transactions: let a gift card be a payment method you can pick

`credits` has been a valid payment_method since migration 0018, which added it
so the order pipeline could file gift-card-funded orders. It reached the
database, `needsCardMatch()` (which holds those rows out of reconciliation) and
`bankLabel()` (which renders them "Gift Card"). It never reached the two places
a human touches it.

So entering a gift-card purchase by hand was impossible: the dropdown stopped at
"Other", the row took the NULL default, and NULL is *reconcilable* — it joined
the pending queue to be offered card matches within 3 days and 1% that cannot
exist, because the balance already paid the bill. Accepting one is the
destructive case the cash exclusion documents: reconciled manual rows are
filtered out of every query, so the spend vanishes while an unrelated card row
claims to be it.

- `src/lib/payment-methods.ts` — one canonical list, mirroring the
  `statement-types.ts` pattern, plus the TS mirror of `needsCardMatch()`.
- `PATCH /api/transactions/[id]` — the `VALID_METHODS` literal omitted
  `credits`, so the API answered 400 for a value the CHECK constraint admits
  and 372 live rows already carry. It validates against the list now.
- `POST /api/transactions` — validated at all, so a bad value is a 400 naming
  the field rather than a 500 carrying a Postgres error.
- Add modal — offers every method, and explains the consequence when you pick
  one that suppresses reconciliation. Relabelled "Paid by" → "Payment method",
  which the edit modal uses for the *owner*; they are different questions.
- Edit modal — had no payment-method field at all, so an existing row wrongly
  in the queue could not be corrected. Manual rows only: the queue is
  `statement_id IS NULL`, so it decides nothing on a statement row.

The test asserts the list against `pg_get_constraintdef` and evaluates
`needsCardMatch()` as real SQL rather than re-implementing it, so the next
migration that widens the constraint fails the suite instead of drifting for
two months. Mutation-tested by dropping `credits`.

Unit 130 pass, integration 206 pass (the integration DB needed `npm run
test:setup` first — `.env.test` still named a stale container IP).

CLAUDE.md

@@ -131,21 +131,41 @@ docker exec postgres-personal psql -U personal -d personal < prisma/migrations/<
 ### Key Tables
 
 - `statements` — one row per billing period per bank account
-- `transactions` — line items; `statement_id` is nullable (NULL = manual entry); `reconciled_with_id` links a manual tx to its matched statement tx; `payment_method` (migration 0016) is `card | cash | bank_transfer | other`, NULL = unknown; `source` / `source_ref` / `source_account` (migration 0028) identify a row that came from an account feed rather than a statement or a hand entry — `source_ref` is the provider's own id and carries a partial unique index, which is the only thing making a re-import idempotent
+- `transactions` — line items; `statement_id` is nullable (NULL = manual entry); `reconciled_with_id` links a manual tx to its matched statement tx; `payment_method` (migration 0016, `credits` added by 0018) is `card | cash | bank_transfer | credits | other`, NULL = unknown, and the TypeScript mirror is `src/lib/payment-methods.ts`; `source` / `source_ref` / `source_account` (migration 0028) identify a row that came from an account feed rather than a statement or a hand entry — `source_ref` is the provider's own id and carries a partial unique index, which is the only thing making a re-import idempotent
 
 ### Cash and reconciliation
 
-`payment_method = 'cash'` excludes a transaction from reconciliation via the
+`payment_method` in (`cash`, `credits`) excludes a transaction from
-`notCash()` fragment in `queries.ts`. Cash never appears on a statement, so
+reconciliation via the `needsCardMatch()` fragment in `queries.ts` (named
+`notCash()` when it only knew about cash). Cash never appears on a statement, so
 without it a cash entry sits in the pending queue forever being offered matches
 within 3 days and 1% on amount — and accepting one is silently destructive:
 reconciled manual rows are filtered out of every query, so the cash spend
 disappears while the card transaction it matched claims to be that same spend.
 
