@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/spec': patch
+'@objectstack/metadata-protocol': patch
+'@objectstack/metadata': patch
+---
+
+fix(spec): a connector read serves only the keys `retryConfig` and each `actions` element declare, and a save of the served form keeps the rest
+
+Clause-②: no
+Metadata-protocol: none
+
+The built-in `connector` read-path redactor now serves, inside `retryConfig` and inside each element of `actions`, only the keys those shapes declare. Every metadata read exit that serves a stored connector applies it. Each withheld position is named in `redactedKeys` (an `actions` element by its index), and the stored row is never changed. A `retryConfig` that is not an object, and an `actions` that is not an array or holds an element that is not an object, are withheld whole (a cleared form excepted).
+
+A save of the served form keeps every withheld nested value: the save door carries each one forward from the stored row. An `actions` element is followed by its `key`, so a reordered list keeps each element's value on that element; for every carried-forward position, an array element with no `id` is now identified by its `key`. A `retryConfig` or an `actions` element the author removes is removed.
+
+`MetadataManager.getPublished` now hands the type's redactor the authored document alone and serves the metadata layer's own scalar bookkeeping beside the answer unchanged (`packageId`, `state`, and the publish keys). A publish snapshot nested under `publishedDefinition` (a package published more than once) is served through the same redaction at every depth; any other bookkeeping value that is not a scalar is not served.
+
+What a save accepts is unchanged.
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+//
+// The write-path inverse of the connector read projection, for the keys a
+// connector does not declare: a save of the served form keeps what the read
+// withheld (top level, `retryConfig`, and an `actions` element addressed by
+// its `key`), and a container the author removed is never minted back.
+//
+// Every value below is an obviously-fake placeholder.
+
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { carryForwardRedactedValues, redactMetadataItem } from './metadata-redaction.js';
+
+const P = (n: number) => `TEST_PLACEHOLDER_UNDECLARED_${n}`;
+
+const stored = {
+  name: 'vendor_catalog',
+  label: 'Vendor catalog',
+  type: 'api',
+  apiKey: P(1),
+  retryConfig: { strategy: 'exponential_backoff', secret: P(2) },
+  actions: [
+    { key: 'get_invoice', label: 'Get invoice', token: P(3) },
+    { key: 'list_invoices', label: 'List invoices' },
+  ],
+};
+
+/** What a read exit serves for `stored`: the projection, as a client would send it back. */
+const served = () => JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(redactMetadataItem('connector', stored))) as Record<string, any>;
+
+describe('carry-forward of the keys a connector does not declare', () => {
+  it('the served form withholds them (positive control for every case below)', () => {
+    const body = served();
+    expect(JSON.stringify(body)).not.toContain('TEST_PLACEHOLDER_UNDECLARED_');
+    expect(body.retryConfig).toEqual({ strategy: 'exponential_backoff' });
+    expect(body.actions[0]).toEqual({ key: 'get_invoice', label: 'Get invoice' });
+  });
+
+  it('a save of the served form keeps every withheld value, the edited label included', () => {
+    const out = carryForwardRedactedValues('connector', { ...served(), label: 'Vendor catalog (edited)' }, stored);
+    expect(out).toEqual({ ...stored, label: 'Vendor catalog (edited)' });
+  });
+
+  it('an `actions` element is followed by its `key` when the author reorders the list', () => {
+    const body = served();
+    body.actions.reverse();
+    const out = carryForwardRedactedValues('connector', body, stored) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(out.actions).toEqual([
+      { key: 'list_invoices', label: 'List invoices' },
+      { key: 'get_invoice', label: 'Get invoice', token: P(3) },
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('the author\'s own value at a withheld nested position wins', () => {
+    const body = served();
+    body.retryConfig.secret = 'author-value';
+    const out = carryForwardRedactedValues('connector', body, stored) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(out.retryConfig.secret).toBe('author-value');
+  });
+
+  it('a removed `retryConfig` or `actions` element is not minted back', () => {
+    const body = served();
+    delete body.retryConfig;
