@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/metadata-protocol': patch
+---
+
+fix(metadata-protocol): a metadata row records who created it and who last changed it
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+- **What was wrong.** A metadata write that named its author stored no author on the `sys_metadata` row. `created_by` and `updated_by` read null on every row, though the repository's own schema mapping declared `actor → updated_by` and its read side reads that column. Only the history row's `recorded_by` named the writer, so "who changed this object?" could be answered from history alone.
+- **What it does now.** Every metadata write stamps the row from the write's actor: `created_by` when the row is first written, and `updated_by` on every write. Studio saves, `PUT /api/v1/meta/:type/:name`, publishing a draft, restoring a version and an in-process `saveMetaItem({ actor })` all write through this one path. A write with no actor (a boot sync, a migration with no user, an unauthenticated internal call) stores null in both columns, never a placeholder user. A save that changes nothing writes nothing, so it leaves both columns as they were.
+- **What an operator or a consumer sees.** A row written from now on names its creator and its last writer, so a consumer (such as cloud's AI build agent, whose staged drafts name their author) can read the author from the row itself. The pending-changes list (`listDrafts`' `updatedBy`) names the draft's last writer. Rows written before this release keep their null columns until their next write. History's `recorded_by` is unchanged.
@@ -188,3 +188,75 @@ describe('#4556 — recorded_by holds a user id or NULL, never a sentinel', () =
     expect(headers[0]!.authoredBy).not.toBe('unknown');
   });
 });
+
+/**
+ * #23033 — the PARENT row records the actor too: `created_by` on the row's
+ * first write, `updated_by` on every write, from `PutOptions.actor` — the
+ * header's `actor → updated_by` mapping, which `put()` used to declare and not
+ * write. A missing actor stores NULL in both, never a placeholder user, for the
+ * same reason `recorded_by` does above.
+ *
+ * This fake stores exactly what it is handed, so these pins prove the
+ * repository HANDS the engine the pair. That the real engine KEEPS it — the
+ * `isSystem` write path, the readonly strip and the audit hooks — is pinned on
+ * the stored row in `packages/objectql/src/protocol-metadata-row-actor.test.ts`.
+ */
+describe('#23033 — the sys_metadata row records who created it and who last changed it', () => {
+  let engine: ReturnType<typeof makeFakeEngine>;
+  let repo: SysMetadataRepository;
+  // Environment-wide, the topology the protocol's own overlay repository has
+  // (ADR-0131 D6) and the scope `listDrafts` reads.
+  const ref = { org: 'system', type: 'view' as const, name: 'case_grid' };
+  const onlyRow = () => {
+    expect(engine.rows.size).toBe(1);
+    return Array.from(engine.rows.values())[0]!;
+  };
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    engine = makeFakeEngine();
+    repo = new SysMetadataRepository({ engine });
+  });
+
+  it('a first write with actor A stamps created_by A and updated_by A', async () => {
+    await repo.put(ref, view('A'), { parentVersion: null, actor: 'usr_alice' });
+    const row = onlyRow();
+    expect(row.created_by).toBe('usr_alice');
+    expect(row.updated_by).toBe('usr_alice');
+  });
+
+  it('a second write with actor B keeps created_by A and moves updated_by to B', async () => {
+    const first = await repo.put(ref, view('A'), { parentVersion: null, actor: 'usr_alice' });
+    await repo.put(ref, view('B'), { parentVersion: first.version, actor: 'usr_bob' });
+    const row = onlyRow();
+    expect(row.created_by).toBe('usr_alice');
+    expect(row.updated_by).toBe('usr_bob');
+    // History is unchanged: each event names its own write's actor.
+    expect(engine.historyRows.map((h) => h.recorded_by)).toEqual(['usr_alice', 'usr_bob']);
+  });
+
+  it('a write with no actor stamps NULL in both — never a placeholder user', async () => {
+    await repo.put(ref, view('A'), { parentVersion: null, actor: null });
+    const row = onlyRow();
+    expect(row.created_by).toBeNull();
+    expect(row.updated_by).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('an actor-less write after an authored one clears updated_by and keeps created_by', async () => {
+    // "Who last changed this?" — nobody named; the previous writer did not make this change.