-Only cash is excluded on payment method. Bank transfers *do* appear on a
+`credits` is the same shape for a different reason: a gift card or store balance
+already paid the bill, so no card leg is ever coming. `bankLabel()` therefore
+renders those rows **"Gift Card"** rather than "Manual" — "Manual" reads as
+"still awaiting a card line", which is wrong here.
+
+Only those two are excluded on payment method. Bank transfers *do* appear on a
 statement now that transaction accounts are imported, and NULL means unknown —
 both stay candidates, preserving the behaviour of every pre-existing row.
 
+**The vocabulary lives in three places and drifted between them (fixed
+2026-08-17).** Migration 0018 admitted `credits` to the CHECK constraint for the
+order pipeline; the `VALID_METHODS` literal in `PATCH /api/transactions/[id]`
+and the add-transaction dropdown were never updated. So the database held 372
+gift-card rows carrying a value the UI could not offer and the API answered 400
+for — a hand-entered gift-card purchase silently took the NULL default, and NULL
+*is* reconcilable, so it joined the queue to be offered matches that cannot
+exist. `src/lib/payment-methods.ts` is now the single list (mirroring
+`statement-types.ts`), and both routes validate against it.
+`src/__tests__/integration/payment-methods.test.ts` asserts it against
+`pg_get_constraintdef` and evaluates `needsCardMatch()` in real SQL, so the next
+migration that widens the constraint fails the suite instead of drifting
+quietly.
+
 **Account-feed rows are NOT excluded, and the removed exclusion is worth
 knowing about.** There was an `awaitsStatementLine()` predicate here, added with
 the Frollo importer on the premise that a feed row is the account's own ledger
@@ -1112,7 +1132,15 @@ See `README.md` → **Known Gaps / TODOs** for full details.
   drone, camera). Correct in that they are excluded from spend, but it mixes
   asset disposals into the income line alongside salary.
 - **`payment_method` is not shown in the transactions list** — settable on create
-  and edit only. Worth a column or filter if cash becomes routine.
+  and edit only. Worth a column or filter if cash becomes routine. A `credits`
+  row is at least visible indirectly: `bankLabel()` renders it "Gift Card"
+  rather than "Manual", and the bank filter has a chip for it.
+- **219 manual rows carry a NULL `payment_method`**, so they sit in the pending
+  queue being offered card matches. NULL means *unknown*, not *unreconcilable* —
+  that is deliberate — but any of them paid by gift card or cash is being
+  offered a match that cannot exist. No bulk fix, because guessing the method
+  from a description would be a guess written into a column that suppresses
+  reconciliation.
 - **Pantry receipts still land as yours.** `processReceiptIngestion` hardcodes
   `DEFAULT_OWNER_ID`; the ingest route takes no owner. Correctable per row now
   (see "Changing who paid"), but a "Paid by" step at capture time would stop the

