Key/Value Fields Not Updating Properly

[bradkwadsworth-mw]

What problem are you facing?

When removing key/value fields, the desired manifest is not updated.
object resource:

apiVersion: kubernetes.crossplane.io/v1alpha2
kind: Object
metadata:
  annotations:
    crossplane.io/external-create-pending: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
    crossplane.io/external-create-succeeded: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
    crossplane.io/external-name: sample-namespace
    kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: |
      {"apiVersion":"kubernetes.crossplane.io/v1alpha2","kind":"Object","metadata":{"annotations":{"uptest.upbound.io/timeout":"60"},"name":"sample-namespace"},"spec":{"forProvider":{"manifest":{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Namespace","metadata":{"labels":{"example":"true"}}}},"providerConfigRef":{"name":"kubernetes-provider"}}}
    uptest.upbound.io/timeout: "60"
  creationTimestamp: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
  finalizers:
  - finalizer.managedresource.crossplane.io
  generation: 3
  name: sample-namespace
  resourceVersion: "30070"
  uid: 745a73ee-9447-47f7-b3c8-0105fcc2e3b4
spec:
  deletionPolicy: Delete
  forProvider:
    manifest:
      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Namespace
      metadata:
        labels:
          example: "true"
          foo: bar
  managementPolicies:
  - '*'
  providerConfigRef:
    name: kubernetes-provider
  readiness:
    policy: SuccessfulCreate
  watch: false

created resource:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  annotations:
    kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: '{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Namespace","metadata":{"labels":{"example":"true","foo":"bar"}}}'
  creationTimestamp: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
  labels:
    example: "true"
    foo: bar
    kubernetes.io/metadata.name: sample-namespace
  name: sample-namespace
  resourceVersion: "31736"
  uid: 7174f6ef-af55-4ae2-bc81-0f6fef75384b
spec:
  finalizers:
  - kubernetes

object resource (removed label):

apiVersion: kubernetes.crossplane.io/v1alpha2
kind: Object
metadata:
  annotations:
    crossplane.io/external-create-pending: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
    crossplane.io/external-create-succeeded: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
    crossplane.io/external-name: sample-namespace
    kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: |
      {"apiVersion":"kubernetes.crossplane.io/v1alpha2","kind":"Object","metadata":{"annotations":{"uptest.upbound.io/timeout":"60"},"name":"sample-namespace"},"spec":{"forProvider":{"manifest":{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Namespace","metadata":{"labels":{"example":"true"}}}},"providerConfigRef":{"name":"kubernetes-provider"}}}
    uptest.upbound.io/timeout: "60"
  creationTimestamp: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
  finalizers:
  - finalizer.managedresource.crossplane.io
  generation: 3
  name: sample-namespace
  resourceVersion: "30070"
  uid: 745a73ee-9447-47f7-b3c8-0105fcc2e3b4
spec:
  deletionPolicy: Delete
  forProvider:
    manifest:
      apiVersion: v1
      kind: Namespace
      metadata:
        labels:
          example: "true"
          #foo: bar # disabled label
  managementPolicies:
  - '*'
  providerConfigRef:
    name: kubernetes-provider
  readiness:
    policy: SuccessfulCreate
  watch: false

created resource (label still exists):

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  annotations:
    kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration: '{"apiVersion":"v1","kind":"Namespace","metadata":{"labels":{"example":"true"}}}'
  creationTimestamp: "2024-05-14T03:06:56Z"
  labels:
    example: "true"
    foo: bar
    kubernetes.io/metadata.name: sample-namespace
  name: sample-namespace
  resourceVersion: "32026"
  uid: 7174f6ef-af55-4ae2-bc81-0f6fef75384b
spec:
  finalizers:
  - kubernetes

How could Crossplane help solve your problem?

When removing key/value fields such as labels, the field should also be removed in the created resource.

[ktg0000]

We encountered this issue too. Why is it an enhancement and not a bug? If you manually create the resource without the provider, it actually removes/modifies the fields.
If a field is object type* - or array I assume - and you modify the key/value pair, it keeps adding new fields without removing the old ones. I haven't tested this with array, that's why it's an assumption.
If something is optional, that also won't get removed.

*E.g. of what I mean:

...
                exampleKey:
                  type: object
                  additionalProperties:
                    type: string
...

It would be nice if you could fix this issue.

Also, it is pretty similar to this issue - or we can say it's the same: #114