@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/plugin-approvals': patch
+---
+
+fix(plugin-approvals): the out-of-office delegation form's Delegator picker offers only the signed-in user, the one delegator the server accepts
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+No accept set moves. The field gains a picker filter, which nothing on the write path reads, and the delegation write guard and `required` are unchanged.
+
+- **Before.** `sys_approval_delegation.delegator_id` was a free `sys_user` lookup, so Approvals → Delegations → New offered every user. The delegation write guard accepts one delegator on a non-system write, the acting user, so picking anyone else was refused with 403 `FORBIDDEN`.
+- **Now.** The field declares `lookupFilters: [{ field: 'id', operator: 'eq', value: '{current_user_id}' }]`. The engine resolves the placeholder against the caller on every read, so the picker's candidate query offers the signed-in user and nobody else.
+- **Unchanged.** What a write may store. A create or an update that names another delegator is still refused, and there is no admin exemption. An admin covering for an absent approver reassigns, recalls or rejects that approver's pending approvals through the approval override instead.
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * The Delegator picker of `sys_approval_delegation` offers exactly what the
+ * delegation write guard admits.
+ *
+ * `bindDelegationWriteGuard` (lifecycle-hooks.ts) admits one delegator on a
+ * non-system write — the acting user — and refuses every other with 403: a
+ * delegation names its own author as delegator, and acting for an absent
+ * approver is the approval-level override (the guard's docstring holds the
+ * ruling). The field was a free `sys_user` lookup, so the console's create
+ * dialog offered every user and the server refused all but one of them. It
+ * now declares `lookupFilters` on `id` = `{current_user_id}`: the picker's
+ * candidate query, whose placeholder the engine resolves against the caller
+ * on every read.
+ *
+ * Through a real `ObjectQL` over `SqlDriver` (better-sqlite3, in-memory, real
+ * DDL) with the guard bound, this file asserts:
+ *
+ *  1. the declaration, read off the object and off the registered body;
+ *  2. the picker's candidate query returns the caller and nobody else, for
+ *     each caller;
+ *  3. every candidate it offers is admitted by the guard;
+ *  4. the guard is not widened: a create or an update naming anyone else is
+ *     still refused, `FORBIDDEN` / 403, and nothing is stored;
+ *  5. `required` stays: a write with no acting user and no delegator is
+ *     refused.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'vitest';
+import { ObjectQL } from '@objectstack/objectql';
+import { SqlDriver } from '@objectstack/driver-sql';
+import type { EngineCountOptions, EngineQueryOptions } from '@objectstack/spec/data';
+import { SysApprovalDelegation } from './sys-approval-delegation.object.js';
+import { bindDelegationWriteGuard } from './lifecycle-hooks.js';
+
+const OBJECT = 'sys_approval_delegation';
+const SYSTEM = { context: { isSystem: true } } as any;
+const asUser = (userId: string) => ({ context: { userId, positions: [], permissions: [] } }) as any;
+
+/** The install's people: an admin covering for Priya, and a colleague. */
+const USERS = [
+  { id: 'u_admin', name: 'Dev Admin' },
+  { id: 'u_priya', name: 'Priya Raman' },
+  { id: 'u_tomas', name: 'Tomas Okafor' },
+];
+
+/** Just enough of `sys_user` for the picker's candidate query. */
+const sysUser = {
+  name: 'sys_user',
+  label: 'User',
+  fields: {
+    id: { name: 'id', label: 'Id', type: 'text' as const, primaryKey: true },
+    name: { name: 'name', label: 'Name', type: 'text' as const },
+  },
+};
+
+type LookupFilter = { field: string; operator: string; value: unknown };
+
+/** The one candidate the guard admits: the acting user, by id. */
+const ACTING_USER_ONLY: LookupFilter[] = [{ field: 'id', operator: 'eq', value: '{current_user_id}' }];
+
+const delegatorField = (): Record<string, any> =>
+  (SysApprovalDelegation.fields as Record<string, any>).delegator_id;
+
+/**
+ * The picker's candidate query, from the declared `lookupFilters`. The
+ * console lowers each `eq` entry to `{ [field]: value }` and sends it as the
+ * `$filter` of its `sys_user` query (objectui `lookupFiltersToRecord`); the
+ * declaration test holds that every entry here is `eq`.