src/__tests__/integration/payment-methods.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
+import { queryRaw, queryRow } from "../../lib/db";
+import { needsCardMatch } from "../../lib/queries";
+import {
+  PAYMENT_METHODS,
+  NON_RECONCILING,
+  reconcilesAgainstStatement,
+} from "../../lib/payment-methods";
+
+/**
+ * These two lists drifted, and the drift was silent for two months.
+ *
+ * Migration 0018 admitted 'credits' to `transactions_payment_method_check` so
+ * the order pipeline could file gift-card-funded orders. Nothing propagated it
+ * to the hand-written allowlist in `PATCH /api/transactions/[id]` or to the
+ * add-transaction dropdown, so the database held 372 rows carrying a value the
+ * UI could not enter and the API refused to set.
+ *
+ * The failure mode is invisible on screen — a gift-card purchase entered by
+ * hand takes the NULL default, and NULL is *reconcilable*, so it joins the
+ * pending queue and is offered card matches that cannot exist. Accepting one is
+ * destructive: reconciled manual rows are filtered out of every query, so the
+ * spend vanishes while an unrelated card row claims to be it.
+ *
+ * So: assert against the database, not against a second copy of the list.
+ */
+describe("payment methods mirror the database", () => {
+  it("PAYMENT_METHODS equals the CHECK constraint's vocabulary", async () => {
+    const row = await queryRow<{ def: string }>(
+      `SELECT pg_get_constraintdef(oid) AS def FROM pg_constraint
+       WHERE conname = 'transactions_payment_method_check'`
+    );
+    expect(row, "constraint transactions_payment_method_check is missing").not.toBeNull();
+
+    const inConstraint = [...row!.def.matchAll(/'([a-z_]+)'::text/g)].map((m) => m[1]);
+    expect(inConstraint.length).toBeGreaterThan(0); // guard against the regex silently matching nothing
+    expect([...inConstraint].sort()).toEqual([...PAYMENT_METHODS].sort());
+  });
+
+  it("reconcilesAgainstStatement() agrees with needsCardMatch() for every method", async () => {
+    // Evaluate the real SQL predicate rather than re-implementing it: this is
+    // the TypeScript mirror, so the SQL is the thing being mirrored.
+    const rows = await queryRaw<{ pm: string | null; sql_reconciles: boolean }>(
+      `SELECT v.payment_method AS pm, ${needsCardMatch("v")} AS sql_reconciles
+       FROM (SELECT unnest($1::text[]) AS payment_method) v`,
+      [[...PAYMENT_METHODS, null]]
+    );
+    expect(rows).toHaveLength(PAYMENT_METHODS.length + 1);
+
+    for (const { pm, sql_reconciles } of rows) {
+      expect(reconcilesAgainstStatement(pm), `payment_method = ${pm ?? "NULL"}`)
+        .toBe(sql_reconciles);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("holds cash and credits out of the queue, and nothing else", () => {
+    expect([...NON_RECONCILING].sort()).toEqual(["cash", "credits"]);
+    // NULL means *unknown*, never "no card leg is coming" — it must stay a
+    // candidate or every pre-existing row would drop out of reconciliation.
+    expect(reconcilesAgainstStatement(null)).toBe(true);
+    expect(reconcilesAgainstStatement(undefined)).toBe(true);
+  });
+});

src/app/api/transactions/[id]/route.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { getTransactionById, canAccessTransactions } from "@/lib/queries";
 import { getCurrentUser } from "@/lib/auth";
 import { prisma } from "@/lib/db";
 import { queryRaw } from "@/lib/db";
+import { isPaymentMethod } from "@/lib/payment-methods";
 
 const VALID_TYPES = ["debit", "credit", "payment", "refund", "fee", "interest", "transfer"];
 
@@ -90,9 +91,12 @@ export async function PATCH(
 
   // payment_method is a property of the transaction itself, not a user override
   // of extracted data, so it lives on the transactions table.
+  //
+  // The allowlist is PAYMENT_METHODS, not a local literal: this one omitted
+  // 'credits' from migration 0018 until 2026-08-17, so the DB admitted a
+  // gift-card row that this route then refused to set or correct.
   if (payment_method !== undefined) {
-    const VALID_METHODS = ["card", "cash", "bank_transfer", "other"];
+    if (payment_method !== null && !isPaymentMethod(payment_method)) {
-    if (payment_method !== null && !VALID_METHODS.includes(payment_method)) {
       return NextResponse.json({ error: "Invalid payment_method" }, { status: 400 });
     }
     await queryRaw(

src/app/api/transactions/route.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { getCurrentUser } from "@/lib/auth";
 import { getTransactions } from "@/lib/queries";
 import { queryRaw } from "@/lib/db";
 import { completeSplit } from "@/lib/splits";
+import { isPaymentMethod } from "@/lib/payment-methods";
 
 export async function GET(req: NextRequest) {
   const user = await getCurrentUser(req);
@@ -53,6 +54,12 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
     return NextResponse.json({ error: "date, description, amount are required" }, { status: 400 });
   }
 
