@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+'@object-ui/app-shell': patch
+'@object-ui/i18n': patch
+---
+
+fix(app-shell): New automation no longer saves a typed prefix as the trigger object (#30038)
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+In Studio's New automation dialog, typing part of an object name and pressing Enter committed the typed text itself, so the flow was created bound to an object that does not exist. The trigger-object picker there now takes objects only: Enter or leaving the field commits the object the text names exactly, else the only match left in the list, else no object, and the picker says no object is chosen. A record preset then keeps the dialog open until an object is picked.
+
+Every other object picker keeps its free text, because a flow reference may hold an expression.
@@ -186,3 +186,70 @@ describe('ObjectPicker — when a name leaves it (objectui#11783)', () => {
     expect(h.previewList).toHaveBeenCalledWith('object');
   });
 });
+
+describe('ObjectPicker — objectsOnly: a door that takes no expression (objectstack#30038)', () => {
+  const refusal = () => document.querySelector('[data-object-refused]');
+
+  it('Enter on a typed prefix with one match left commits that match, not the prefix', async () => {
+    const { input, onCommit } = renderPicker({ objectsOnly: true });
+    await openList(input);
+    await userEvent.type(input, 'techn');
+    expect(offered()).toEqual(['repairs_technician']);
+    await userEvent.keyboard('{Enter}');
+    expect(onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledWith('repairs_technician');
+    expect(refusal()).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('Enter on a prefix that leaves several matches commits no object and says none is chosen', async () => {
+    const { input, onCommit } = renderPicker({ objectsOnly: true });
+    await openList(input);
+    await userEvent.type(input, 'repairs');
+    expect(offered()).toHaveLength(2);
+    await userEvent.keyboard('{Enter}');
+    // The value was empty and stays empty: nothing to commit.
+    expect(onCommit).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(refusal()).toHaveTextContent(
+      t('engine.inspector.objectPicker.notChosen', 'en-US').replace('{text}', 'repairs'),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('a typed name that is no object clears a chosen one, on Enter and on blur alike', async () => {
+    const enter = renderPicker({ objectsOnly: true, value: 'showcase_account' });
+    await openList(enter.input);
+    await userEvent.clear(enter.input);
+    await userEvent.type(enter.input, 'crm_custom_eval');
+    await userEvent.keyboard('{Enter}');
+    expect(enter.onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(enter.onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledWith('');
+    cleanup();
+
+    const blur = renderPicker({ objectsOnly: true, value: 'showcase_account' });
+    await openList(blur.input);
+    await userEvent.clear(blur.input);
+    await userEvent.type(blur.input, 'crm_custom_eval');
+    await userEvent.tab();
+    expect(blur.onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(blur.onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledWith('');
+    expect(refusal()).not.toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('a name typed out in full is committed as itself', async () => {
+    const { input, onCommit } = renderPicker({ objectsOnly: true });
+    await openList(input);
+    await userEvent.type(input, 'sys_file');
+    await userEvent.keyboard('{Enter}');
+    expect(onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledWith('sys_file');
+  });
+
+  it('without objectsOnly, the same one-match prefix is committed as typed (a flow reference may hold an expression)', async () => {
+    const { input, onCommit } = renderPicker();
+    await openList(input);
+    await userEvent.type(input, 'techn');
+    expect(offered()).toEqual(['repairs_technician']);
+    await userEvent.keyboard('{Enter}');
+    expect(onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(onCommit).toHaveBeenCalledWith('techn');
+    expect(refusal()).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@
  * - **The value is still free text.** Enter and blur commit exactly what was
  *   typed, matched or not: a flow reference may hold an expression, and the
  *   server judges an unknown name as it always did. Escape abandons the typing.
+ * - **Unless the door takes objects only (`objectsOnly`).** Where no
+ *   expression is legal — the new-automation dialog's trigger object — what
+ *   was typed is never committed as itself: Enter and blur commit the object
+ *   it names exactly, else the only pickable match left, else no object at
+ *   all, and the picker says no object is chosen. A typed prefix with one
+ *   match shown is that match, the way a search box reads it.
  * - **The options are the names already held,** from one list read made when
  *   the picker mounts ({@link useObjectCatalog}), shown with their labels and
  *   in three groups: this package's objects, then the other objects, then the
@@ -206,6 +212,13 @@ export interface ObjectPickerProps {
   placeholder?: string;
   /** The designer locale; defaults to the one the designer context carries. */
   locale?: SupportedLocale;
+  /**
+   * Commit only a name the catalog offers, never typed text as itself. For a
+   * door where no expression is legal; off by default, so every flow
+   * reference keeps its free text. While the catalog is not read, nothing can
+   * be resolved and the typed text is committed as before.
+   */
+  objectsOnly?: boolean;
 }
 