+    const first = await repo.put(ref, view('A'), { parentVersion: null, actor: 'usr_alice' });
+    await repo.put(ref, view('B'), { parentVersion: first.version, actor: null });
+    const row = onlyRow();
+    expect(row.created_by).toBe('usr_alice');
+    expect(row.updated_by).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('the read side follows the row: get().authoredBy and listDrafts().updatedBy name the last writer', async () => {
+    const first = await repo.put(ref, view('A'), { parentVersion: null, actor: 'usr_alice' });
+    await repo.put(ref, view('B'), { parentVersion: first.version, actor: 'usr_bob' });
+    expect((await repo.get(ref))!.authoredBy).toBe('usr_bob');
+
+    await repo.put(ref, view('draft'), { parentVersion: null, actor: 'usr_carol', state: 'draft' });
+    const drafts = await repo.listDrafts({ type: 'view' });
+    expect(drafts.map((d) => [d.name, d.updatedBy])).toEqual([['case_grid', 'usr_carol']]);
+  });
+});
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@
  *   hash (sha256)         → checksum           (text(64))
  *   monotonic version int → version            (number)
  *   org isolation         → organization_id    (lookup)
- *   actor                 → updated_by         (lookup, optional)
+ *   actor                 → updated_by         (lookup, optional; every write)
+ *   first write's actor   → created_by         (lookup, optional; insert only)
  *
  * Composition: PR-10c will compose
  *   `LayeredRepository([FileSystemRepository, SysMetadataRepository])`
@@ -908,6 +909,14 @@ export class SysMetadataRepository implements MetadataRepository {
         state,
         version,
         updated_at: now,
+        // [#23033] The header's `actor → updated_by`, on every write. Written
+        // HERE because nothing below stamps it: the row goes in under
+        // `isSystem` with no user on the context, and the engine's audit hooks
+        // stamp the `*_by` pair only from `session.userId`. No actor → NULL,
+        // never a placeholder user — the `recorded_by` rule (#4556), since
+        // both are `lookup('sys_user')`. History's `recorded_by` below stays
+        // as it was: the same actor, on the event row.
+        updated_by: opts.actor ?? null,
       };
       // [#22877] Only for a type whose identity is a pair: every other type's
       // row payload stays byte-identical to what it was before the column.
@@ -935,6 +944,9 @@ export class SysMetadataRepository implements MetadataRepository {
         });
       } else {
         parentRowData.created_at = now;
+        // [#23033] Who created the row: the first write's actor, set on the
+        // insert only — an update never names `created_by`, so it keeps it.
+        parentRowData.created_by = opts.actor ?? null;
         await this.engine.insert('sys_metadata', parentRowData, { context: { ...ctx, isSystem: true } });
       }
 
 
@@ -0,0 +1,206 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * #23033 — a metadata write that names its author stores that author on the
+ * `sys_metadata` row, read back from the row the REAL engine stored.
+ *
+ * ## The defect
+ *
+ * `SysMetadataRepository`'s header maps `actor → updated_by`, and its read
+ * side (`rowToItem`'s `authoredBy`, `listDrafts`' `updatedBy`) reads
+ * `updated_by ?? created_by`. But `put()` built the parent row with neither
+ * column and wrote it under `isSystem`, whose context carries no user, so the
+ * engine's own audit stamp (`sys_stamp_audit_insert` / `_update`, which stamp
+ * the `*_by` pair only from `session.userId`) had nobody to write either.
+ * Every metadata row read `created_by` / `updated_by` null; the actor reached
+ * only the history row's `recorded_by`.
+ *
+ * ## Why this file is here and not beside the repository
+ *
+ * The repository suite (`sys-metadata-repository.recorded-by.test.ts`) can only
+ * prove the repository HANDS the engine the pair — its engine is a fake that
+ * stores what it is given. What this card owes on top is that the pair
+ * SURVIVES the engine: `created_by` is `readonly: true` on `sys_metadata`, the
+ * static-readonly strip runs inside `engine.insert` / `engine.update` after the
+ * `before*` hooks, and the audit hooks rewrite the `*_by` pair whenever a
+ * session user is present. So the write goes through a real kernel —
+ * `ObjectQLPlugin` binds the real audit hooks and assembles the real protocol
+ * and `sys_metadata` declaration — and every pin reads the stored row out of
+ * the driver, never the payload. `metadata-protocol` cannot host this: it must
+ * not depend on `objectql`, even as a devDependency (the same reason
+ * `plugin.authoring-channel.test.ts` lives here).