+    body.actions = body.actions.filter((a: { key: string }) => a.key !== 'get_invoice');
+    const out = carryForwardRedactedValues('connector', body, stored) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(out).not.toHaveProperty('retryConfig');
+    expect(out.actions).toEqual([{ key: 'list_invoices', label: 'List invoices' }]);
+    expect(out.apiKey).toBe(P(1));
+  });
+
+  it('two `actions` elements sharing a `key` cannot be told apart: neither is carried', () => {
+    const twin = { ...stored, actions: [stored.actions[0], { key: 'get_invoice', label: 'Twin' }] };
+    const body = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(redactMetadataItem('connector', twin)));
+    const out = carryForwardRedactedValues('connector', body, twin) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(JSON.stringify(out.actions)).not.toContain(P(3));
+  });
+
+  it('a malformed `retryConfig` or `actions` withheld whole is kept at rest by a save of the served form', () => {
+    const malformed = { ...stored, retryConfig: P(4), actions: [stored.actions[0], P(5)] };
+    const body = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(redactMetadataItem('connector', malformed))) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(body).not.toHaveProperty('retryConfig');
+    expect(body).not.toHaveProperty('actions');
+    expect(JSON.stringify(body)).not.toContain('TEST_PLACEHOLDER_UNDECLARED_');
+    const out = carryForwardRedactedValues('connector', { ...body, label: 'Vendor catalog (edited)' }, malformed);
+    expect(out).toEqual({ ...malformed, label: 'Vendor catalog (edited)' });
+  });
+});
@@ -151,11 +151,17 @@ function isPlainRecord(value: unknown): value is Record<string, unknown> {
     return !!value && typeof value === 'object' && !Array.isArray(value);
 }
 
-/** An element's identity for an array hop: a non-empty string `id`, or none. */
+/**
+ * An element's identity for an array hop: a non-empty string `id`; for an
+ * element with no `id`, a non-empty string `key` (a connector action's machine
+ * name); otherwise none.
+ */
 function identityOf(element: unknown): string | undefined {
     if (!isPlainRecord(element)) return undefined;
     const id = element.id;
-    return typeof id === 'string' && id !== '' ? id : undefined;
+    if (typeof id === 'string' && id !== '') return id;
+    const key = element.key;
+    return typeof key === 'string' && key !== '' ? key : undefined;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -190,7 +196,9 @@ function elementWithIdentity(
  * into an identity, and every body — served and incoming — is then walked by
  * that identity, never by the index. Two kinds of identity:
  *
- *  - **the element's own `id`** (`{ elementId }`) — a flow node;
+ *  - **the element's own `id`** (`{ elementId }`) — a flow node — or, for an
+ *    element with no `id`, its own `key` — a connector action, whose `key` is
+ *    its machine name;
  *  - **for an element with no `id`, the identified element below it on the
  *    same path** (`{ anchor }`, #20590). A `parallel` block's branch carries no
  *    `id`, and a credential inside one sits at
@@ -201,8 +209,8 @@ function elementWithIdentity(
  *    is that walk: the hops from inside the element down to, and including,
  *    the first identified element beneath it.
  *
- * An array hop that reaches neither — an element with no `id` and no
- * identified element below it on the path, or an `id` shared with a sibling —
+ * An array hop that reaches neither — an element with no `id` or `key` and no
+ * identified element below it on the path, or an identity shared with a sibling —
  * resolves to nothing, and the path is skipped.
  */
 type PathHop =
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ import type {
 import { EndpointMatcher } from './endpoint-matcher.js';
 // [#5309] The stored ENVELOPE / authored BODY split — peeled before any spec
 // schema parses a stored row. See `stored-envelope.ts`.
-import { peelStoredEnvelope } from './stored-envelope.js';
+import { peelStoredEnvelope, STORED_ENVELOPE_KEYS } from './stored-envelope.js';
 // [#13913] Registry-free expansion of an aggregated view container reached
 // through THIS manager's own store — see `getViewsByObject`.
 import { expandRuntimeViewContainer } from './view-container-expansion.js';
@@ -333,6 +333,38 @@ export interface MetadataManagerOptions extends MetadataManagerConfig {
   driver?: IDataDriver;
 }
 
+/**
+ * {@link MetadataManager.redactServedBody}'s walk, for one document and the
+ * snapshots nested in its bookkeeping. Returns the input by reference when
+ * nothing at any depth is withheld.