 export function ObjectPicker({
@@ -216,6 +229,7 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
   disabled,
   placeholder,
   locale: localeProp,
+  objectsOnly = false,
 }: ObjectPickerProps) {
   const contextLocale = useMetadataLocale();
   const locale = localeProp ?? contextLocale;
@@ -240,6 +254,8 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
   const [systemOpen, setSystemOpen] = React.useState(false);
   const [outsideOpen, setOutsideOpen] = React.useState(false);
   const [declaring, setDeclaring] = React.useState(false);
+  // objectsOnly — the text last refused, so the picker can say no object is chosen.
+  const [refused, setRefused] = React.useState<string | null>(null);
 
   const entries = catalog.status === 'loaded' ? catalog.data : NO_ENTRIES;
   const query = typed ? text.trim().toLowerCase() : '';
@@ -334,6 +350,28 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
     if (next !== value) onCommit(next);
   };
 
+  /**
+   * Commit what the author typed. Free text by default; with `objectsOnly`,
+   * the object it names: the pickable option named exactly so, else the only
+   * pickable option left, else none — an empty commit and a refusal shown.
+   */
+  const commitTyped = () => {
+    if (!objectsOnly || catalog.status !== 'loaded') {
+      commit(text);
+      return;
+    }
+    const wanted = text.trim();
+    if (!wanted) {
+      setRefused(null);
+      commit('');
+      return;
+    }
+    const pickable = rows.flatMap((r) => (r.kind === 'option' && !r.disabled ? [r.entry.name] : []));
+    const name = pickable.includes(wanted) ? wanted : pickable.length === 1 ? pickable[0] : null;
+    setRefused(name === null ? wanted : null);
+    commit(name ?? '');
+  };
+
   const choose = (row: Row) => {
     if (row.kind === 'system-toggle') {
       setSystemOpen((o) => !o);
@@ -351,6 +389,7 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
     }
     // Outside the closure: listed so the author learns why, never committed.
     if (row.disabled) return;
+    setRefused(null);
     commit(row.entry.name);
   };
 
@@ -365,7 +404,7 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
     } else if (e.key === 'Enter') {
       e.preventDefault();
       if (open && activeRow) choose(activeRow);
-      else if (typed) commit(text);
+      else if (typed) commitTyped();
       else close();
     } else if (e.key === 'Escape' && open) {
       // Handled here, so the inspector does not read it as "clear selection".
@@ -415,14 +454,15 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
           onChange={(e) => {
             setText(e.target.value);
             setTyped(true);
+            setRefused(null);
             setActive(-1);
             setOpen(true);
           }}
           onBlur={() => {
             setFocused(false);
             // Only what the author typed is committed: a focus that typed
             // nothing must not write back a value that moved underneath it.
-            if (typed) commit(text);
+            if (typed) commitTyped();
             else close();
           }}
           onKeyDown={onKeyDown}
@@ -440,7 +480,9 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
               <p className="px-2 py-1.5 text-[11px] text-muted-foreground">{t('engine.form.loadingOptions', locale)}</p>
             )}
             {catalog.status === 'loaded' && rows.length === 0 && (
-              <p className="px-2 py-1.5 text-[11px] text-muted-foreground">{t('engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatch', locale)}</p>
+              <p className="px-2 py-1.5 text-[11px] text-muted-foreground">
+                {t(objectsOnly ? 'engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatchObjectsOnly' : 'engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatch', locale)}
+              </p>
             )}
             {sections.map((s) => (
               <div key={s.key} role="group" aria-label={s.name}>
@@ -586,6 +628,11 @@ export function ObjectPicker({
           {value}
         </p>
       )}
+      {refused !== null && (
+        <p role="alert" data-object-refused="" className="text-[11px] leading-snug text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-300">
+          {tFormat('engine.inspector.objectPicker.notChosen', locale, { text: refused })}
+        </p>
+      )}
       {declaring && closure && (
         <PackageFormDialog
           mode="edit"
 
