improvement(tables): allow any printable characters in column display names

apps/docs/openapi.json

@@ -2602,7 +2602,7 @@
                     "properties": {
                       "name": {
                         "type": "string",
-                        "description": "Column name (alphanumeric and underscores, must start with letter or underscore)"
+                        "description": "Column display name. Any printable characters; no control characters or leading/trailing whitespace."
                       },
                       "type": {
                         "type": "string",
@@ -5577,9 +5577,8 @@
         "properties": {
           "name": {
             "type": "string",
-            "description": "Column name. Must start with a letter or underscore.",
-            "example": "email",
-            "pattern": "^[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*$"
+            "description": "Column display name. Any printable characters; no control characters or leading/trailing whitespace.",
+            "example": "email"
           },
           "type": {
             "type": "string",

apps/sim/app/api/table/[tableId]/columns/route.ts

@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ export const POST = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, context: Colum
       msg.includes('already exists') ||
       msg.includes('maximum column') ||
       msg.includes('Invalid column') ||
-      msg.includes('exceeds maximum')
+      msg.includes('exceeds maximum') ||
+      msg.includes("conflicts with another column's id")
     ) {
       return NextResponse.json({ error: msg }, { status: 400 })
     }
@@ -161,6 +162,7 @@ export const PATCH = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, context: Colu
       msg.includes('Cannot set unique column') ||
       msg.includes('Invalid column') ||
       msg.includes('exceeds maximum') ||
+      msg.includes("conflicts with another column's id") ||
       msg.includes('incompatible') ||
       msg.includes('duplicate')
     ) {

apps/sim/app/api/table/[tableId]/import/route.ts

@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@ import {
   inferColumnType,
   markTableJobRunning,
   releaseJobClaim,
-  sanitizeName,
+  sanitizeColumnName,
   type TableDefinition,
   type TableSchema,
+  uniqueColumnName,
   validateMapping,
   wouldExceedRowLimit,
 } from '@/lib/table'
@@ -55,6 +56,30 @@ interface RouteParams {
   params: Promise<{ tableId: string }>
 }
 
+/**
+ * Classifies a thrown import error as caller-caused (→ 400 with the message)
+ * vs unexpected (→ 500, message hidden). The shared column/row services throw
+ * bare `Error`s, so this matches on their message markers — one list for every
+ * catch site in this route so a new marker can't be added to only some of
+ * them. Interim until those services throw typed errors.
+ */
+function isImportClientError(message: string): boolean {
+  return (
+    message.includes('row limit') ||
+    message.includes('Insufficient capacity') ||
+    message.includes('Schema validation') ||
+    message.includes('must be unique') ||
+    message.includes('Row size exceeds') ||
+    message.includes('already exists') ||
+    message.includes('Invalid column name') ||
+    message.includes('exceeds maximum length') ||
+    message.includes('maximum column limit') ||
+    message.includes("conflicts with another column's id") ||
+    message.includes('CSV file has no') ||
+    /^Row \d+:/.test(message)
+  )
+}
+
 export const POST = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, { params }: RouteParams) => {
   const requestId = generateRequestId()
   const { tableId } = tableIdParamsSchema.parse(await params)
@@ -211,14 +236,7 @@ export const POST = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, { params }: Ro
       const newColumns: TableSchema['columns'] = []
 
       for (const header of createColumns) {
-        const base = sanitizeName(header)
-        let columnName = base
-        let suffix = 2
-        while (usedNames.has(columnName.toLowerCase())) {
-          columnName = `${base}_${suffix}`
-          suffix++
-        }
-        usedNames.add(columnName.toLowerCase())
+        const columnName = uniqueColumnName(sanitizeColumnName(header), usedNames)
         const inferredType = inferColumnType(rows.map((r) => r[header]))
         // Pre-assign the id so the prospective schema (used to coerce rows) and
         // the persisted column (created in importAppendRows) share the same key.
@@ -334,15 +352,7 @@ export const POST = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, { params }: Ro
           createdColumns: additions.length,
           error: message,
         })
-        const isClientError =
-          message.includes('row limit') ||
-          message.includes('Insufficient capacity') ||
-          message.includes('Schema validation') ||
-          message.includes('must be unique') ||
-          message.includes('Row size exceeds') ||
-          message.includes('already exists') ||
-          message.includes('Invalid column name') ||
-          /^Row \d+:/.test(message)
+        const isClientError = isImportClientError(message)
         return NextResponse.json(
           {
             error: isClientError ? message : 'Failed to import CSV',
@@ -386,14 +396,7 @@ export const POST = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, { params }: Ro
       })
     } catch (err) {
       const message = toError(err).message
-      const isClientError =
-        message.includes('row limit') ||
-        message.includes('Schema validation') ||
-        message.includes('must be unique') ||
-        message.includes('Row size exceeds') ||
-        message.includes('already exists') ||
-        message.includes('Invalid column name') ||
-        /^Row \d+:/.test(message)
+      const isClientError = isImportClientError(message)
       if (isClientError) {
         return NextResponse.json({ error: message }, { status: 400 })
       }
@@ -405,10 +408,7 @@ export const POST = withRouteHandler(async (request: NextRequest, { params }: Ro
     const message = toError(error).message
     logger.error(`[${requestId}] CSV import into existing table failed:`, error)
 
-    const isClientError =
-      message.includes('CSV file has no') ||
-      message.includes('already exists') ||
-      message.includes('Invalid column name')
+    const isClientError = isImportClientError(message)
 
     return NextResponse.json(
       { error: isClientError ? message : 'Failed to import CSV' },

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/tables/[tableId]/components/enrichments-sidebar/enrichment-config.tsx

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import { generateId } from '@sim/utils/id'
 import type { AddWorkflowGroupBodyInput } from '@/lib/api/contracts/tables'
 import type { ColumnDefinition, WorkflowGroup, WorkflowGroupOutput } from '@/lib/table'
 import { columnMatchesRef, getColumnId } from '@/lib/table/column-keys'
-import { deriveOutputColumnName } from '@/lib/table/column-naming'
+import { uniqueColumnName } from '@/lib/table/column-naming'
 import { FieldError } from '@/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/tables/[tableId]/components/sidebar-fields'
 import type { EnrichmentConfig as EnrichmentDef } from '@/enrichments/types'
 import {
@@ -110,11 +110,9 @@ export function EnrichmentConfig({
       }
       return seed
     }
-    const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name))
+    const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name.toLowerCase()))
     for (const o of enrichment.outputs) {
-      const colName = deriveOutputColumnName(o.name, taken)
-      taken.add(colName)
-      seed[o.id] = colName
+      seed[o.id] = uniqueColumnName(o.name, taken)
     }
     return seed
   })
@@ -192,13 +190,12 @@ export function EnrichmentConfig({
     }
 
     const groupId = generateId()
-    const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name))
+    const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name.toLowerCase()))
     const outputColumns: AddWorkflowGroupBodyInput['outputColumns'] = []
     const outputs: WorkflowGroupOutput[] = []
     for (const o of enrichment.outputs) {
       const desired = (outputNames[o.id] ?? '').trim() || o.name
-      const colName = deriveOutputColumnName(desired, taken)
-      taken.add(colName)
+      const colName = uniqueColumnName(desired, taken)
       outputColumns.push({
         name: colName,
         type: o.type,

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/tables/[tableId]/components/table-grid/headers/column-header-menu.tsx

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import React, { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 import { cn } from '@sim/emcn'
 import { ChevronDown } from '@sim/emcn/icons'
 import type { WorkflowGroup } from '@/lib/table'
+import { TABLE_LIMITS } from '@/lib/table/constants'
 import type { WorkflowMetadata } from '@/stores/workflows/registry/types'
 import { COL_WIDTH, SELECTION_TINT_BG } from '../constants'
 import type { ColumnSourceInfo, DisplayColumn } from '../types'
@@ -278,6 +279,7 @@ export const ColumnHeaderMenu = React.memo(function ColumnHeaderMenu({
             ref={renameInputRef}
             type='text'
             value={renameValue}
+            maxLength={TABLE_LIMITS.MAX_COLUMN_NAME_LENGTH}
             onChange={(e) => onRenameValueChange(e.target.value)}
             onKeyDown={(e) => {
               if (e.key === 'Enter') onRenameSubmit()

