PowerShell / PowerShell/PSScriptAnalyzer

PSUseOutputTypeCorrectly complains "... type is not declared in the OutputType attribute" even though it is

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Area - Rules Issue - Bug
Dominant language
C#
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Steps to reproduce

PSScriptAnalyzer is complaining about a missing OutputType attribute, even though I did set it correctly.
See PSScriptAnalyzer CI comment under my commits: https://github.com/jantari/LSUClient/commit/a6c2fcc1622aa221d0be73debb4a97baea7b36b5

Easiest way to reproduce is test with my exact file:

mkdir test-pssa
curl.exe "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jantari/LSUClient/develop/public/Install-LSUpdate.ps1" -o .\test-pssa\Install-LSUpdate.ps1
Import-Module PSScriptAnalyzer -RequiredVersion 1.20.0 # Latest
Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer -Path .\test-pssa -ExcludeRule PSAvoidTrailingWhitespace -Recurse -Verbose

Expected behavior

PSScriptAnalyzer should have no complaints.

Actual behavior

RuleName                            Severity     ScriptName Line  Message
--------                            --------     ---------- ----  -------
PSUseOutputTypeCorrectly            Information  Install-LS 93    The cmdlet 'Install-LSUpdate' returns an object of type
                                                 Update.ps1       'PackageInstallResult' but this type is not declared in the
                                                                  OutputType attribute.
PSUseOutputTypeCorrectly            Information  Install-LS 125   The cmdlet 'Install-LSUpdate' returns an object of type
                                                 Update.ps1       'PackageInstallResult' but this type is not declared in the
                                                                  OutputType attribute.

Environment data

Issue is reproducible under both:

> $PSVersionTable
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      7.2.1
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    7.2.1
OS                             Microsoft Windows 10.0.22538
Platform                       Win32NT
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0…}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0

> (Get-Module -ListAvailable PSScriptAnalyzer).Version | ForEach-Object { $_.ToString() }
1.20.0
1.19.1

and:

> $PSVersionTable
Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      5.1.22538.1000
PSEdition                      Desktop
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
BuildVersion                   10.0.22538.1000
CLRVersion                     4.0.30319.42000
WSManStackVersion              3.0
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1

> (Get-Module -ListAvailable PSScriptAnalyzer).Version | ForEach-Object { $_.ToString() }
1.19.0
1.20.0
1.19.1

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the report with Install-LSUpdate.ps1 from the linked reproduction and Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer using PSScriptAnalyzer 1.20.0. Investigate the PSUseOutputTypeCorrectly rule and compare its inferred PackageInstallResult output with the declared OutputType; done means the false-positive diagnostics at lines 93 and 125 no longer appear while valid warnings remain detected.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
powershell
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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