@@ -380,3 +380,52 @@ describe('objectstack#26917 — Create app over a taken identifier', () => {
     ]);
   });
 });
+
+describe('objectstack#30038 — Automations: New automation never saves a typed prefix as the trigger object', () => {
+  async function openRecordPreset() {
+    publish('flow', PKG, FLOW_ALPHA);
+    publish('object', PKG, OBJ_ACCOUNT);
+    publish('object', PKG, OBJ_TICKET);
+    render(
+      <MemoryRouter initialEntries={[`/studio/${PKG}/automations`]}>
+        <AutomationsPillar packageId={PKG} />
+      </MemoryRouter>,
+    );
+    await screen.findByTestId('auto-rail-row-alpha_intake', undefined, { timeout: 8000 });
+    fireEvent.click(screen.getByTitle(en('engine.studio.auto.newTitle')));
+    const dialog = await screen.findByRole('dialog');
+    fireEvent.click(within(dialog).getByTestId('create-flow-preset-record_updated'));
+    const picker = within(dialog).getByRole('combobox');
+    fireEvent.focus(picker);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(dialog.querySelector('[data-object-name="acme_ticket"]')).not.toBeNull());
+    return { dialog, picker };
+  }
+
+  /** The saved flow's Start node config. */
+  const savedStart = () => {
+    const body = save.mock.calls[0]![2] as { nodes: Array<{ type: string; config?: Record<string, unknown> }> };
+    return body.nodes.find((n) => n.type === 'start')?.config;
+  };
+
+  it('Enter on a prefix with one match shown saves that object', async () => {
+    const { dialog, picker } = await openRecordPreset();
+    fireEvent.change(picker, { target: { value: 'tick' } });
+    fireEvent.keyDown(picker, { key: 'Enter' });
+    submitCreate(dialog, 'Close stale');
+
+    await waitFor(() => expect(save).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1));
+    expect(savedStart()).toMatchObject({ triggerType: 'record-after-update', objectName: 'acme_ticket' });
+  });
+
+  it('Enter on a prefix with several matches: no object chosen, nothing saved, the dialog stays open', async () => {
+    const { dialog, picker } = await openRecordPreset();
+    fireEvent.change(picker, { target: { value: 'acme' } });
+    fireEvent.keyDown(picker, { key: 'Enter' });
+    expect(dialog.querySelector('[data-object-refused]')).not.toBeNull();
+    submitCreate(dialog, 'Close stale');
+
+    expect(await within(dialog).findByText(en('engine.studio.auto.preset.needsObject'))).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(save).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(screen.getByRole('dialog')).toBe(dialog);
+  });
+});
@@ -9182,9 +9182,12 @@ export function AutomationsPillar({
                   </label>
                   {newChoice === p && startTrigger.object?.showWhen?.equals.includes(p.triggerType) && (
                     <div className="ml-6 mt-1.5">
+                      {/* objectstack#30038 — no expression is legal here: a typed
+                          prefix is never saved as the trigger object. */}
                       <ObjectPicker
                         label={startTrigger.object.label}
                         value={newTriggerObject}
+                        objectsOnly
                         onCommit={(v) => {
                           setNewTriggerObject(v);
                           setNewNeeds(null);
@@ -9239,6 +9242,7 @@ export function AutomationsPillar({
                       <ObjectPicker
                         label={startTrigger.object.label}
                         value={newTriggerObject}
+                        objectsOnly
                         onCommit={setNewTriggerObject}
                         locale={locale}
                       />
 
@@ -1582,6 +1582,9 @@ const STUDIO_EN: Record<string, string> = {
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.showSystem': 'Show system objects ({count})',
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.hideSystem': 'Hide system objects',
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatch': 'No object matches. Press Enter to keep what you typed.',
+  // A picker that takes objects only (the new-automation trigger object).
+  'engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatchObjectsOnly': 'No object matches. Choose one from the list.',
+  'engine.inspector.objectPicker.notChosen': 'No object chosen: \u201c{text}\u201d is not an object. Choose one from the list.',
   // objectstack#28240 — objects outside the edited package's closure.
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.groupOutside': 'Outside this package\u2019s dependencies',
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.showOutside': 'Show objects outside this package\u2019s dependencies ({count})',
 
@@ -1419,6 +1419,9 @@ const STUDIO_ZH: Record<string, string> = {
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.showSystem': '显示系统对象（{count}）',
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.hideSystem': '隐藏系统对象',
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatch': '没有匹配的对象。按 Enter 保留输入的内容。',
+  // 只接受对象的选择器(新建自动化的触发对象)。
+  'engine.inspector.objectPicker.noMatchObjectsOnly': '没有匹配的对象。请从列表中选择一个。',
+  'engine.inspector.objectPicker.notChosen': '未选择对象：\u201c{text}\u201d不是对象。请从列表中选择一个。',
   // objectstack#28240 — objects outside the edited package's closure.
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.groupOutside': '不在本软件包的依赖范围内',
   'engine.inspector.objectPicker.showOutside': '显示不在本软件包依赖范围内的对象（{count}）',