@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+---
+'@objectstack/plugin-security': patch
+---
+
+The seed ownership claim no longer fires app hooks or record-change flows
+
+Clause-②: no
+
+On a freshly seeded database, the first sign-up promotes the first user to platform admin, and `claimSeedOwnership` hands every seeded row to that admin inside the same request. That write ran under a bare system context, so every claimed row went through the full write pipeline: hooks bound from app metadata fired, record-change flows ran, approvals opened on seeded records and notifications went to the new admin. Measured on hotcrm `56d98f7e` (17.7.0, a 354-row seed), the first sign-up took about 45 s, and in that time the claim fired 1,254 app hooks, ran 8 flows, opened 2 approvals and handed 8 emails to the transport.
+
+The claim's write now runs with `{ isSystem: true, skipAutomations: true }`. The seed itself is end-state data written without automation, and the claim keeps that rule for the write that completes it.
+
+- **App hooks no longer fire for the seed ownership claim.** No hook bound from metadata (an app's `hooks`, sandboxed bodies included) runs on the claim's owner change, and no record-change flow is dispatched for it. So the claim opens no approval and sends no notification.
+- **Which claims.** Every pass of the claim: the promotion pass inside the first sign-up, and the pass that runs on `app:seeded` on every boot, the first and every later one.
+- **Still runs.** Hooks that plugins register in code still run, so the claim still writes one audit row per claimed record (plugin-audit) and plugin-sharing still recomputes the grants the owner change earns. Every claimed row's `owner_id` is the admin and its `updated_at` still advances, exactly as before. The per-row hook ceiling and the paged fallback for very large objects are unchanged.
+- **If an app relied on it.** An app hook or flow that reacted to the claim's owner change no longer sees it, just as it never saw the seed's own writes. None of the hooks or flows in ObjectStack's own example apps reads it.
@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2026 ObjectStack. Licensed under the Apache-2.0 license.
+
+/**
+ * [#22067] What the seed ownership claim's write DISPATCHES — measured on a REAL
+ * `ObjectQL` over a real `SqlDriver` (better-sqlite3 `:memory:`).
+ *
+ * The claim re-owns seed rows to the platform admin. That is attribution, the
+ * step that completes the seed, not a user event — so its write runs under
+ * `{ isSystem: true, skipAutomations: true }`. This file pins what that context
+ * reaches on the engine, because a flag that is silently dropped on the
+ * predicate-write path would read as green in every double:
+ *
+ *  1. **the metadata-hook filter** — a hook bound through the real binder
+ *     (`bindHooksToEngine`, which is what stamps `entry.meta`) does not fire,
+ *     before or after, on any claimed row;
+ *  2. **the per-row hook path** — code-registered hooks DO fire, once per
+ *     matched row, and every per-row context carries the flag;
+ *  3. **the record-change trigger's reading point** — every one of those
+ *     contexts has `session.skipTriggers === true`, the one field
+ *     `RecordChangeTrigger`'s handler reads before it dispatches a flow
+ *     (`skipAutomations` implies it, `engine.ts` `buildSession`). The booted-app
+ *     half — the real trigger, approvals, notifications, audit rows and the
+ *     sharing projection — is `packages/qa/dogfood/test/
+ *     seed-ownership-claim-dispatch.dogfood.test.ts`.
+ *
+ * And it measures the claim's one structural dependency on hook dispatch, the
+ * per-row hook ceiling: the claim's fallback page size is derived from it, so
+ * if the flag ever exempted a write from the ceiling the fallback would be dead
+ * code and the page size wrong. It does not — the engine asks whether ANY hook
+ * covers the object before it counts the matched rows, and code-registered
+ * hooks still do — so an over-ceiling claim is still refused whole and still
+ * pages to every row.
+ *
+ * Each case carries its positive control on the SAME engine: a plain
+ * `{ isSystem: true }` predicate write over the same rows fires the metadata
+ * hook per row. Without it, "the hook fired 0 times" could be a hook that was
+ * never bound.
