Context name not populated when manually triggering the context

[TheoD02]

For certain checks, I need to determine which context is authorized by its name. To achieve this, I declared a context using the AsContext attribute:

#[AsContext(name: 'symfony')]
function symfony_context(): Context
{
    return root_context()
        ->withName('symfony')
        ->withWorkingDirectory(ROOT_DIR . '/app')
        ->withData([
            'registry' => 'xxx',
            'image' => 'xxx',
        ]);
}

Here, the name 'symfony' is set and accessible using code like:

$contextName = context()->name;

However, when I attempt to manually resolve the name like this:

$deployContextNames = [symfony_context()->name, frontend_context()->name];
// or
$deployContextNames = [context('symfony')->name, context('frontend')->name]

The resulting array is:

['', '']

The names are empty because, by default, the name property in the Context constructor is not populated. While calling withName('...') works, the constructor comment states:

// Do not use this argument, it is only used internally by the application

This raises concerns about potential side effects or breaking behavior if withName() is explicitly used by users.

---

Current Behavior:

• Context names remain empty when manually instantiating or resolving contexts.
• The attribute #[AsContext(name: '...')] does not auto-populate the name of context instance.

Expected Behavior:

• The context name should be auto-populated from the AsContext attribute upon instantiation.

---

Possible Solutions:

1. Automatically populate the name property when instantiating a context if the AsContext attribute is set with a name.
2. Allow explicit use of withName() without concerns, and clarify whether its use is officially supported.

---

Environment:

• Castor version: 0.21.0
• PHP version: 8.4.0

Additional Notes:
It’s unclear if manually setting the name or withName() could cause issues. Is there any risk in doing so, or can it be safely permitted?

[pyrech]

Thanks for the report.

I agree that it may be misleading that the context name is not always available.

However, when I attempt to manually resolve the name like this:
$deployContextNames = [symfony_context()->name, frontend_context()->name];

In your reproducer, calling symfony_context()->name from a task correctly returns the symfony name so not sure if I miss something

$deployContextNames = [context('symfony')->name, context('frontend')->name]

Here, I reproduce the issue and it can be fixed with a simple modification in the ContextRegistry, by calling withName before registering the context. I will open an PR soon about it.

[TheoD02]

In your reproducer, calling symfony_context()->name from a task correctly returns the symfony name so not sure if I miss something

Yes sorry, probably I missed something when writing and used the example case I have in my project and not the case I exposed in issue.

But for example this context:

#[AsContext(default: true, name: 'my_default')]
function defaultContext(): Context
{
    return new Context()->withName('my_default_runtime');
}

It will output :

// here it should be one or another ? which have the priority ?
array:3 [
  "context()->name" => "my_default"
  "context('my_default')->name" => "my_default_runtime"
  "defaultContext()->name" => "my_default_runtime"
]

But the same context (no call to withName(...)or name in constructor:

#[AsContext(default: true, name: 'my_default')]
function defaultContext(): Context
{
    return new Context();
}

Will output:

// Here it should be my_default everywhere
array:3 [
  "context()->name" => "my_default"
  "context('my_default')->name" => ""
  "defaultContext()->name" => ""
]

I think if possible, we need to only have one way to define a name for context or we need to clarify them