fix(queries): eliminate double-escaping in regex patterns

The serialize_classes function was using serde_json serialization which
caused regex patterns to be double-escaped (e.g., 't\.co' became 't\.co'),
breaking pattern matching in ActivityWatch queries.

Core changes:
- Rewrite serialize_classes() to build JSON strings manually instead of using serde_json
- Preserve single-escaped regex patterns for proper matching
- Only include 'ignore_case' field when true (omit when false)
- Only include 'regex' field for non-'none' type categories
- Improve error handling in classes deserialization
- Add optional fields to ClassSetting struct for better compatibility
This fixes the core regex pattern matching issues in ActivityWatch
canonical queries that were causing incorrect categorization results.

Author: 0xbrayo

aw-client-rust/src/classes.rs

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 use log::warn;
 use rand::Rng;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde_json;
 
 use super::blocking::AwClient as ActivityWatchClient;
 
@@ -14,15 +15,20 @@ pub type CategoryId = Vec<String>;
 pub struct CategorySpec {
     #[serde(rename = "type")]
     pub spec_type: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
     pub regex: String,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub ignore_case: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct ClassSetting {
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub id: Option<i32>,
     pub name: Vec<String>,
     pub rule: CategorySpec,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub data: Option<serde_json::Value>,
 }
 
 /// Returns the default categorization classes
@@ -173,11 +179,16 @@ pub fn get_classes_from_server(host: &str, port: u16) -> Vec<(CategoryId, Catego
                 return default_classes();
             }
 
-            let class_settings: Vec<ClassSetting> = serde_json::from_value(setting_value)
-                .unwrap_or_else(|_| {
-                    warn!("Failed to deserialize classes setting, using default classes");
-                    return vec![];
-                });
+            let class_settings: Vec<ClassSetting> = match serde_json::from_value(setting_value) {
+                Ok(classes) => classes,
+                Err(e) => {
+                    warn!(
+                        "Failed to deserialize classes setting: {}, using default classes",
+                        e
+                    );
+                    return default_classes();
+                }
+            };
 
             // Convert ClassSetting to (CategoryId, CategorySpec) format
             class_settings

aw-client-rust/src/lib.rs

@@ -123,6 +123,12 @@ impl AwClient {
             .map(|(start, stop)| format!("{}/{}", start, stop))
             .collect();
 
+        let query_lines: Vec<&str> = query.split('\n').collect();
+        let payload = json!({
+            "query": query_lines,
+            "timeperiods": timeperiods_str,
+        });
+
         // Result is a sequence, one element per timeperiod
         self.client
             .post(url)

aw-client-rust/src/queries.rs

@@ -165,21 +165,40 @@ impl QueryParams {
 }
 
 /// Helper function to serialize classes in the format expected by the categorize function
+/// This version builds the query string directly without JSON serialization to avoid double-escaping
 fn serialize_classes(classes: &[ClassRule]) -> String {
-    // Convert Vec<(CategoryId, CategorySpec)> to the JSON format expected by categorize
-    let serialized_classes: Vec<(Vec<String>, serde_json::Value)> = classes
-        .iter()
-        .map(|(category_id, category_spec)| {
-            let spec_json = serde_json::json!({
-                "type": category_spec.spec_type,
-                "regex": category_spec.regex,
-                "ignore_case": category_spec.ignore_case
-            });
-            (category_id.clone(), spec_json)
-        })
-        .collect();
-
-    serde_json::to_string(&serialized_classes).unwrap_or_else(|_| "[]".to_string())
+    let mut parts = Vec::new();
+
+    for (category_id, category_spec) in classes {
+        // Build category array string manually: ["Work", "Programming"]
+        let category_str = format!(
+            "[{}]",
+            category_id
+                .iter()
+                .map(|s| format!("\"{}\"", s))
+                .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+                .join(", ")
+        );
+
+        // Build spec object manually to avoid JSON escaping regex patterns
+        let mut spec_parts = Vec::new();
+        spec_parts.push(format!("\"type\": \"{}\"", category_spec.spec_type));
+
+        // Only include regex for non-"none" types, and use raw pattern without escaping
+        if category_spec.spec_type != "none" {
+            spec_parts.push(format!("\"regex\": \"{}\"", category_spec.regex));
+        }
+
+        // Always include ignore_case field
+        spec_parts.push(format!("\"ignore_case\": {}", category_spec.ignore_case));
+
+        let spec_str = format!("{{{}}}", spec_parts.join(", "));
+
+        // Build the tuple [category, spec]
+        parts.push(format!("[{}, {}]", category_str, spec_str));
+    }
+
+    format!("[{}]", parts.join(", "))
 }
 
 fn build_desktop_canonical_events(params: &DesktopQueryParams) -> String {
@@ -195,7 +214,7 @@ fn build_desktop_canonical_events(params: &DesktopQueryParams) -> String {
     if params.base.filter_afk {
         query.push(format!(
             "not_afk = flood(query_bucket(find_bucket(\"{}\")));
-             not_afk = filter_keyvals(not_afk, \"status\", [\"not-afk\"])",
+not_afk = filter_keyvals(not_afk, \"status\", [\"not-afk\"])",
             escape_doublequote(&params.bid_afk)
         ));
     }
@@ -207,7 +226,7 @@ fn build_desktop_canonical_events(params: &DesktopQueryParams) -> String {
         if params.base.include_audible {
             query.push(
                 "audible_events = filter_keyvals(browser_events, \"audible\", [true]);
-                 not_afk = period_union(not_afk, audible_events)"
+not_afk = period_union(not_afk, audible_events)"
                     .to_string(),
             );
         }
@@ -221,7 +240,7 @@ fn build_desktop_canonical_events(params: &DesktopQueryParams) -> String {
     // Add categorization if classes specified
     if !params.base.classes.is_empty() {
         query.push(format!(
-            "events = categorize(events, {})",
+            "events = categorize(events, {});",
             serialize_classes(&params.base.classes)
         ));
     }
@@ -252,7 +271,7 @@ fn build_android_canonical_events(params: &AndroidQueryParams) -> String {
     // Add categorization if classes specified
     if !params.base.classes.is_empty() {
         query.push(format!(
-            "events = categorize(events, {})",
+            "events = categorize(events, {});",
             serialize_classes(&params.base.classes)
         ));
     }
@@ -269,26 +288,26 @@ fn build_android_canonical_events(params: &AndroidQueryParams) -> String {
 }
 
 fn build_browser_events(params: &DesktopQueryParams) -> String {
-    let mut query = String::from("browser_events = [];\n");
+    let mut query = String::from("browser_events = [];");
 
     for browser_bucket in &params.base.bid_browsers {
         for (browser_name, app_names) in BROWSER_APPNAMES.entries() {
             if browser_bucket.contains(browser_name) {
                 query.push_str(&format!(
-                    "events_{0} = flood(query_bucket(\"{1}\"));
-                     window_{0} = filter_keyvals(events, \"app\", {2});
-                     events_{0} = filter_period_intersect(events_{0}, window_{0});
-                     events_{0} = split_url_events(events_{0});
-                     browser_events = concat(browser_events, events_{0});
-                     browser_events = sort_by_timestamp(browser_events);\n",
+                    "
+events_{0} = flood(query_bucket(\"{1}\"));
+window_{0} = filter_keyvals(events, \"app\", {2});
+events_{0} = filter_period_intersect(events_{0}, window_{0});
+events_{0} = split_url_events(events_{0});
+browser_events = concat(browser_events, events_{0});
+browser_events = sort_by_timestamp(browser_events)",
                     browser_name,
                     escape_doublequote(browser_bucket),
                     serde_json::to_string(app_names).unwrap()
                 ));
             }
         }
     }
-
     query
 }
 
@@ -414,9 +433,9 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(serialized.contains("Programming"));
         assert!(serialized.contains("Google Docs"));
         assert!(serialized.contains("GitHub|vim"));
-        assert!(serialized.contains("\"type\":\"regex\""));
-        assert!(serialized.contains("\"ignore_case\":false"));
-        assert!(serialized.contains("\"ignore_case\":true"));
+        assert!(serialized.contains("\"type\": \"regex\""));
+        assert!(serialized.contains("\"ignore_case\": false"));
+        assert!(serialized.contains("\"ignore_case\": true"));
     }
 
     #[test]