+  // Validated here rather than left to the CHECK constraint, which surfaces as
+  // a 500 with a Postgres error rather than a 400 naming the field.
+  if (body.payment_method && !isPaymentMethod(body.payment_method)) {
+    return NextResponse.json({ error: "Invalid payment_method" }, { status: 400 });
+  }
+
   // Insert manual transaction with no statement (statement_id = NULL, owner_id set directly)
   const txRows = await queryRaw<{ id: number }>(
     `INSERT INTO transactions (statement_id, owner_id, transaction_date, description, amount, transaction_type, merchant_normalized, category, payment_method, row_index)

src/components/add-transaction-modal.tsx

@@ -3,6 +3,11 @@
 import { useState } from "react";
 import { useCreateTransaction, useParticipants, useTags } from "@/lib/hooks";
 import { CATEGORIES, formatCategory } from "@/lib/categories";
+import {
+  PAYMENT_METHODS,
+  PAYMENT_METHOD_LABELS,
+  NON_RECONCILING_REASON,
+} from "@/lib/payment-methods";
 
 const TRANSACTION_TYPES = ["debit", "credit", "payment", "refund", "fee", "interest", "transfer"];
 
@@ -35,7 +40,8 @@ export function AddTransactionModal({
   const [type, setType] = useState(prefill?.transaction_type ?? "debit");
   const [merchant, setMerchant] = useState(prefill?.merchant_normalized ?? "");
   const [category, setCategory] = useState(prefill?.category ?? "");
-  // Cash is excluded from reconciliation — it will never appear on a statement.
+  // Cash and gift-card credits are excluded from reconciliation — neither will
+  // ever produce a card line. See needsCardMatch() in queries.ts.
   const [paymentMethod, setPaymentMethod] = useState("");
   const [selectedTagIds, setSelectedTagIds] = useState<number[]>([]);
   const [splits, setSplits] = useState<{ participant_id: number; share_percent: number }[]>(
@@ -163,21 +169,23 @@ export function AddTransactionModal({
           </div>
 
           <div>
-            <label className="block text-xs text-zinc-500 mb-1">Paid by</label>
+            {/* "Payment method", not "Paid by" — the edit modal uses that label
+                for the owner, and they are different questions: which instrument
+                the money left by, versus whose money it was. */}
+            <label className="block text-xs text-zinc-500 mb-1">Payment method</label>
             <select
               value={paymentMethod}
               onChange={(e) => setPaymentMethod(e.target.value)}
               className="w-full bg-zinc-800 border border-zinc-700 rounded px-2 py-1.5 text-sm"
             >
               <option value="">— unknown —</option>
-              <option value="card">Card</option>
+              {PAYMENT_METHODS.map((m) => (
-              <option value="cash">Cash</option>
+                <option key={m} value={m}>{PAYMENT_METHOD_LABELS[m]}</option>
-              <option value="bank_transfer">Bank transfer</option>
+              ))}
-              <option value="other">Other</option>
             </select>
-            {paymentMethod === "cash" && (
+            {NON_RECONCILING_REASON[paymentMethod] && (
               <p className="text-[11px] text-zinc-500 mt-1">
-                Cash won&apos;t be offered for reconciliation — it never appears on a statement.
+                {NON_RECONCILING_REASON[paymentMethod]}
               </p>
             )}
           </div>

src/components/edit-transaction-modal.tsx

@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ import {
 import { SplitModal } from "./split-modal";
 import { OrderDetails } from "./order-details";
 import { CATEGORIES, formatCategory } from "@/lib/categories";
+import {
+  PAYMENT_METHODS,
+  PAYMENT_METHOD_LABELS,
+  NON_RECONCILING_REASON,
+} from "@/lib/payment-methods";
 import type { TransactionRow, TagRow } from "@/lib/queries";
 
 const TRANSACTION_TYPES = ["debit", "credit", "payment", "refund", "fee", "interest", "transfer"];
@@ -111,6 +116,9 @@ export function EditTransactionModal({
   const [date, setDate] = useState(transaction.transaction_date?.slice(0, 10) ?? "");
   const [description, setDescription] = useState(transaction.description);
   const [amount, setAmount] = useState(String(transaction.amount));
+  // Manual-only, because the reconciliation queue is `statement_id IS NULL`:
+  // this is the only place payment_method changes what happens to a row.
+  const [paymentMethod, setPaymentMethod] = useState(transaction.payment_method ?? "");
 
   const [tripId, setTripId] = useState<number | null>(transaction.trip_id ?? null);
   const [ownerId, setOwnerId] = useState<number | null>(transaction.owner_id ?? null);
@@ -153,6 +161,10 @@ export function EditTransactionModal({
           patch.description = description;
         if (parseFloat(amount) !== transaction.amount)
           patch.amount = parseFloat(amount);
+        // "" means unknown, which is NULL — not the empty string, which the
+        // CHECK constraint would reject.
+        if (paymentMethod !== (transaction.payment_method ?? ""))
+          patch.payment_method = paymentMethod || null;
       }
 
       if (tripId !== (transaction.trip_id ?? null))
@@ -307,6 +319,30 @@ export function EditTransactionModal({
               <InlineTags transactionId={transaction.id} initialTags={transaction.tags ?? []} />
             </div>
 
