Clarify when Criterion context is required

[char0n]

Problem

In the Criterion Object section, the context field description states:

If type is specified, then the context MUST be provided (e.g. $response.body would set the context that a JSONPath query expression could be applied to).

Combined with the type field's rule:

If omitted, then the condition is assumed to be simple […]

these create an unintended, contradictory edge case: if an author writes type: simple explicitly, the first clause demands that context MUST be provided — but a simple condition embeds its runtime expression directly in the condition string (e.g. condition: $statusCode == 200) and has no separate context to apply anything to. So the MUST-clause is meaningless (and impossible to satisfy usefully) for simple.

The spec's own Simple Condition Example confirms simple needs no context:

- condition: $statusCode == 200

(no context field present).

The requirement is clearly intended to apply only to the condition types that apply a pattern/query to a context — regex, jsonpath, xpath — which is already stated separately in the condition field description:

For regex or JSONPath, the type and context MUST be specified.

The four flavors differ exactly here: simple embeds runtime expressions inside the condition, whereas regex/jsonpath/xpath apply their pattern/query to a context defined by a runtime expression.

Fix

Scope the context requirement to regex/jsonpath/xpath:

If type is one of regex, jsonpath, or xpath, then context MUST be provided (e.g. $response.body sets the context that a JSONPath query expression could be applied to).

This removes the type: simple contradiction, aligns with the existing "For regex or JSONPath, the type and context MUST be specified" sentence, and preserves the original example.

This is a meaning-preserving editorial clarification (patch-eligible), targeting v1.1-dev as the earliest active branch where it is relevant.

[frankkilcommins]

LGTM - reviewed in spec meeting

[frankkilcommins]

@char0n could you review the JSON Schema too as I believe it's contradictory and sets context as dependentRequired if type is specified (and not only when the value of type is one of the three that we expect context to be provided).

  criterion-object:
    $comment: https://spec.openapis.org/arazzo/v1.1#criterion-object
    description: |-
      An object used to specify the context, conditions, and condition types
      that can be used to prove or satisfy assertions specified in Step Object successCriteria,
      Success Action Object criteria, and Failure Action Object criteria
    type: object
    properties:
      context:
        description: A runtime expression used to set the context for the condition to be applied on
        type: string
      condition:
        description: The condition to apply
        type: string
      type:
        description: The type of condition to be applied or a reference to an expression type object
        oneOf:
          - type: string
            enum:
              - simple
              - regex
              - jsonpath
              - xpath
            default: simple
          - $ref: '#/$defs/expression-type-object'
    required:
      - condition
    dependentRequired:
      type:
        - context