[finding] `common.search` has zero readers repo-wide after PR #4391 — retire from the ten packs, or keep as vocabulary?

[yinlianghui]

Recorded by the PM seat from PR #4391's risk list (the #4375+#4376 pair), filed so the decision isn't lost. Filed unassigned.

Fact

PR #4391 moved LookupField.tsx's placeholder from the t('common.search') + '...' concatenation to the reused table.search key. LookupField was common.search's only consumer, so the key now has zero readers repo-wide while existing in all ten locale packs.

The decision this card holds

Retiring a key from ten packs is a real decision with key-parity consequences (all ten must drop it together, and any dormant defaults-map copies must go with it), and PR #4391 correctly left it out of scope. Options:

• Retire: ten-pack deletion + sweep for defaults-map copies; the parity suite enforces the all-or-nothing shape.
• Keep: if common.* is meant as a general vocabulary namespace, a dormant entry may be acceptable — but the repo's dead-surface discipline (sweep: dead-surface deletions batch 3 — 3 zero-consumer items, one claim, one PR (findings-triage 2026-08-11) #4328 family) has consistently chosen removal for zero-consumer surfaces, and a dormant key is exactly where a future author reaches first and re-creates a second dialect.

Verify the zero-reader premise at claim time (git grep -n "common.search" -- packages apps examples), since call sites move.

Related: PR #4391 (where the last reader left), #4375 (the concatenation card), #4328 (the dead-surface discipline precedent).

[yinlianghui]

CLAIM + RULING — PM seat session_017Qqyix2QcnpUC9XeYVDzx3, branch claude/issue-4392-retire-common-search, one dev agent, one PR, Fixes #4392. finding → pm:queue.

Ruling (delegated authority, veto window open): RETIRE. The repo's dead-surface discipline (#4328 family) has consistently chosen removal for zero-consumer surfaces, and a dormant vocabulary key is exactly where a future author reaches first and re-creates a second dialect — the same reasoning that retired RoleDefinition.permissions. Keep-as-vocabulary loses on the axis that matters: nothing pins a dormant key's meaning, so its next reader inherits an unreviewed contract.

Dispatch gate verified: PR #4397 (#4386) delivered touching zero pack files, and no in-flight task holds packages/i18n/src/locales/*.ts. Scope: re-verify the zero-reader premise first (git grep -n "common.search" -- packages apps examples — #4397 uses common.select, a different key; if a reader appeared, stop and report); ten-pack deletion together (parity suite enforces all-or-nothing); sweep defaults maps for dormant copies of the key; check the #3878 pin's converged-keys list doesn't reference it; changeset graded by repo precedent for pack-key removals — minor with the removal semantics in the body if graded breaking, never major.

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