fix(jobnet-search): degrade a null publicationDate to a null date instead of crashing the search (#418) (#419)

date: job.publicationDate.slice(0, 10) trusted a TypeScript interface
claim nothing validates at runtime: apiFetch casts the JSON body, so one
ad with a null publication date threw TypeError inside the jobAds map
and the whole search exited 1 as API_ERROR. The neighboring
applicationDeadline field was already null-guarded with a 1900-01-01
sentinel. publicationDate is now typed nullable so the compiler enforces
the guard, and the ad degrades per-item to date: null. New test verified
to fail on the unfixed code with the exact production TypeError.

.agents/skills/jobnet-search/cli/src/commands/search.ts

@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@ export interface JobAdRaw {
   postalCode: number | null
   postalDistrictName: string | null
   country: string
-  publicationDate: string
+  // A TypeScript claim is not runtime validation: apiFetch casts the JSON
+  // body, so a null here arrives typed as string and .slice() throws,
+  // killing the whole search as API_ERROR (#418). Typed nullable so the
+  // compiler enforces the guard below.
+  publicationDate: string | null
   applicationDeadline: string | null
   applicationDeadlineStatus: string | null
   workHourPartTime: boolean
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@ export function createSearchOutput(data: SearchApiResponse, flags: SearchFlags)
     isFavorite: job.isFavorite,
     company: job.hiringOrgName,
     location: job.postalDistrictName ?? job.municipality ?? null,
-    date: job.publicationDate.slice(0, 10),
+    date: job.publicationDate ? job.publicationDate.slice(0, 10) : null,
     deadline: job.applicationDeadline && !job.applicationDeadline.startsWith("1900-01-01")
       ? job.applicationDeadline.slice(0, 10)
       : null,
@@ -211,7 +215,7 @@ type JobAdResult = {
   occupation: string | null
   municipality: string | null
   postalCode: number | null
-  publicationDate: string
+  publicationDate: string | null
   applicationDeadline: string | null
 }
 

.agents/skills/jobnet-search/cli/tests/search-normalization.test.ts

@@ -161,3 +161,23 @@ describe("Jobnet search normalization", () => {
     expect(output.results[1].deadline).toBe("2026-08-01");
   });
 });
+
+describe("Jobnet null publicationDate degradation", () => {
+  // publicationDate: string was a TypeScript claim, not runtime validation -
+  // apiFetch casts the JSON body, so one ad with a null publication date
+  // threw TypeError from .slice() inside the jobAds map and killed the whole
+  // search as API_ERROR (#418). The neighboring applicationDeadline field is
+  // already guarded (null check + 1900-01-01 sentinel); this pins the same
+  // per-item degradation for publicationDate: date null, no throw.
+  test("an ad with a null publicationDate yields date: null instead of crashing the search", () => {
+    const data = apiResponse();
+    data.jobAds[0].publicationDate = null;
+
+    // The shared fixture flags carry limit: 1, which would slice off the
+    // second ad; lift the limit so the survives-alongside assertion is real.
+    const output = createSearchOutput(data, { ...flags, limit: undefined });
+
+    expect(output.results[0].date).toBeNull();
+    expect(output.results[1].date).toBe("2026-07-02");
+  });
+});

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -41,13 +41,23 @@ per-file diff commands.
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- **`jobnet-search` no longer dies over one ad with a null publication date** (#418, the
+  sibling of #416 from the same audit) - `date: job.publicationDate.slice(0, 10)` trusted
+  a TypeScript interface claim (`publicationDate: string`) that nothing validates at
+  runtime: `apiFetch` casts the JSON body, so one `null` threw `TypeError` inside the
+  `jobAds` map and the whole search of a default-ON portal exited 1 as `API_ERROR` - while
+  the neighboring `applicationDeadline` field was already null-guarded with a `1900-01-01`
+  sentinel check. The field is now typed nullable (so the compiler enforces the guard) and
+  degrades per-item to `date: null`, the shape the `seen_jobs.json` contract documents.
+  Pinned by a new case in `search-normalization.test.ts`, verified to fail on the unfixed
+  code with the exact production TypeError.
+
 - **Placeholder-integrity tests in `python-tests` now skip on forks** (#405) - the dedicated
   `placeholder-integrity` job already gates on the upstream repo name, but `python-tests` ran
   `unittest discover` with no such guard, so forks that personalized files via `/setup` failed
   three sentinel checks permanently. Both test classes now use `@unittest.skipIf` on
   `GITHUB_REPOSITORY` (defaulting to upstream when unset so local pristine-template runs still
   execute).
-
 - **`convert_salary_excel.py` no longer mistakes a title/citation row for the header row**
   (#414) - header-row detection accepted the first row in the first 10 where *any* cell merely
   contained a company-pattern word, with no check that the row actually looked like a header. A