Validation fails when optional object field has required fields

[tpluscode]

I think this similar but not the same as #7383

Describe the bug

When an object field is optional but has a required field, it fails validation when all its fields are empty.

To Reproduce

Add this field to a collection:

      - name: submittedBy
        label: Submitted by
        widget: object
        summary: '{{fields.name}}'
        required: false
        i18n: false
        fields:
          - name: name
            label: Name
            widget: string
          - name: url
            label: Url (separate multiple entries with a comma)
            widget: list
            required: false

Try to save an item without setting submittedBy.name

Expected behavior

Validation should pass, and item be saved without subittedBy

Screenshots

Instead:

Applicable Versions:

• Decap CMS version: 3.9.0

[martinjagodic]

required: false on an object does not overwrite the required property of its child fields. All fields in an object should be optional if you want the whole object to be optional. If we were to change this, it would be a breaking change.

[tpluscode]

So this is by design? I'd argue that this is not the most intuitive choice :)

required: false on an object does not overwrite the required property of its child fields.

That is not how I would frame this. To bring up an analogy to an object schema, or TS type declarations:

interface Item {
  submittedBy?: {
    name: string
    url?: string[]
  }
}

An empty object {} does satisfy the interface. This is what I expect from an optional object field. That it can be completely omitted.

[martinjagodic]

I'd argue that this is not the most intuitive choice :)

I agree, I would prefer what you suggest in this issue. But this can have big consequences on existing configs. I'm open to this being behind a feature flag. Are you open to contributing a PR or sponsoring the development of this?

[tpluscode]

For now it's good enough to make the whole thing optional. This is not critical for now.