microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript

Inconsistencies in assignability rules around top-level-like signatures

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Description

### 🔎 Search Terms

assignability any never signature

### 🕗 Version & Regression Information

- This is the behavior in every version I tried

### ⏯ Playground Link

https://www.typescriptlang.org/play/?ts=6.0.0-dev.20251030#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-aqEcfuS8c4SNSpBVWqB2p1wIyWMyjQwACwjaMTGUC+WKrATP7iv7qcw8+CJVhCIvcvml4VjCsrAyqgDelutACJNoOANygAC+o8YQA

### 💻 Code

```ts
// source assignable to the target
const target1: (...args: any) => any = (...args: never) => 'foo'

// same source, but target now has *identical* return type as the source and all of a sudden it fails
const target2: (...args: any) => 'foo' = (...args: never) => 'foo'

// similar issue, target has the same return as in `target1` (any) but this time both source and target have **identical** extra leading parameter and it fails
const target3: (arg: unknown, ...args: any) => any = (arg: unknown, ...args: never) => 'foo'

// similar issue, target has the same return as in `target1` (any) but this time both source and target have **identical** `this` parameter and it fails
const target4: (this: unknown, ...args: any) => any = function (this: unknown, ...args: never) { return "foo"; };
```

### 🙁 Actual behavior

Assignability rules behave weirdly/inconsistently in those simple examples

### 🙂 Expected behavior

I'd expect more consistent results

### Additional information about the issue

relates to https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/issues/55667 - the fact examples 2-4 error is the reason why that issue exists

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

Reproduce the four assignments in the linked TypeScript Playground and compare their assignability results, including the related issue #55667. No source file or test is named, and the expected consistent rule is not specified; progress requires deciding which outcomes are correct before identifying the checker entry point and adding focused coverage.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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