language Guidelines") {
+		t.Errorf("Multi-language guidelines should not be in output when filtering for nodejs")
+	}
+
+	// The rust rule should NOT be included
+	if strings.Contains(output, "# Rust Guidelines") {
+		t.Errorf("Rust guidelines should not be in output when filtering for nodejs")
+	}
+
+	// Run with selector filtering for python — should match multi-lang rule
+	output2 := runTool(t, "-C", dirs.tmpDir, "-s", "languages=python", "test-task")
+
+	if !strings.Contains(output2, "# Multi-Language Guidelines") {
+		t.Errorf("Multi-language guidelines not found in output when filtering for languages=python")
+	}
+
+	if strings.Contains(output2, "# Node.js Guidelines") {
+		t.Errorf("Node.js guidelines should not be in output when filtering for python")
+	}
+}
+
 func TestTemplateExpansionWithOsExpand(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	tmpDir := t.TempDir()

pkg/codingcontext/selectors/selectors.go

@@ -101,6 +101,23 @@ func (s *Selectors) GetValue(key, value string) bool {
 	return innerMap[value]
 }
 
+// toStringSlice converts a frontmatter value to a slice of strings.
+// Slices are expanded element-wise; scalars become a single-element slice.
+func toStringSlice(v any) []string {
+	switch val := v.(type) {
+	case []any:
+		out := make([]string, 0, len(val))
+		for _, elem := range val {
+			out = append(out, fmt.Sprint(elem))
+		}
+		return out
+	case []string:
+		return val
+	default:
+		return []string{fmt.Sprint(v)}
+	}
+}
+
 // MatchesIncludes returns whether the frontmatter matches all include selectors,
 // along with a human-readable reason explaining the result.
 // If a key doesn't exist in frontmatter, it's allowed when includeByDefault is true (the default).
@@ -129,17 +146,28 @@ func (s *Selectors) MatchesIncludes(frontmatter markdown.BaseFrontMatter, includ
 			continue
 		}
 
-		fmStr := fmt.Sprint(fmValue)
-		if values[fmStr] {
-			// This selector matched
-			matchedSelectors = append(matchedSelectors, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", key, fmStr))
-		} else {
-			// This selector didn't match
+		// Flatten the frontmatter value into a list of strings so that
+		// YAML arrays (e.g. languages: [go, python]) are compared
+		// element-by-element instead of being stringified as "[go python]".
+		fmStrings := toStringSlice(fmValue)
+
+		matched := false
+		for _, fmStr := range fmStrings {
+			if values[fmStr] {
+				matchedSelectors = append(matchedSelectors, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", key, fmStr))
+				matched = true
+
+				break
+			}
+		}
+
+		if !matched {
 			var expectedValues []string
 			for val := range values {
 				expectedValues = append(expectedValues, val)
 			}
 
+			fmStr := strings.Join(fmStrings, ", ")
 			if len(expectedValues) == 1 {
 				noMatchReasons = append(noMatchReasons, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s (expected %s=%s)", key, fmStr, key, expectedValues[0]))
 			} else {

pkg/codingcontext/selectors/selectors_test.go

@@ -164,6 +164,32 @@ func matchesIncludesCases() []matchesIncludesCase {
 			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"env": "production"}), wantMatch: false},
 		{name: "empty value selector - key missing in frontmatter (match)", selectors: []string{"env="},
 			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"language": "go"}), wantMatch: true},
+		{name: "array frontmatter value - single element match", selectors: []string{},
+			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"languages": []interface{}{"nodejs"}}), wantMatch: true,
+			setupSelectors: func(s Selectors) {
+				s.SetValue("languages", "nodejs")
+				s.SetValue("languages", "python")
+			}},
+		{name: "array frontmatter value - single element no match", selectors: []string{},
+			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"languages": []interface{}{"java"}}), wantMatch: false,
+			setupSelectors: func(s Selectors) {
+				s.SetValue("languages", "nodejs")
+				s.SetValue("languages", "python")
+			}},
+		{name: "array frontmatter value - multi element match", selectors: []string{},
+			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"languages": []interface{}{"go", "python"}}), wantMatch: true,
+			setupSelectors: func(s Selectors) {
+				s.SetValue("languages", "nodejs")
+				s.SetValue("languages", "python")
+			}},
+		{name: "array frontmatter value - multi element no match", selectors: []string{},
+			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"languages": []interface{}{"java", "rust"}}), wantMatch: false,
+			setupSelectors: func(s Selectors) {
+				s.SetValue("languages", "nodejs")
+				s.SetValue("languages", "python")
+			}},
+		{name: "array frontmatter value - with string selector", selectors: []string{"languages=nodejs"},
+			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"languages": []interface{}{"nodejs"}}), wantMatch: true},
 		// excludeUnmatched=true cases
 		{name: "exclude by default - key missing", selectors: []string{"env=production"},
 			frontmatter: fm(map[string]any{"language": "go"}), excludeUnmatched: true, wantMatch: false},