+ */
+
+import { describe, it, expect, afterEach } from 'vitest';
+import { ObjectQL, bindHooksToEngine } from '@objectstack/objectql';
+import { SqlDriver } from '@objectstack/driver-sql';
+import {
+  BULK_PER_ROW_HOOK_LIMIT_ERROR_CODE,
+  MAX_BULK_PER_ROW_HOOK_ROWS,
+} from '@objectstack/spec/data';
+
+import { claimSeedOwnership } from './claim-seed-ownership.js';
+
+const SYS = { context: { isSystem: true } } as const;
+const ADMIN = 'usr_admin_human';
+const SEED_IDENTITY = 'usr_system';
+const OBJECT = 'probe_deal';
+
+const PROBE_OBJECT: any = {
+  name: OBJECT,
+  label: 'Probe Deal',
+  fields: {
+    id: { type: 'text', label: 'Id', primary: true },
+    name: { type: 'text', label: 'Name' },
+    stage: { type: 'text', label: 'Stage' },
+    owner_id: { type: 'text', label: 'Owner' },
+  },
+};
+
+/** One dispatch a hook saw: what the engine handed it, reduced to the flags. */
+interface Seen {
+  event: string;
+  mode: unknown;
+  isSystem: unknown;
+  skipAutomations: unknown;
+  skipTriggers: unknown;
+}
+
+const engines: ObjectQL[] = [];
+afterEach(async () => {
+  while (engines.length) {
+    try { await engines.pop()?.destroy(); } catch { /* noop */ }
+  }
+});
+
+/**
+ * A booted engine with ONE metadata-bound hook and ONE code-registered hook on
+ * the probe object, both on `beforeUpdate` and `afterUpdate`.
+ *
+ * The metadata hook is bound through `bindHooksToEngine` — the binder an app's
+ * `defineStack({ hooks })` goes through — so its entry carries `meta` exactly as
+ * a shipped app hook's does. The code hook is `registerHook` with no metadata,
+ * the shape of plugin-audit's writer, plugin-sharing's rule projection and
+ * `RecordChangeTrigger`'s per-flow handler.
+ */
+async function boot() {
+  const engine = new ObjectQL();
+  engine.registerDriver(
+    new SqlDriver({ client: 'better-sqlite3', connection: { filename: ':memory:' }, useNullAsDefault: true }),
+    true,
+  );
+  await engine.init();
+  engine.registerApp({
+    id: 'com.objectstack.claim-dispatch-22067',
+    name: 'Claim dispatch',
+    version: '1.0.0',
+    type: 'plugin',
+    scope: 'system',
+    objects: [PROBE_OBJECT],
+  } as any);
+  await engine.syncSchemas();
+  engines.push(engine);
+
+  const metadataHook: Seen[] = [];
+  const codeHook: Seen[] = [];
+  const record = (into: Seen[]) => async (ctx: any) => {
+    into.push({
+      event: ctx.event,
+      mode: ctx.dispatch?.mode,
+      isSystem: ctx.session?.isSystem,
+      skipAutomations: ctx.session?.skipAutomations,
+      skipTriggers: ctx.session?.skipTriggers,
+    });
+  };
+
+  const bound = bindHooksToEngine(
+    engine,
+    [
+      {
+        name: 'probe_app_hook',
+        object: OBJECT,
+        events: ['beforeUpdate', 'afterUpdate'],
+        handler: record(metadataHook),
+      } as any,
+    ],
+    { packageId: 'com.objectstack.claim-dispatch-22067' },
+  );
+  expect(bound.registered, 'the metadata hook must be bound for its absence to mean anything').toBe(2);
+
+  for (const event of ['beforeUpdate', 'afterUpdate'] as const) {
+    engine.registerHook(event, record(codeHook), { object: OBJECT, packageId: 'probe.code-hook' });
+  }
+
+  return { engine, metadataHook, codeHook };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Seed rows straight through the driver — the seed path is not the subject
+ * here, and the claim reads only what is stored. Chunked, so no single
+ * statement nears SQLite's bound-parameter limit.
