Skip self-referencing associations for unconstrained keys#1094
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A column following the `<table>_id` naming on its own table (such as an external `system_id` on a `systems` table) made bake generate a self-referencing association whose alias equals the table's own name. The generated belongsTo and hasMany/hasOne then collided, and applying them threw "Association alias `Systems` is already set", aborting the bake run. Self-references are now only generated when the column is actually constrained as a foreign key to the same table. Legitimate self-refs such as `parent_id` keep their existing dedicated aliases, while convention-only `<table>_id` columns without a real constraint are skipped across the belongsTo, hasOne and hasMany detection passes.
ADmad
approved these changes
Jun 15, 2026
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Addresses #1092
Problem
When a column follows the
<table>_idnaming on its own table - for example an externalsystem_idon asystemstable that is not a real foreign key - bake derived the aliasSystemsfor both the generatedbelongsTo(from the column) and the self-referencinghasMany/hasOnedetection. Applying the second association threw and aborted the whole bake run:Per the discussion in #1092 (cc the maintainer thread), legitimate self-references conventionally use
parent_id, which already gets dedicatedParent*/Child*aliases. A plain<table>_idthat is not backed by a foreign key is almost always an external identifier, not a self-association.Fix
Skip generating a self-referencing association when the resolved alias equals the table's own alias and the column is not actually constrained as a foreign key to that table. The guard is applied consistently across all three detection passes:
findBelongsTo()- skip the column unlessfindTableReferencedBy()confirms a real constraint.findHasMany()- skip self-table matches (theparent_idself-ref keeps its existingChild*handling).findHasOne()- skip self-table matches for unique columns.Real, constrained self-references (a
node_idforeign key referencingnodes.id) still produce theirbelongsTo, so no valid association is lost.Relationship to #1093
This is the upstream prevention (do not generate the bogus association). #1093 is independent downstream hardening (never fatal on a duplicate alias from any other cause). They compose and do not conflict.