Validate preference values set via the CLI (#7346)

[dpage]

Summary

Fixes #7346.

Preferences set via the CLI (setup.py set-prefs) were not validated: Preferences.save_cli wrote the raw value straight to the configuration database and always returned success, so an invalid value (e.g. a non-numeric string for an integer preference) was stored silently. The GUI path validates via _Preference.set().

Fix:

• _Preference.set() now accepts an optional user_id, so it can be used outside a request context (the CLI has no current_user).
• Preferences.save_cli now looks up the preference (like Preferences.save) and delegates to set(), so the value is validated against the preference type.
• setup.py set-prefs checks the result and reports any preference whose value was invalid instead of silently claiming success.

The GUI path is unaffected (save_cli is only used by the CLI; update() calls pref.set() directly).

Changes

• web/pgadmin/utils/preferences.py, web/setup.py
• Release note (9.16)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Summary by CodeRabbit

Bug Fixes

• CLI preference setting via setup.py now validates preference values against their defined types and rejects invalid values with specific error messages instead of storing them silently.
• Enhanced error reporting distinguishes between missing preferences and invalid values.

[coderabbitai]

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 14ccd26 and 2065653.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• docs/en_US/release_notes_9_16.rst
• web/pgadmin/utils/preferences.py
• web/setup.py

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Walkthrough

_Preference.set gains an optional user_id parameter to support non-request contexts. Preferences.save_cli is rewritten to look up module/category/preference by id and delegate to preference.set for type validation. ManagePreferences.set_prefs tracks invalid-value failures separately and reports them. A release note documents the fix.

Changes

CLI preference validation (Issue #7346)

Layer / File(s)	Summary
_Preference.set user_id param and save_cli validation rewrite web/pgadmin/utils/preferences.py	_Preference.set accepts an optional user_id argument and derives the target uid from it when present. Preferences.save_cli is replaced with a validated flow that performs structured lookups for the module, category (cid), and preference (pid), returning specific errors on failure, then delegates to preference.set(value, user_id=user_id) so all type parsing, range normalization, and validation are applied to CLI-supplied values.
set_prefs invalid-value reporting and release note web/setup.py, docs/en_US/release_notes_9_16.rst	set_prefs initializes an invalid_value_prefs list; entries that exist but fail save_pref are appended to it rather than valid_prefs, and a dedicated "Invalid value provided for preference(s)" message is emitted when the list is non-empty. The release notes entry for Issue #7346 is added.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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[asheshv]

The threading of user_id through set() and routing save_cli via _Preference.set() is the right approach, but three issues:

1. Critical — boolean prefs via --input-file will universally fail. setup.py:719 builds the value list via str(v). For native JSON booleans this produces 'True' / 'False' (capital T/F). save_pref only coerces lowercase ['true', 'false'], so the value reaches _Preference.set() as the string 'True' and trips assert isinstance(value, bool). Either normalize in save_pref (data['value'].lower() in ['true', 'false']) or stop stringifying booleans at the setup.py boundary.
2. Error message discarded. res, _ = Preferences.save_cli(...) throws away the validator's diagnostic. Users see "invalid value" with no detail — the message should propagate up through save_pref and into setup.py's invalid_value_prefs report.
3. No new tests for save_pref / save_cli with invalid integer, valid integer-as-string, boolean, unknown options value, or missing preference. The validation surface is currently untested.

Non-blocking observation (pre-existing): setup.py:741 uses opt.split("=")[1], which truncates any value containing = (URLs, regexes, base64). Worth a follow-up issue.