+            {/* Payment method — manual rows only. A statement row is already on
+                a statement, so the field decides nothing there; on a manual row
+                it decides whether reconciliation will ever offer it a match. */}
+            {isManual && (
+              <div>
+                <label className="block text-xs text-zinc-500 mb-1">Payment method</label>
+                <select
+                  value={paymentMethod}
+                  onChange={(e) => setPaymentMethod(e.target.value)}
+                  className="w-full bg-zinc-800 border border-zinc-700 rounded px-2 py-1.5 text-sm"
+                >
+                  <option value="">— unknown —</option>
+                  {PAYMENT_METHODS.map((m) => (
+                    <option key={m} value={m}>{PAYMENT_METHOD_LABELS[m]}</option>
+                  ))}
+                </select>
+                {NON_RECONCILING_REASON[paymentMethod] && (
+                  <p className="text-[11px] text-zinc-500 mt-1">
+                    {NON_RECONCILING_REASON[paymentMethod]}
+                  </p>
+                )}
+              </div>
+            )}
+
             {/* Paid by — sits next to Splits deliberately: together they are
                 whose money went out and whose share it was. */}
             <div>

src/lib/payment-methods.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// Canonical payment methods. Mirrors `transactions_payment_method_check`
+// (migration 0018, which admitted 'credits') — keep them in sync.
+//
+// This list exists because the drift already happened: the CHECK constraint
+// admitted 'credits' from 0018 onward while the PATCH route's hand-written
+// allowlist and the add-transaction dropdown both still stopped at 'other'.
+// A gift-card row could be written by the order pipeline but neither entered
+// nor corrected by hand.
+export const PAYMENT_METHODS = [
+  "card",
+  "cash",
+  "bank_transfer",
+  "credits",
+  "other",
+] as const;
+
+export type PaymentMethod = (typeof PAYMENT_METHODS)[number];
+
+export const PAYMENT_METHOD_LABELS: Record<PaymentMethod, string> = {
+  card: "Card",
+  cash: "Cash",
+  bank_transfer: "Bank transfer",
+  credits: "Gift card / credits",
+  other: "Other",
+};
+
+export function isPaymentMethod(v: string | null | undefined): v is PaymentMethod {
+  return !!v && (PAYMENT_METHODS as readonly string[]).includes(v);
+}
+
+export function formatPaymentMethod(v: string | null | undefined): string {
+  return isPaymentMethod(v) ? PAYMENT_METHOD_LABELS[v] : "Unknown";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Methods held out of the reconciliation queue. The TypeScript mirror of
+ * `needsCardMatch()` in `queries.ts` — if one changes, change both.
+ *
+ * NULL means *unknown*, not "no card leg", so it stays a candidate.
+ */
+export const NON_RECONCILING: readonly PaymentMethod[] = ["cash", "credits"];
+
+/**
+ * Why a method never reaches the queue. Shown at the point of choosing it,
+ * because the consequence is invisible afterwards: the row simply never
+ * appears in pending reconciliation, which reads identically to a bug.
+ */
+export const NON_RECONCILING_REASON: Record<string, string> = {
+  cash: "Cash won't be offered for reconciliation — it never appears on a statement.",
+  credits:
+    "A gift-card payment won't be offered for reconciliation — the balance already paid it, so no card line is coming. It shows as “Gift Card” rather than “Manual” in the bank column.",
+};
+
+export function reconcilesAgainstStatement(v: string | null | undefined): boolean {
+  return !isPaymentMethod(v) || !NON_RECONCILING.includes(v);
+}