+ *
+ * ## The pins (the triage direction's)
+ *
+ *  - a first write with actor A stores `created_by` A and `updated_by` A;
+ *  - a second write with actor B stores `created_by` A and `updated_by` B;
+ *  - CONTROL: a write with no actor stores both null — no placeholder user;
+ *  - history's `recorded_by` is unchanged: each history row names its own
+ *    write's actor, exactly as before;
+ *  - the door's read-back: `listDrafts` answers `updatedBy` from the row.
+ */
+
+import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { ObjectKernel } from '@objectstack/core';
+import { ObjectQL } from './engine.js';
+import { ObjectQLPlugin } from './plugin.js';
+
+type Stores = Map<string, Map<string, Record<string, unknown>>>;
+
+/** In-memory driver, copied from `environment-overlay-email-locale-restart.test.ts`; equality-only WHERE. */
+function makeMemoryDriver(stores: Stores) {
+    const storeFor = (obj: string) => {
+        let s = stores.get(obj);
+        if (!s) { s = new Map(); stores.set(obj, s); }
+        return s;
+    };
+    // `$and` / `$or` are conjoined WITH their sibling keys, the way a real
+    // driver ANDs them.
+    const matchesWhere = (row: Record<string, unknown>, where: any): boolean => {
+        if (!where || typeof where !== 'object') return true;
+        for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(where)) {
+            if (k === '$and' && Array.isArray(v)) {
+                if (!v.every((w: any) => matchesWhere(row, w))) return false;
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (k === '$or' && Array.isArray(v)) {
+                if (!v.some((w: any) => matchesWhere(row, w))) return false;
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (k.startsWith('$')) continue;
+            const rowVal = row[k];
+            const expected = (v && typeof v === 'object' && '$eq' in (v as any)) ? (v as any).$eq : v;
+            const a = rowVal === undefined ? null : rowVal;
+            const b = expected === undefined ? null : expected;
+            if (a !== b) return false;
+        }
+        return true;
+    };
+    const driver: any = {
+        name: 'memory', version: '0.0.0', supports: {} as any,
+        async connect() {}, async disconnect() {}, async checkHealth() { return true; },
+        async execute() { return null; },
+        async find(object: string, ast: any) {
+            const rows = Array.from(storeFor(object).values()).filter((r) => matchesWhere(r, ast?.where));
+            // The caller's bound, after the filter, by presence (`check:objectql-double-limit`).
+            return typeof ast?.limit === 'number' ? rows.slice(0, ast.limit) : rows;
+        },
+        async findOne(object: string, ast: any) {
+            for (const r of storeFor(object).values()) if (matchesWhere(r, ast?.where)) return r;
+            return null;
+        },
+        async create(object: string, data: Record<string, unknown>) {
+            const id = (data.id as string) ?? `r_${randomUUID()}`;
+            const row = { ...data, id };
+            storeFor(object).set(id, row);
+            return row;
+        },
+        async update(object: string, id: string, data: Record<string, unknown>) {
+            const s = storeFor(object);
+            const cur = s.get(id);
+            if (!cur) throw new Error(`not found: ${object}/${id}`);
+            const updated = { ...cur, ...data, id };
+            s.set(id, updated);
+            return updated;
+        },
+        async upsert(object: string, data: Record<string, unknown>) {
+            const id = data.id as string | undefined;
+            if (id && storeFor(object).has(id)) return this.update(object, id, data);
+            return this.create(object, data);
+        },
+        async delete(object: string, id: string) { return storeFor(object).delete(id); },
+        async count(object: string, ast: any) { return (await this.find(object, ast)).length; },
+        async bulkCreate(object: string, rows: Record<string, unknown>[]) {
+            return Promise.all(rows.map((r) => this.create(object, r)));
+        },
+        async bulkUpdate() { return []; }, async bulkDelete() {},
+        async beginTransaction() { return { commit: async () => {}, rollback: async () => {} }; },
+        async commit() {}, async rollback() {},
+    };
+    return driver;
+}
+
+const ALICE = 'usr_alice';
+const BOB = 'usr_bob';
+const NAME = 'case_grid';
+
+// [#21470] `name` is the row's: a body `name` that is not its row's is refused by the write doors.
