feat(spec,plugin-auth): declare plugins.admin tri-state; refuse explicit admin:false beside effective SCIM at construction (ADR-0071 conflict) (#14246)

* feat(spec,plugin-auth): declare plugins.admin tri-state; refuse explicit admin:false beside effective SCIM (ADR-0071 conflict)

Part of #13816 — WIP before artifact regeneration.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Mciyv38maJ6HYVMiaM26T1

* chore(spec): regen auth-config docs + authorable-defaults for the admin tri-state; declare the default move; add changeset

Part of #13816.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Mciyv38maJ6HYVMiaM26T1

* fix(plugin-auth): drop tracker id from the conflict-refusal message (doc-authoring gate); keep it in comments

Part of #13816.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Mciyv38maJ6HYVMiaM26T1

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: claude[bot]

.changeset/scim-admin-tristate-conflict-refusal.md

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": minor
+"@objectstack/plugin-auth": minor
+---
+
+feat(spec,plugin-auth): declare `plugins.admin` tri-state, and refuse an explicit `admin: false` beside effective SCIM at construction time (#13816)
+
+**Behavior change** (maintainer ruling 2026-09-01, director batch #21 on #13816 — the
+admin-amplification half split out of #13439 by the 2026-08-31 ruling).
+
+Two halves of one coupling made honest:
+
+- **Declaration.** `AuthPluginConfigSchema.admin` moves from
+  `z.boolean().default(false)` to tri-state `z.boolean().optional()`, the same
+  shape #13439 gave `scim` / `sso` / `ssoDomainVerification`. The materialized
+  `false` could not distinguish "the author said nothing" from "the author
+  declined the admin surface", and the runtime needs that distinction: absence
+  means "effective SCIM decides" (SCIM provisioning forces the better-auth
+  `admin` plugin on because SCIM's `active:false` deprovisioning path runs
+  through admin ban/unban — ADR-0071), while an explicit value is the author's
+  own answer. A parse path that materialized `admin: false` onto a silent
+  document said the opposite of what the runtime does under SCIM.
+- **Conflict refusal.** Effective SCIM (explicit `plugins.scim`, or
+  `OS_SCIM_ENABLED` where the config leaves it unset) beside an explicit
+  `plugins.admin: false` is now REFUSED loudly — at `AuthManager`
+  construction, on `applyConfigPatch` (merged result), and at the lazy
+  better-auth build for env vars that appear after boot. The error names both
+  keys, the ADR-0071 coupling, and the two ways out: accept the admin plugin,
+  or disable SCIM. Previously the explicit decline was honoured silently and
+  SCIM was mounted with its deprovisioning path broken (every `active:false`
+  ban attempt failing at runtime).
+
+Unchanged, deliberately: an UNSET `admin` under effective SCIM still gets the
+admin plugin forced on (the ADR-0071-backed coupling), and without SCIM unset
+still means off — the `?? scimEffective` resolution keeps absent semantics
+byte-identical. `resolveScimEnabled()` is now the single decision point shared
+by the plugin mount, the advertised `/auth/config` features flag and the
+conflict refusal, so the three can never disagree.
+
+**Known risk, named:** a deployment already running the contradiction
+(`plugins: { scim: true/env-on, admin: false }`) boots today with silently
+broken SCIM deprovisioning; after this change it refuses to construct the auth
+manager, with the remedy in the message. That loud stop is the ruled behavior.
+Whether SCIM's admin dependency can instead be narrowed to the actions it
+actually needs (Shape 1) is #14150's measurement; this refusal is the honest
+floor pending that reading.
+
+<!-- adr-0087: not-required (no-migration-prescription) The key is neither removed nor renamed — `admin` stays authorable with the same type; only its materialized default is dropped (declared in DEFAULT_CHANGES_BY_MAJOR under major 17) and one incoherent corner (explicit false beside effective SCIM) becomes a loud construction-time refusal whose message carries the remedy. Nothing mechanical for `objectstack migrate meta` to rewrite: a conflicted config needs a human decision between accepting the admin surface and disabling SCIM. -->

