Fix: proceed with evaluation when selector references an unknown entity property

[Copilot]

Using a property that doesn't exist in a profile selector (e.g., repository.properties.github['is_private']) caused a hard error: error evaluating rule type: error selecting entity: result is unknown. Properties are not guaranteed to be present, so evaluation should proceed rather than error.

Changes

pkg/engine/selectors/selectors.go

The Select() method now distinguishes two "unknown result" scenarios:

• WithUnknownPaths explicitly set — caller is in the first pass of a retry pattern; ErrResultUnknown is still returned to trigger a retry with complete data.
• No explicit unknown paths — property is simply absent from the entity; returns (true, "", nil) so evaluation proceeds.

if s.detailHasUnknowns(sel, details) {
    if len(opts.unknownPaths) > 0 {
        // Explicit unknown paths: signal caller to retry with more information.
        return false, "", ErrResultUnknown
    }
    // Property genuinely missing — proceed with evaluation.
    return true, "", nil
}

The same logic applies to the types.IsUnknown(out) fallback check.

pkg/engine/selectors/selectors_test.go

• Two existing test cases that expected ErrResultUnknown for missing properties (no WithUnknownPaths) updated to expect selected: true.
• TestSelectorEntityFillProperties "Fail to fetch a property" case updated: a property that can't be fetched no longer blocks evaluation (secondSucceeds: true).

Testing

Unit tests in pkg/engine/selectors/selectors_test.go cover the updated behavior directly. All selector and executor tests pass. The WithUnknownPaths retry-pattern tests remain unchanged and continue to return ErrResultUnknown as expected.

Warning

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Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Using an unknown property in selectors gives: Error: error evaluating rule type: error selecting entity: result is unknown</issue_title>
<issue_description>I managed to use a property that does not exist in a selector and I received an error:

Error: error evaluating rule type: error selecting entity: result is unknown

This should not have happened, we should have at the very least have thrown a better error message. Ideally, though, the profile shouldn't have errored but we should have proceeded with the evaluation - the properties are not guaranteed to be there.</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Write a test for this case, ensure it fails, and then add guarding logic to flag the incorrect property, if possible.</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@evankanderson This needs a test as well as code to cover the edge case.

• Fixes Using an unknown property in selectors gives: Error: error evaluating rule type: error selecting entity: result is unknown #4785

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