microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript
Add support for `@file` jsdoc tag to describe a module
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Description
### 🔍 Search Terms
`fileoverview`
### ✅ Viability Checklist
- [x] This wouldn't be a breaking change in existing TypeScript/JavaScript code
- [x] This wouldn't change the runtime behavior of existing JavaScript code
- [x] This could be implemented without emitting different JS based on the types of the expressions
- [x] This isn't a runtime feature (e.g. library functionality, non-ECMAScript syntax with JavaScript output, new syntax sugar for JS, etc.)
- [x] This isn't a request to add a new utility type: https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/wiki/No-New-Utility-Types
- [x] This feature would agree with the rest of our Design Goals: https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript/wiki/TypeScript-Design-Goals
### ⭐ Suggestion
JSDoc supports the [`@file`](https://jsdoc.app/tags-file) tag to document a file (module). Synonyms are `@fileoverview` and `@overview`.
Currently TypeScript allows you to document a module like this:
```ts
/**
* This comment describes `some-module`.
*/
declare module 'some-module' {
/**
* This comment describes `fn`.
*/
export function fn(): unknown;
}
```
This description shows up when you hover over an import of `some-module`.
However, it’s generally considered more idiomatic avoid `declare module`:
```ts
/**
* This comment describes `fn`.
*/
export function fn(): unknown;
```
In this case, there’s not way to describe the module.
I believe the `@file` tag provides a perfect way to describe a module. So the following code would be equivalent to the original example above.
```ts
/**
* @file
* This comment describes `some-module`.
*/
/**
* This comment describes `fn`.
*/
export function fn(): unknown;
```
I noticed that current module descriptions show up on hover, but not in autocomplete. I believe it would be nice to add support for that too.
### 📃 Motivating Example
TypeScript now supports the [`@file`](https://jsdoc.app/tags-file) tag to describe a module.
### 💻 Use Cases
1. What do you want to use this for?
I would describe modules. It would be nice to generate documentation from source as well.
2. What shortcomings exist with current approaches?
It can’t be done without `declare module`.
3. What workarounds are you using in the meantime?
I don’t document modules.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by tracing how existing module descriptions are collected and surfaced in hover, then inspect the JSDoc processing and autocomplete paths. Determine how the @file, @fileoverview, and @overview tags should identify a module without declare module. Done means module descriptions work for the shown export pattern and appear consistently in hover and autocomplete.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- javascript, typescript
- Domain
- developer-experience, documentation
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 52/100