content/docs/references/system/auth-config.mdx

@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ Advanced / low-level Better-Auth options
 | **oidcProvider** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable the OpenID Connect provider plugin (acts as an OIDC IdP) |
 | **dynamicClientRegistration** | `boolean` | optional | Allow unauthenticated RFC 7591 Dynamic Client Registration (default: follows OS_MCP_SERVER_ENABLED) |
 | **deviceAuthorization** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable RFC 8628 Device Authorization Grant (CLI / TV-style login) |
-| **admin** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable platform admin operations (ban/unban, set-password, impersonate, set-role) |
+| **admin** | `boolean` | optional | Enable platform admin operations (ban/unban, set-password, impersonate, set-role). Unset: forced on by effective SCIM (ADR-0071), otherwise off. An explicit false beside effective SCIM is a conflict refused at construction time. |
 | **phoneNumber** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable phone-number sign-in (phone + password; OTP sign-in/reset when an SMS service is configured) |
-| **scim** | `boolean` | optional | Enable the SCIM 2.0 provisioning surface. Unset: OS_SCIM_ENABLED decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. Effective SCIM forces the admin plugin on unless admin is set. |
+| **scim** | `boolean` | optional | Enable the SCIM 2.0 provisioning surface. Unset: OS_SCIM_ENABLED decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. Effective SCIM forces the admin plugin on when admin is unset; an explicit admin: false beside effective SCIM is refused at construction time. |
 | **sso** | `boolean` | optional | Enable enterprise SSO (domain-routed OIDC/SAML sign-in). Unset: OS_SSO_ENABLED decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. |
 | **ssoDomainVerification** | `boolean` | optional | Enable DNS domain-verification for SSO providers (requires sso). Unset: OS_SSO_DOMAIN_VERIFICATION decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. |
 
@@ -212,9 +212,9 @@ OIDC / Generic OAuth2 provider configuration for enterprise SSO
 | **oidcProvider** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable the OpenID Connect provider plugin (acts as an OIDC IdP) |
 | **dynamicClientRegistration** | `boolean` | optional | Allow unauthenticated RFC 7591 Dynamic Client Registration (default: follows OS_MCP_SERVER_ENABLED) |
 | **deviceAuthorization** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable RFC 8628 Device Authorization Grant (CLI / TV-style login) |
-| **admin** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable platform admin operations (ban/unban, set-password, impersonate, set-role) |
+| **admin** | `boolean` | optional | Enable platform admin operations (ban/unban, set-password, impersonate, set-role). Unset: forced on by effective SCIM (ADR-0071), otherwise off. An explicit false beside effective SCIM is a conflict refused at construction time. |
 | **phoneNumber** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | Enable phone-number sign-in (phone + password; OTP sign-in/reset when an SMS service is configured) |
-| **scim** | `boolean` | optional | Enable the SCIM 2.0 provisioning surface. Unset: OS_SCIM_ENABLED decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. Effective SCIM forces the admin plugin on unless admin is set. |
+| **scim** | `boolean` | optional | Enable the SCIM 2.0 provisioning surface. Unset: OS_SCIM_ENABLED decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. Effective SCIM forces the admin plugin on when admin is unset; an explicit admin: false beside effective SCIM is refused at construction time. |
 | **sso** | `boolean` | optional | Enable enterprise SSO (domain-routed OIDC/SAML sign-in). Unset: OS_SSO_ENABLED decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. |
 | **ssoDomainVerification** | `boolean` | optional | Enable DNS domain-verification for SSO providers (requires sso). Unset: OS_SSO_DOMAIN_VERIFICATION decides (absent = off); an explicit value wins over the env var. |
 

packages/plugins/plugin-auth/src/auth-manager.test.ts

@@ -554,6 +554,160 @@ describe('AuthManager', () => {
       }
     });
 