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/tables/[tableId]/components/workflow-sidebar/workflow-sidebar.tsx

@@ -685,7 +685,7 @@ export function WorkflowSidebarBody({
           toast.success(`Saved "${targetColumnName}"`)
         } else {
           // edit-group: full output diff with new-column derivation.
-          const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name))
+          const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name.toLowerCase()))
           const fullOutputs: WorkflowGroupOutput[] = []
           const newOutputColumns: NonNullable<UpdateWorkflowGroupBodyInput['newOutputColumns']> = []
           for (const o of orderedOutputs) {
@@ -696,7 +696,6 @@ export function WorkflowSidebarBody({
               fullOutputs.push(existingOut)
             } else {
               const colName = deriveOutputColumnName(o.path, taken)
-              taken.add(colName)
               fullOutputs.push({ blockId: o.blockId, path: o.path, columnName: colName })
               newOutputColumns.push({
                 name: colName,
@@ -723,12 +722,11 @@ export function WorkflowSidebarBody({
       } else {
         // Create path: brand-new group with auto-derived output column names.
         const groupId = generateId()
-        const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name))
+        const taken = new Set(allColumns.map((c) => c.name.toLowerCase()))
         const newOutputColumns: AddWorkflowGroupBodyInput['outputColumns'] = []
         const groupOutputs: WorkflowGroupOutput[] = []
         for (const o of orderedOutputs) {
           const colName = deriveOutputColumnName(o.path, taken)
-          taken.add(colName)
           newOutputColumns.push({
             name: colName,
             type: columnTypeForLeaf(o.leafType),

apps/sim/app/workspace/[workspaceId]/tables/components/import-csv-dialog/import-csv-dialog.tsx

@@ -46,15 +46,15 @@ const MAX_EXAMPLES_IN_ERROR = 3
 const CSV_PREVIEW_BYTES = 512 * 1024
 /**
  * Sentinel value for the "Do not import" option in the mapping combobox. The
- * whitespace is intentional: valid column names must match `NAME_PATTERN`
- * (`/^[a-z_][a-z0-9_]*$/i`), so no real column can share this value.
+ * embedded NUL is intentional: control characters are invalid in column names
+ * (`COLUMN_NAME_PATTERN`), so no real column can share this value.
  */
-const SKIP_VALUE = '__ skip __'
+const SKIP_VALUE = '\u0000skip'
 /**
- * Sentinel for the "Create new column" option. Same whitespace trick as
+ * Sentinel for the "Create new column" option. Same control-character trick as
  * `SKIP_VALUE` to avoid colliding with any valid column name.
  */
-const CREATE_VALUE = '__ create __'
+const CREATE_VALUE = '\u0000create'
 
 /**
  * Converts the verbose backend error messages into a short, human-friendly

apps/sim/lib/api/contracts/tables.test.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,31 @@
  * @vitest-environment node
  */
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { tableEventStreamQuerySchema } from '@/lib/api/contracts/tables'
+import { tableColumnSchema, tableEventStreamQuerySchema } from '@/lib/api/contracts/tables'
+
+describe('tableColumnSchema', () => {
+  it('accepts display names with spaces, digits-first, punctuation, and unicode', () => {
+    for (const name of ['First Name', '2024 Revenue', 'price ($)', 'caf\u00e9']) {
+      expect(tableColumnSchema.safeParse({ name, type: 'string' }).success).toBe(true)
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('rejects invisible characters, edge whitespace, leading $, and the CSV-dialog sentinels', () => {
+    const bad = [' leading', 'trailing ', 'a\u0000b', 'zero\u200bwidth', '$or', '\u0000skip']
+    for (const name of bad) {
+      expect(tableColumnSchema.safeParse({ name, type: 'string' }).success).toBe(false)
+    }
+  })
+
+  it('accepts identifier-shaped column ids and rejects non-identifier ids', () => {
+    const good = { name: 'x', type: 'string' }
+    expect(tableColumnSchema.safeParse({ ...good, id: 'col_ab12' }).success).toBe(true)
+    expect(tableColumnSchema.safeParse({ ...good, id: 'legacy_name' }).success).toBe(true)
+    for (const id of ["a-b'", 'has space', '1leading', '']) {
+      expect(tableColumnSchema.safeParse({ ...good, id }).success).toBe(false)
+    }
+  })
+})
 