+ */
+function redactServedDocument(
+  redactor: NonNullable<ReturnType<typeof getMetadataTypeRedactor>>,
+  record: Record<string, unknown>,
+): Record<string, unknown> {
+  const bookkeeping: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  const authored: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  let bookkeepingChanged = false;
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(record)) {
+    if (!(STORED_ENVELOPE_KEYS as readonly string[]).includes(key)) {
+      authored[key] = value;
+    } else if (value === null || typeof value !== 'object') {
+      bookkeeping[key] = value;
+    } else if (key === 'publishedDefinition' && !Array.isArray(value)) {
+      const served = redactServedDocument(redactor, value as Record<string, unknown>);
+      if (served !== value) bookkeepingChanged = true;
+      bookkeeping[key] = served;
+    } else {
+      // A non-scalar bookkeeping value that is not a snapshot: not served.
+      bookkeepingChanged = true;
+    }
+  }
+  const peeled = Object.keys(bookkeeping).length > 0 || bookkeepingChanged;
+  const result = redactor(peeled ? authored : record);
+  if (result.redactedKeys.length === 0 && !bookkeepingChanged) return record;
+  return peeled ? { ...result.item, ...bookkeeping } : result.item;
+}
+
 /**
  * Main metadata manager class.
  * Implements IMetadataService contract for unified metadata management.
@@ -2285,14 +2317,30 @@ export class MetadataManager implements IMetadataService {
     return this.redactServedBody(type, body);
   }
 
-  /** [#20552] The per-type read-path redaction, applied to one served body. */
+  /**
+   * [#20552] The per-type read-path redaction, applied to one served body.
+   *
+   * The body can carry this layer's own bookkeeping beside the authored
+   * document (`packageId`, `state`, and the publish keys: the fallback serves
+   * the stored row itself, and a publish snapshot copies it whole). Those keys
+   * are not the type's vocabulary ({@link STORED_ENVELOPE_KEYS}), and a
+   * redactor that withholds every key its type does not declare would withhold
+   * them too. So the redactor is handed the authored document alone, and the
+   * bookkeeping is served beside its answer.
+   *
+   * Only a SCALAR bookkeeping value is served unchanged. A publish snapshot
+   * copies the whole row, so a row published again carries the previous
+   * snapshot under `publishedDefinition`: that value is a document of the same
+   * type, and it is served through this same redaction, at every depth. Any
+   * other bookkeeping value that is not a scalar is not served: no envelope key
+   * but `publishedDefinition` holds a document, and nothing here can judge one.
+   */
   private redactServedBody(type: string, body: unknown): unknown {
     if (!body || typeof body !== 'object' || Array.isArray(body)) return body;
     // Keyed on the singular type name (Prime Directive #3); a plural spelling folds first.
     const redactor = getMetadataTypeRedactor(canonicalMetadataServiceType(type));
     if (!redactor) return body;
-    const result = redactor(body as Record<string, unknown>);
-    return result.redactedKeys.length > 0 ? result.item : body;
+    return redactServedDocument(redactor, body as Record<string, unknown>);
   }
 
   // ==========================================
 
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+//
+// `MetadataManager.getPublished` serves a body that can carry this layer's own
+// bookkeeping (`packageId`, `state`, the publish keys) beside the authored
+// document. The type's read-path redactor judges the authored document alone:
+// a key the type does not declare is withheld, the bookkeeping is served
+// unchanged. Measured with the built-in `connector` redactor, which withholds
+// every key a connector does not declare.
+//
+// Every value below is an obviously-fake placeholder.