+ */
+async function seed(engine: ObjectQL, rows: Record<string, unknown>[]): Promise<void> {
+  const driver = (engine as any).getDriverForObject(OBJECT);
+  for (let i = 0; i < rows.length; i += 500) {
+    await driver.bulkCreate(OBJECT, rows.slice(i, i + 500));
+  }
+}
+
+async function ownersOf(engine: ObjectQL): Promise<Map<string, unknown>> {
+  const rows = await (engine as any).find(OBJECT, { fields: ['id', 'owner_id'] }, SYS);
+  return new Map(rows.map((r: any) => [r.id, r.owner_id ?? null]));
+}
+
+describe('[#22067] the seed ownership claim dispatches no metadata-bound automation (real engine)', () => {
+  it('the whole-set write: no metadata hook fires, code hooks fire per row with the flag and skipTriggers', async () => {
+    const { engine, metadataHook, codeHook } = await boot();
+    const N = 40;
+    await seed(engine, Array.from({ length: N }, (_, i) => ({
+      id: `d${i}`,
+      name: `Deal ${i}`,
+      stage: 'open',
+      owner_id: i % 2 === 0 ? null : SEED_IDENTITY,
+    })));
+
+    const result = await claimSeedOwnership(engine, ADMIN);
+
+    expect(result).toEqual([{ object: OBJECT, count: N }]);
+    const owners = await ownersOf(engine);
+    expect(owners.size).toBe(N);
+    for (const owner of owners.values()) expect(owner).toBe(ADMIN);
+
+    // ⭐ 1 — the metadata-hook filter: not one dispatch, before or after.
+    expect(metadataHook, 'a metadata-bound hook fired for the claim').toEqual([]);
+
+    // ⭐ 2 — the per-row path still runs code-registered hooks, one context per
+    // matched row and phase, so audit and sharing keep their per-row input.
+    expect(codeHook.filter((s) => s.event === 'beforeUpdate')).toHaveLength(N);
+    expect(codeHook.filter((s) => s.event === 'afterUpdate')).toHaveLength(N);
+    // ⭐ 3 — every one of those contexts carries the flag AND `skipTriggers`,
+    // the field the record-change trigger reads before dispatching a flow.
+    for (const s of codeHook) {
+      expect(s).toEqual({
+        event: s.event,
+        mode: 'per-row',
+        isSystem: true,
+        skipAutomations: true,
+        skipTriggers: true,
+      });
+    }
+
+    // Positive control, same engine, same rows: a plain system predicate write
+    // fires the metadata hook per row and phase, and carries no skip flag.
+    metadataHook.length = 0;
+    codeHook.length = 0;
+    await (engine as any).update(OBJECT, { stage: 'touched' }, {
+      where: { owner_id: ADMIN },
+      multi: true,
+      context: { isSystem: true },
+    });
+    expect(metadataHook).toHaveLength(2 * N);
+    expect(codeHook).toHaveLength(2 * N);
+    for (const s of codeHook) {
+      expect(s.skipAutomations).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(s.skipTriggers).toBeUndefined();
+    }
+  }, 120_000);
+
+  it('over the per-row hook ceiling: still refused whole under the flag, and the fallback pages to every row', async () => {
+    const { engine, metadataHook, codeHook } = await boot();
+    const N = MAX_BULK_PER_ROW_HOOK_ROWS + 500;
+    await seed(engine, Array.from({ length: N }, (_, i) => ({
+      id: `d${String(i).padStart(6, '0')}`,
+      name: `Deal ${i}`,
+      stage: 'open',
+      owner_id: null,
+    })));
+
+    // The measurement the fallback's page size rests on: with metadata hooks
+    // switched off, code-registered hooks still cover the object, so the
+    // ceiling still applies and refuses the whole write — nothing written,
+    // no hook run.
+    await expect(
+      (engine as any).update(OBJECT, { owner_id: ADMIN }, {
+        where: { owner_id: null },
+        multi: true,
+        context: { isSystem: true, skipAutomations: true },
+      }),
+    ).rejects.toMatchObject({ code: BULK_PER_ROW_HOOK_LIMIT_ERROR_CODE, limit: MAX_BULK_PER_ROW_HOOK_ROWS });
+    expect([...(await ownersOf(engine)).values()].every((o) => o === null)).toBe(true);
+    expect(codeHook).toEqual([]);
+
+    const result = await claimSeedOwnership(engine, ADMIN);
+
+    // Every row claimed, through the fallback: more than one landed write,
+    // none of them over the ceiling.
+    expect(result).toEqual([{ object: OBJECT, count: N }]);
+    const owners = await ownersOf(engine);
+    expect(owners.size).toBe(N);
+    for (const owner of owners.values()) expect(owner).toBe(ADMIN);
+    const afterDispatches = codeHook.filter((s) => s.event === 'afterUpdate');
+    expect(afterDispatches).toHaveLength(N);
+    expect(metadataHook, 'a metadata-bound hook fired on a fallback page').toEqual([]);
+    for (const s of codeHook) {
+      expect(s.skipAutomations).toBe(true);
+      expect(s.skipTriggers).toBe(true);
+    }
+
+    // Positive control on this engine too, kept under the ceiling.