 describe('tableEventStreamQuerySchema', () => {
   it('parses an explicit cursor', () => {

apps/sim/lib/api/contracts/tables.ts

@@ -13,7 +13,13 @@ import type {
   TableRow,
   TableRowsCursor,
 } from '@/lib/table'
-import { COLUMN_TYPES, NAME_PATTERN, TABLE_LIMITS } from '@/lib/table/constants'
+import {
+  COLUMN_NAME_PATTERN,
+  COLUMN_NAME_RULE,
+  COLUMN_TYPES,
+  NAME_PATTERN,
+  TABLE_LIMITS,
+} from '@/lib/table/constants'
 import { CSV_MAX_FILE_SIZE_BYTES } from '@/lib/table/import'
 
 export const domainObjectSchema = <T>() => z.custom<T>(isRecordLike)
@@ -25,7 +31,7 @@ export const domainObjectSchema = <T>() => z.custom<T>(isRecordLike)
 export const columnTypeSchema = z.enum(COLUMN_TYPES)
 
 /**
- * Identifier for tables/columns: starts with letter or underscore, contains
+ * Identifier for tables: starts with letter or underscore, contains
  * only alphanumerics + underscores, capped at `MAX_TABLE_NAME_LENGTH`.
  */
 const tableNameSchema = z
@@ -47,9 +53,21 @@ const columnNameSchema = z
     TABLE_LIMITS.MAX_COLUMN_NAME_LENGTH,
     `Column name must be ${TABLE_LIMITS.MAX_COLUMN_NAME_LENGTH} characters or less`
   )
+  .regex(COLUMN_NAME_PATTERN, COLUMN_NAME_RULE)
+
+/**
+ * Stable column id — the JSONB row-data storage key, interpolated into SQL
+ * paths after a `NAME_PATTERN` guard. Enforce the identifier shape at the
+ * boundary so a caller-supplied id (undo re-create, schema copy) fails fast at
+ * write time instead of wedging every later filter/sort/unique-check.
+ */
+const columnIdSchema = z
+  .string()
+  .min(1, 'Column id cannot be empty')
+  .max(64, 'Column id must be 64 characters or less')
   .regex(
     NAME_PATTERN,
-    'Column name must start with a letter or underscore and contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores'
+    'Column id must start with a letter or underscore and contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores'
   )
 
 const descriptionSchema = z
@@ -80,7 +98,7 @@ export const getTableQuerySchema = z.object({
 
 export const tableColumnSchema = z.object({
   /** Stable column id (server-assigned). Absent on legacy/ pre-backfill columns. */
-  id: z.string().optional(),
+  id: columnIdSchema.optional(),
   name: columnNameSchema,
   type: columnTypeSchema,
   required: z.boolean().optional().default(false),
@@ -115,7 +133,7 @@ export const createTableColumnBodySchema = z.object({
   column: z.object({
     // Optional stable id — first-party undo of a delete re-creates the column
     // with its original id so saved (id-keyed) cell data restores correctly.
-    id: z.string().optional(),
+    id: columnIdSchema.optional(),
     name: columnNameSchema,
     type: columnTypeSchema,
     required: z.boolean().optional(),
@@ -1020,7 +1038,7 @@ const workflowGroupInputMappingSchema = z.object({
 })
 
 const workflowGroupOutputColumnSchema = z.object({
-  name: z.string().min(1),
+  name: columnNameSchema,
   type: columnTypeSchema,
   required: z.boolean().optional(),
   unique: z.boolean().optional(),