microsoft / microsoft/language-server-protocol

Support looking up types by (approximate) name instead of just position

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#1,033 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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feature-request symbol search
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Through discussion here I learned that the protocol doesn't support looking up things by name. Previously using tagging programs it was quite easy for me to fuzzy search for a class name in my code base. Now if I want to look at the definition of something even if I know its exact name I have to insert a reference to it into my current source file in order to be able to look it up. Ideally you could query a name and get back a list of possibilities, enabling editors to have features like narrowing down what class you mean as you type.

Contributor guide

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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 with the issue description and the linked Emacs Stack Exchange discussion to understand the requested name-based lookup workflow. Define what the language server protocol would need to specify for approximate-name queries and lists of possible results; done means the protocol change and its expected responses are agreed and documented.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
api, developer-experience, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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