+    metadataHook.length = 0;
+    await (engine as any).update(OBJECT, { stage: 'touched' }, {
+      where: { id: { $in: ['d000000', 'd000001', 'd000002'] } },
+      multi: true,
+      context: { isSystem: true },
+    });
+    expect(metadataHook).toHaveLength(6);
+  }, 180_000);
+});
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ interface RecordedWrite {
   multi: boolean;
   /** Ids this write actually re-owned, in fixture order. */
   matched: string[];
+  /** The execution context the write carried — what the engine's hook dispatch reads. */
+  context: any;
 }
 
 /** One recorded call to `ql.find` — the page request the writer issued. */
@@ -27,6 +29,8 @@ interface RecordedRead {
   where: any;
   limit: number;
   returned: number;
+  /** The execution context the read carried. */
+  context: any;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -90,11 +94,17 @@ function makeQL(
   const ceiling = opts.ceiling ?? MAX_BULK_PER_ROW_HOOK_ROWS;
   const ql: any = {
     registry: { getAllObjects: () => schemas },
-    find: vi.fn(async (object: string, query: any) => {
+    find: vi.fn(async (object: string, query: any, options?: any) => {
       const all = rowsByObject[object] ?? [];
       const hits = all.filter((r) => rowMatches(r, query?.where ?? {}));
       const page = typeof query?.limit === 'number' ? hits.slice(0, query.limit) : hits;
-      reads.push({ object, where: query?.where, limit: query?.limit, returned: page.length });
+      reads.push({
+        object,
+        where: query?.where,
+        limit: query?.limit,
+        returned: page.length,
+        context: options?.context,
+      });
       return page.map((r) => ({ id: r.id }));
     }),
     update: vi.fn(async (object: string, data: any, options: any) => {
@@ -127,6 +137,7 @@ function makeQL(
         where,
         multi: options?.multi === true,
         matched: matched.map((r) => r.id),
+        context: options?.context,
       });
       return matched.length;
     }),
@@ -512,4 +523,41 @@ describe('claimSeedOwnership', () => {
     expect(warn).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
     expect(warn.mock.calls[0][0]).toContain('those rows stay unowned');
   });
+
+  // ── [#22067] the claim's write dispatches no metadata-bound automation ────
+
+  it('every reown write — whole-set attempt and fallback page alike — runs as isSystem with skipAutomations', async () => {
+    // Re-owning a seed row is attribution, not a user event, so the write runs
+    // with metadata-bound automation off: no app hook, no record-change flow,
+    // hence no approval and no notification. Code-registered hooks (audit,
+    // sharing) still run — the real-engine half of this pin is
+    // `claim-seed-ownership-dispatch.pin.test.ts`; this half pins that EVERY
+    // write this function issues carries the flag, including the page writes
+    // a large object takes and the whole-set attempts the engine refuses.
+    //
+    // 12 000 unowned rows: over the per-row hook ceiling, so one fixture drives
+    // a refused whole-set attempt, the page writes, and the closing whole-set
+    // write that lands.
+    const schemas = [{ name: 'crm_lead', fields: [{ name: 'owner_id' }] }];
+    const rows = Array.from({ length: 12_000 }, (_, i) => ({ id: `l${i}`, owner_id: null }));
+    const { ql, writes, reads } = makeQL(schemas, { crm_lead: rows });
+
+    expect(await claimSeedOwnership(ql, ADMIN)).toEqual([{ object: 'crm_lead', count: 12_000 }]);
+
+    // Both write shapes were exercised, so the assertion below covers both.
+    expect(writes.some((w) => (w.where as any)?.id)).toBe(true);
+    expect(writes.some((w) => !(w.where as any)?.id)).toBe(true);
+    expect(reads.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+
+    // Every CALL, not only the writes that landed: a refused attempt is
+    // refused for its row count, and the context it asked with is the same.
+    const contexts = ql.update.mock.calls.map((call: any[]) => call[2]?.context);
+    expect(contexts.length).toBeGreaterThan(writes.length);
+    for (const context of contexts) {
+      expect(context).toEqual({ isSystem: true, skipAutomations: true });
+    }
+    // The page read stays a plain system read — the flag is about dispatch,
+    // and a read dispatches no write automation.
+    for (const r of reads) expect(r.context?.isSystem).toBe(true);
+  });
 });