+    // #13816 (maintainer ruling 2026-09-01) — `admin` is tri-state, and the
+    // one incoherent corner is REFUSED at construction: effective SCIM with an
+    // explicit `plugins.admin: false` contradicts ADR-0071 (SCIM's
+    // active:false deprovisioning runs through the admin plugin), so the
+    // manager throws a documented conflict instead of silently honouring the
+    // decline and mounting SCIM with a broken deprovisioning path.
+    it('REFUSES construction when plugins.scim=true and plugins.admin=false (documented ADR-0071 conflict)', () => {
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      try {
+        expect(() => new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { scim: true, admin: false },
+        })).toThrow(/plugins\.admin[\s\S]*ADR-0071[\s\S]*plugins\.scim: false/);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('REFUSES construction when OS_SCIM_ENABLED makes SCIM effective beside plugins.admin=false', () => {
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = 'true';
+      try {
+        expect(() => new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { admin: false },
+        })).toThrow(/OS_SCIM_ENABLED[\s\S]*ADR-0071/);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('accepts plugins.admin=false beside plugins.scim=false despite OS_SCIM_ENABLED (declining both is coherent)', async () => {
+      let capturedConfig: any;
+      (betterAuth as any).mockImplementation((config: any) => {
+        capturedConfig = config;
+        return { handler: vi.fn(), api: {} };
+      });
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = 'true';
+      const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {});
+      try {
+        const manager = new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { scim: false, admin: false },
+        });
+        await manager.getAuthInstance();
+        const ids = capturedConfig.plugins.map((p: any) => p.id);
+        expect(ids).not.toContain('scim');
+        expect(ids).not.toContain('admin');
+        expect(manager.getPublicConfig().features.admin).toBe(false);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+        warnSpy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('honours an explicit plugins.admin=false when SCIM is not effective (tri-state decline)', async () => {
+      let capturedConfig: any;
+      (betterAuth as any).mockImplementation((config: any) => {
+        capturedConfig = config;
+        return { handler: vi.fn(), api: {} };
+      });
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {});
+      try {
+        const manager = new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { admin: false },
+        });
+        await manager.getAuthInstance();
+        expect(capturedConfig.plugins.map((p: any) => p.id)).not.toContain('admin');
+        expect(manager.getPublicConfig().features.admin).toBe(false);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+        warnSpy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('honours an explicit plugins.admin=true without SCIM (tri-state enable)', async () => {
+      let capturedConfig: any;
+      (betterAuth as any).mockImplementation((config: any) => {
+        capturedConfig = config;
+        return { handler: vi.fn(), api: {} };
+      });
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      const warnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, 'warn').mockImplementation(() => {});
+      try {
+        const manager = new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { admin: true },
+        });
+        await manager.getAuthInstance();
+        expect(capturedConfig.plugins.map((p: any) => p.id)).toContain('admin');
+        expect(manager.getPublicConfig().features.admin).toBe(true);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+        warnSpy.mockRestore();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('REFUSES an applyConfigPatch that smuggles admin=false into a SCIM-enabled config — the standing config keeps ruling', () => {
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      try {
+        const manager = new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { scim: true },
+        });
+        expect(() => manager.applyConfigPatch({ plugins: { admin: false } }))
+          .toThrow(/ADR-0071/);
+        // The refused patch never became current: the advertised admin flag
+        // still reflects the SCIM-forced coupling.
+        expect(manager.getPublicConfig().features.admin).toBe(true);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+      }
+    });
+
+    it('REFUSES the lazy better-auth build when OS_SCIM_ENABLED appears only after construction', async () => {
+      const prev = process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+      try {
+        // Coherent at boot: no SCIM anywhere, admin declined.
+        const manager = new AuthManager({
+          secret: 'test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long',
+          baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
+          plugins: { admin: false },
+        });
+        // The env var is actually read at buildPluginList() time — a value
+        // appearing between construction and the lazy build must not mount
+        // SCIM with its deprovisioning path silently declined.
+        process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = 'true';
+        await expect(manager.getAuthInstance()).rejects.toThrow(/ADR-0071/);
+      } finally {
+        if (prev === undefined) delete process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED;
+        else process.env.OS_SCIM_ENABLED = prev;
+      }
+    });
+
     it('blocks slug change when the org has active environments', async () => {
       let capturedConfig: any;
       (betterAuth as any).mockImplementation((config: any) => {