+ */
+function pickerQuery(): EngineQueryOptions {
+  const filters = (delegatorField().lookupFilters ?? []) as LookupFilter[];
+  const where: Record<string, unknown> = {};
+  for (const f of filters) where[f.field] = f.value;
+  return { where };
+}
+
+/** The delegations that name Priya as delegator. */
+const PRIYA_AS_DELEGATOR: EngineCountOptions = { where: { delegator_id: 'u_priya' } };
+
+const byId = (id: string): EngineQueryOptions => ({ where: { id } });
+
+describe('sys_approval_delegation — the Delegator picker offers only what the write guard admits', () => {
+  let engine: ObjectQL;
+
+  beforeAll(async () => {
+    engine = new ObjectQL();
+    const driver = new SqlDriver({
+      client: 'better-sqlite3',
+      connection: { filename: ':memory:' },
+      useNullAsDefault: true,
+    });
+    engine.registerDriver(driver, true);
+    await engine.init();
+    engine.registry.registerObject(sysUser as any, 'com.objectstack.test.delegator-picker');
+    engine.registry.registerObject(SysApprovalDelegation as any, 'com.objectstack.test.delegator-picker');
+    await engine.syncSchemas();
+    bindDelegationWriteGuard(engine as any);
+    for (const u of USERS) await engine.insert('sys_user', u, SYSTEM);
+  });
+
+  afterAll(async () => {
+    try { await engine?.destroy(); } catch { /* noop */ }
+  });
+
+  it('declares the acting user as the picker\'s only candidate, and stays a required sys_user lookup', () => {
+    const field = delegatorField();
+    expect(field.type).toBe('lookup');
+    expect(field.reference).toBe('sys_user');
+    expect(field.required).toBe(true);
+    expect(field.lookupFilters).toEqual(ACTING_USER_ONLY);
+  });
+
+  it('the registered body keeps the declaration', () => {
+    const registered = (engine.registry.getObject(OBJECT) as any).fields.delegator_id;
+    expect(registered.lookupFilters).toEqual(ACTING_USER_ONLY);
+  });
+
+  it.each(USERS.map((u) => [u.id]))('the picker offers %s themselves and nobody else', async (caller) => {
+    const candidates = await engine.find('sys_user', pickerQuery(), asUser(caller));
+    expect(candidates.map((r: any) => r.id)).toEqual([caller]);
+  });
+
+  it('every candidate the picker offers is admitted by the guard', async () => {
+    const candidates = await engine.find('sys_user', pickerQuery(), asUser('u_admin'));
+    expect(candidates.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    for (const candidate of candidates) {
+      const created = await engine.insert(
+        OBJECT, { delegator_id: (candidate as any).id, delegate_id: 'u_tomas' }, asUser('u_admin'),
+      );
+      expect(created.delegator_id).toBe('u_admin');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('the guard is not widened: a create naming anyone else is refused FORBIDDEN / 403 and stores nothing', async () => {
+    const before = await engine.count(OBJECT, PRIYA_AS_DELEGATOR, SYSTEM);
+    await expect(
+      engine.insert(OBJECT, { delegator_id: 'u_priya', delegate_id: 'u_tomas' }, asUser('u_admin')),
+    ).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: 'FORBIDDEN', statusCode: 403 });
+    expect(await engine.count(OBJECT, PRIYA_AS_DELEGATOR, SYSTEM)).toBe(before);
+  });
+
+  it('the guard is not widened: an update relabelling the delegator is refused FORBIDDEN / 403', async () => {
+    const own = await engine.insert(OBJECT, { delegator_id: 'u_admin', delegate_id: 'u_tomas' }, asUser('u_admin'));
+    await expect(
+      engine.update(OBJECT, { id: own.id, delegator_id: 'u_priya' }, asUser('u_admin')),
+    ).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: 'FORBIDDEN', statusCode: 403 });
+    const row = await engine.findOne(OBJECT, byId(own.id), SYSTEM);
+    expect(row?.delegator_id).toBe('u_admin');
+  });
+
+  it('`required` stays: a system write with no acting user and no delegator is refused', async () => {
+    await expect(engine.insert(OBJECT, { delegate_id: 'u_tomas' }, SYSTEM)).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      code: 'VALIDATION_FAILED',
+      fields: expect.arrayContaining([expect.objectContaining({ field: 'delegator_id', code: 'required' })]),
+    });
+  });
+});
@@ -86,9 +86,19 @@ export const SysApprovalDelegation = ObjectSchema.create({
       group: 'Delegation',
     }),
 
+    // A delegation names its own author as delegator: on every non-system
+    // write `bindDelegationWriteGuard` (lifecycle-hooks.ts) admits exactly one
+    // value here, the acting user, and refuses any other with 403 (its
+    // docstring holds why there is no admin exemption). So the picker offers
+    // that one value, instead of every user with all but one refused:
+    // `lookupFilters` is the picker's candidate query, and the engine resolves
+    // `{current_user_id}` against the caller on every read. Presentation only
+    // — the guard stays the enforcement, and what a write may store is
+    // unchanged. Pinned in `sys-approval-delegation-delegator-picker.test.ts`.
     delegator_id: Field.lookup('sys_user', {
       label: 'Delegator',
       required: true,
+      lookupFilters: [{ field: 'id', operator: 'eq', value: '{current_user_id}' }],
       group: 'Delegation',
       description: 'The user going out of office; their individually-routed approver slots are rerouted while active.',
     }),