AST row select cannot reference edge alias properties after traversal

Summary

On the AST/GFQL path, row projection can reference node aliases like friend.firstName, but it currently fails when projecting an edge alias property such as r.creationDate after a traversal.

Status

Partially fixed in v0.53.9 (PR #986).

The Cypher string path now works:

g.gfql("MATCH (a)-[r:KNOWS]->(b) RETURN a.id, r.creationDate AS cd, b.firstName")
# → [{'a.id': 'a', 'cd': 123, 'b.firstName': 'Bob'}]

The native AST path (rows() + select()) is still broken:

g.gfql([n(name='n'), e_undirected(name='r'), n(name='friend'), rows(),
        select([('cd', 'r.creationDate')])])
# → unsupported token in row expression: 'r'

The Cypher fix works via a bindings table that joins edges with node properties. The AST rows() path doesn't go through the same bindings table construction — it would need rows(alias_endpoints=...) to be wired into the native chain execution, not just the Cypher lowering.

Minimal repro (AST path — still failing)

import pandas as pd
from graphistry.tests.test_compute import CGFull
from graphistry.compute.ast import n, e_undirected, rows, select

g = CGFull().nodes(
    pd.DataFrame({
        'id': ['a', 'b'],
        'label__Person': [True, True],
        'firstName': ['Alice', 'Bob'],
        'lastName': ['A', 'B'],
    }),
    'id',
).edges(
    pd.DataFrame({
        's': ['a'],
        'd': ['b'],
        'type': ['KNOWS'],
        'creationDate': [123],
    }),
    's',
    'd',
)

steps = [
    n({'id': 'a', 'label__Person': True}, name='n'),
    e_undirected({'type': 'KNOWS'}, name='r'),
    n({'label__Person': True}, name='friend'),
    rows(),
    select([
        ('personId', 'friend.id'),
        ('firstName', 'friend.firstName'),
        ('friendshipCreationDate', 'r.creationDate'),
    ]),
]

print(g.gfql(steps)._nodes)

Observed behavior

GFQLTypeError [invalid-node-reference] Error executing 'select': unsupported token in row expression: 'r'

Expected behavior

[{'personId': 'b', 'firstName': 'Bob', 'friendshipCreationDate': 123}]

Likely relation

Depends on wiring rows(alias_endpoints=...) into the native AST chain execution path, not just the Cypher lowering path.

test+refactor(cypher): amplify multi-alias tests, DRY lowering (#981, #…

docs(changelog): add multi-alias RETURN and edge alias property (#981, …

feat(cypher): multi-alias scalar RETURN and edge alias properties (#981…

docs(plan): scaffold #982 AST edge alias select

Benchmark update from pyg-bench on 2026-04-01 after correcting the staged SNB graph identity bug on our side.

Current measured IS3 / interactive-short-3 state on the corrected harness:

backend: GFQL
status: partial
issue ref: #982
expected rows: 920
actual rows: 920
no row diff in the current artifact
latest artifact: results/runs/dgx-spark-snb-interactive-core-sf1-v05315-r2/

Important correction:

this is not a new residual wrong-answer bug
after the harness fix, the remaining benchmark-side IS3 limitation is that we still need the adapter two-pass workaround to project r.creationDate alongside the friend node columns
the current probe note is:
- Semantic scope: adapter_two_pass_workaround.
- Adapter workaround: fetch friend-node rows and matched KNOWS-edge rows separately, then join locally.

So from the benchmark side, #982 is now the top active GFQL issue to clear on the short-query floor.

test(gfql): lock #982 edge alias projection after traversal

test(gfql): amplify #982 native edge alias coverage

Benchmark follow-up from pyg-bench on 2026-04-01.

The benchmark-side signal now agrees with the local repro note and PR #1015: #982 looks fixed on current origin/master and no longer looks like the next runtime feature ask.

What changed on our side:

earlier we elevated #982 because the corrected v0.53.15 floor still showed IS3 on GFQL as a workaround-backed partial
after re-checking the current evidence plus your verification branch, the practical next step here is to land the regression coverage and close the issue, not do more runtime work on it

The current active benchmark-side GFQL ask is back to #880.

test(gfql): dry #982 native edge alias regressions

Merge pull request #1015 from graphistry/fix/issue-982-ast-edge-alias…

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AST row select cannot reference edge alias properties after traversal #982

Summary

Status

Minimal repro (AST path — still failing)

Observed behavior

Expected behavior

Likely relation

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AST row select cannot reference edge alias properties after traversal #982

Description

Summary

Status

Minimal repro (AST path — still failing)

Observed behavior

Expected behavior

Likely relation

Activity

lmeyerov commented on Apr 1, 2026

lmeyerov commented on Apr 1, 2026

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