+
+import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { MetadataManager } from './metadata-manager.js';
+import { MemoryLoader } from './loaders/memory-loader.js';
+import { DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY } from '@objectstack/spec/kernel';
+
+vi.mock('@objectstack/core', async (orig) => ({
+  ...((await orig()) as object),
+  createLogger: () => ({ info: vi.fn(), warn: vi.fn(), error: vi.fn(), debug: vi.fn() }),
+}));
+
+const SECRET = 'TEST_PLACEHOLDER_PUBLISHED_UNDECLARED';
+const authored = { label: 'Vendor', type: 'api', retryConfig: { maxAttempts: 2, secret: SECRET } };
+
+function manager(): MetadataManager {
+  const m = new MetadataManager({ formats: ['json'], loaders: [new MemoryLoader()] });
+  m.setTypeRegistry(DEFAULT_METADATA_TYPE_REGISTRY);
+  return m;
+}
+
+describe('getPublished: the redactor judges the authored body, the bookkeeping is served as stored', () => {
+  it('a never-published row (the row itself is served): undeclared key withheld, packageId and state kept', async () => {
+    const m = manager();
+    await m.register('connector', 'vendor', { name: 'vendor', ...authored, apiKey: SECRET, packageId: 'com.acme.x', state: 'draft' });
+    const served = (await m.getPublished('connector', 'vendor')) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(JSON.stringify(served)).not.toContain(SECRET);
+    expect(served).toEqual({ name: 'vendor', label: 'Vendor', type: 'api', retryConfig: { maxAttempts: 2 }, packageId: 'com.acme.x', state: 'draft' });
+  });
+
+  it('a published snapshot that copied the row whole: the same answer', async () => {
+    const m = manager();
+    await m.register('connector', 'vendor', { name: 'vendor', ...authored, packageId: 'com.acme.x', state: 'draft' });
+    await m.publishPackage('com.acme.x', { publishedBy: 'admin' });
+    const served = (await m.getPublished('connector', 'vendor')) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(JSON.stringify(served)).not.toContain(SECRET);
+    expect(served.packageId).toBe('com.acme.x');
+    expect(served).toHaveProperty('state');
+    expect(served.retryConfig).toEqual({ maxAttempts: 2 });
+  });
+
+  it('a package published twice (the second snapshot nests the first): withheld at every depth, scalar bookkeeping kept', async () => {
+    const m = manager();
+    await m.register('connector', 'vendor', { name: 'vendor', ...authored, apiKey: SECRET, packageId: 'com.acme.x', state: 'draft' });
+    await m.publishPackage('com.acme.x', { publishedBy: 'admin' });
+    await m.publishPackage('com.acme.x', { publishedBy: 'admin' });
+    // The stored row does nest: the second snapshot holds the first under its own `publishedDefinition`.
+    const stored = (await m.get('connector', 'vendor')) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(stored.publishedDefinition).toHaveProperty('publishedDefinition');
+    expect(JSON.stringify(stored)).toContain(SECRET);
+    const served = (await m.getPublished('connector', 'vendor')) as Record<string, any>;
+    expect(JSON.stringify(served)).not.toContain(SECRET);
+    expect(served.packageId).toBe('com.acme.x');
+    expect(served.state).toBe('active');
+    expect(served.retryConfig).toEqual({ maxAttempts: 2 });
+    expect(served.publishedDefinition).toMatchObject({ name: 'vendor', retryConfig: { maxAttempts: 2 }, packageId: 'com.acme.x' });
+    expect(served.publishedDefinition).not.toHaveProperty('apiKey');
+  });
+
+  it('a non-scalar bookkeeping value that is not a snapshot is not served', async () => {
+    const m = manager();
+    await m.register('connector', 'vendor', { name: 'vendor', label: 'Vendor', type: 'api', packageId: 'com.acme.x', package: { secret: SECRET } });
+    const served = (await m.getPublished('connector', 'vendor')) as Record<string, unknown>;
+    expect(JSON.stringify(served)).not.toContain(SECRET);
+    expect(served).toEqual({ name: 'vendor', label: 'Vendor', type: 'api', packageId: 'com.acme.x' });
+  });
+
+  it('control: a body with nothing to withhold is served by reference-equal content, bookkeeping included', async () => {
+    const m = manager();
+    const row = { name: 'clean', label: 'Clean', type: 'api', packageId: 'com.acme.x', state: 'draft' };
+    await m.register('connector', 'clean', row);
+    expect(await m.getPublished('connector', 'clean')).toEqual(row);
+  });
+});