+const viewBody = (label: string) => ({ name: NAME, type: 'grid', label, columns: ['id'], object: 'case', viewKind: 'list' });
+
+describe('#23033 — the sys_metadata row records who created it and who last changed it', () => {
+    let kernel: ObjectKernel;
+    let stores: Stores;
+    let protocol: any;
+
+    beforeEach(async () => {
+        // `logger.level` is the real config key, and gracefulShutdown:false keeps
+        // process signal handlers out of vitest's fork workers (#4250).
+        kernel = new ObjectKernel({ logger: { level: 'silent' }, gracefulShutdown: false });
+        stores = new Map();
+        const engine = new ObjectQL();
+        engine.registerDriver(makeMemoryDriver(stores), true);
+        await kernel.use(new ObjectQLPlugin({ ql: engine }));
+        await kernel.bootstrap();
+        protocol = kernel.getService('protocol');
+    });
+    afterEach(async () => {
+        if (kernel.getState() === 'running') await kernel.shutdown();
+    });
+
+    /** The stored `sys_metadata` rows for the view, as the driver holds them. */
+    const parentRows = (state: 'active' | 'draft' = 'active') =>
+        Array.from(stores.get('sys_metadata')?.values() ?? [])
+            .filter((r) => r.type === 'view' && r.name === NAME && r.state === state);
+    const parentRow = (state: 'active' | 'draft' = 'active') => {
+        const rows = parentRows(state);
+        expect(rows, `exactly one ${state} row for view/${NAME}`).toHaveLength(1);
+        return rows[0]!;
+    };
+    /** `recorded_by` per history row, in write order. */
+    const recordedBy = () =>
+        Array.from(stores.get('sys_metadata_history')?.values() ?? [])
+            .filter((h) => h.type === 'view' && h.name === NAME)
+            .sort((a, b) => Number(a.version) - Number(b.version))
+            .map((h) => h.recorded_by ?? null);
+
+    it('a first write with actor A stores created_by A and updated_by A', async () => {
+        await protocol.saveMetaItem({ type: 'view', name: NAME, item: viewBody('A'), actor: ALICE });
+
+        const row = parentRow();
+        expect(row.created_by).toBe(ALICE);
+        expect(row.updated_by).toBe(ALICE);
+        expect(recordedBy()).toEqual([ALICE]);
+    });
+
+    it('a second write with actor B keeps created_by A and moves updated_by to B', async () => {
+        await protocol.saveMetaItem({ type: 'view', name: NAME, item: viewBody('A'), actor: ALICE });
+        await protocol.saveMetaItem({ type: 'view', name: NAME, item: viewBody('B'), actor: BOB });
+
+        const row = parentRow();
+        expect(row.created_by, 'created_by never changes after the insert').toBe(ALICE);
+        expect(row.updated_by, 'updated_by names the latest writer').toBe(BOB);
+        // History is unchanged: each row still names its own write's actor.
+        expect(recordedBy()).toEqual([ALICE, BOB]);
+    });
+
+    it('CONTROL: a write with no actor stores both columns null — no placeholder user', async () => {
+        await protocol.saveMetaItem({ type: 'view', name: NAME, item: viewBody('A') });
+
+        const row = parentRow();
+        expect(row.created_by ?? null).toBeNull();
+        expect(row.updated_by ?? null).toBeNull();
+        expect(recordedBy()).toEqual([null]);
+    });
+
+    it('the door reads the row back: listDrafts answers updatedBy from the draft row', async () => {
+        await protocol.saveMetaItem({ type: 'view', name: NAME, item: viewBody('A'), actor: ALICE, mode: 'draft' });
+        await protocol.saveMetaItem({ type: 'view', name: NAME, item: viewBody('B'), actor: BOB, mode: 'draft' });
+
+        const row = parentRow('draft');
+        expect(row.created_by).toBe(ALICE);
+        expect(row.updated_by).toBe(BOB);
+        const { drafts } = await protocol.listDrafts({ type: 'view' });
+        expect(drafts.map((d: any) => [d.name, d.updatedBy])).toEqual([[NAME, BOB]]);
+    });
+});