Validate a request against its own Nelmio area, not always the default

[stixx]

The bug

NelmioAreaRoutesChecker::isApiRoute() accepts a route belonging to any registered area —
CollectNelmioApiDocRoutesPass deliberately collects routes and path_patterns for all of them. But
config/validators.php wired RequestValidator to nelmio_api_doc.generator.default:

->set(RequestValidator::class)
    ->arg('$apiDocGenerator', service('nelmio_api_doc.generator.default'))

So every request was validated against the default area's document, whichever area it actually
belonged to.

In a multi-area app a request to a non-default area therefore:

1. passes isApiRoute() — the route is in an area
2. is validated against the default area's document
3. finds no matching path → PathFinder raises NoPath
4. surfaces via ApiExceptionSubscriber as 400 openapi_request_validation on a valid request

Single-area apps never hit it, because the only area is default.

The fix

The checker already computed which area matched and discarded the answer. It now exposes areaFor(),
with isApiRoute() kept as null !== areaFor() so its contract is unchanged.

The compiler pass collects per-area generators alongside the routes it already collects, using Nelmio's
matching nelmio_api_doc.generator.<area> naming. RequestValidator resolves the request's area and
memoises one validator per area — a single memo would serve one area's document to another, which is
the same wrong-schema failure wearing a different hat.

Compatibility

Additive. Both new constructor arguments are optional and default to null; with them absent the
validator behaves exactly as before. RequestValidator is final and @internal, so the signature
change reaches no supported consumer, and the @api ValidatorInterface is untouched.

Tests

Two added:

• a second area's request validates against its own document
• the per-area memo does not leak across areas — the default area still validates correctly after the
  internal one has been cached

Both fail if generator selection is reverted to the default — verified by probe (2 errors), so they pin
the bug rather than passing vacuously.

Gates

simple-phpunit	exit 0 — 226 tests, 640 assertions
phpstan analyse	[OK] No errors
php-cs-fixer	clean

Note

Found while investigating an unrelated per-request cost in the validator. The multi-area defect turned
out to be the more serious finding, and is fixed here on its own.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Added support for validating requests against area-specific OpenAPI documents.
  • Requests are now matched to the appropriate API area using route names or path patterns.
  • Validation supports separate cached validators for each configured area.

• Tests

  • Added coverage for multi-area request validation and per-area validator caching.

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Review configuration:

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Team

Run ID: b159ef7c-63a0-4f46-89dd-b8813957e229

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 12e1013 and a8cb4c1.

📒 Files selected for processing (8)

• CHANGELOG.md
• config/validators.php
• docs/validation.md
• src/DependencyInjection/Compiler/CollectNelmioApiDocRoutesPass.php
• src/Routing/NelmioAreaRoutesChecker.php
• src/Validator/RequestValidator.php
• tests/Unit/DependencyInjection/Compiler/CollectNelmioApiDocRoutesPassTest.php
• tests/Unit/Validator/RequestValidatorTest.php

Walkthrough

The request validator now identifies the matching Nelmio area, selects its OpenAPI generator, and caches validators per area. Compiler wiring registers area generators, and unit tests cover area-specific documents and cache isolation.

Changes

Multi-area validation

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Area resolution and generator registration src/Routing/NelmioAreaRoutesChecker.php, src/DependencyInjection/Compiler/CollectNelmioApiDocRoutesPass.php	The route checker returns the matching area name. The compiler registers available area-specific generators in a service locator.
Area-specific validator selection src/Validator/RequestValidator.php, config/validators.php	RequestValidator resolves the request area, selects its generator, caches validators by area, and falls back to the default generator when needed. Service configuration passes the new optional dependencies.
Multi-area validation coverage tests/Unit/Validator/RequestValidatorTest.php	Tests verify area-specific OpenAPI document selection and separate validator caches for different areas.

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 12e10

Requests are now validated against the matching OpenAPI area and validators are isolated per area. The remaining test-formatting convention does not affect runtime behavior or merge readiness.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Request
  participant RequestValidator
  participant NelmioAreaRoutesChecker
  participant GeneratorsLocator
  participant ApiDocGenerator
  Request->>RequestValidator: validate(request)
  RequestValidator->>NelmioAreaRoutesChecker: areaFor(request)
  NelmioAreaRoutesChecker-->>RequestValidator: matching area
  RequestValidator->>GeneratorsLocator: get(area)
  GeneratorsLocator-->>RequestValidator: area generator
  RequestValidator->>ApiDocGenerator: create validator
  ApiDocGenerator-->>RequestValidator: validate request

Loading

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 33.33% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 21 functions across 5 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: validating each request against its matching Nelmio area instead of always using the default area.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1

📝 Generate docstrings 💡

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch fix-multi-area-request-validation

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
In `@tests/Unit/Validator/RequestValidatorTest.php`:
- Line 116: Add explicit // Arrange, // Act, and // Assert section comments to
both new test methods, testValidatesAgainstTheRequestsOwnAreaNotTheDefaultArea
and the additional test near the referenced location, placing each comment
before its corresponding setup, invocation, and assertion code without changing
test behavior.

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Team

Run ID: c43814ad-df95-4e1a-a721-68a5be51e420

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between ace7595 and 12e1013.

📒 Files selected for processing (5)

• config/validators.php
• src/DependencyInjection/Compiler/CollectNelmioApiDocRoutesPass.php
• src/Routing/NelmioAreaRoutesChecker.php
• src/Validator/RequestValidator.php
• tests/Unit/Validator/RequestValidatorTest.php

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[stixx]

Fixed — both new tests now carry explicit // Arrange, // Act and // Assert sections, matching .coderabbit.yaml's path instruction and the three existing tests in the same file. My mistake: I'd stripped some over-verbose comments and removed the structure along with them.

Gates re-run: phpunit 226 tests / 640 assertions exit 0, phpstan no errors, php-cs-fixer clean.