Skip to content

[Feature]: Support ACLRule‑attached remarks (sharing sequence) #283

@pheus

Description

@pheus

NetBox version

v4.4.1

Feature type

Change to existing model

Proposed functionality

Summary
Enable attached remarks on existing permit/deny ACLRules using the already‑present remark field. When a remark is set on a rule, render it adjacent to that rule and treat it as documentation for the same sequence/index (e.g., Cisco IOS‑XE style output). This can be delivered without schema changes.

Behavior & UI/UX

  • Allow setting remark on permit/deny ACLRules (in forms, API, and bulk edits).
  • In tables and rendered views, display an ACLRule’s attached remark immediately above the rule and visually associate it with the rule’s index (sequence).

Minimal implementation (no schema changes)

  • Use the existing remark text field on the same ACLRule row.
  • Keep current uniqueness on index intact; since the remark is stored on the same row, no duplicate index entries are introduced.

Optional enhancement (only if standalone remark rows must share an index with a rule)
Add a conditional uniqueness constraint so a standalone remark row may share the same index as a permit/deny rule while still preventing duplicate permit/deny indices. (Uses current field names.)

from django.db.models import Q

models.UniqueConstraint(
    fields=["access_list", "index"],
    condition=Q(action__in=["permit", "deny"]),
    name="uniq_aclrule_index_for_real_rules",
)

Testing

  • Rendering tests: attached remark appears adjacent to the rule and uses the same displayed sequence/index.

Use case

  • Mirrors common operational practice (e.g., IOS‑XE) where a comment is tied to the exact rule it documents- improving readability, reviews, and audits - without consuming an extra sequence number.
  • Keeps the data model stable; primarily a UX/serializer improvement.

External dependencies

  • None

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    enhancementNew feature or request

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions