Plugging a contravariant Typevar into an invariant generic can make mypy miss problems
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Description
Bug Report
In the code below, plugging the contravariant TypeVar T_contra into the invariant slot in generic Data makes mypy forget about the contravariance and the error "Cannot use a contravariant type variable as return type" is not generated. The code fails at runtime.
To Reproduce
from typing import Generic, TypeVar, Type
T = TypeVar('T')
T_contra = TypeVar('T_contra', contravariant=True)
class Data(Generic[T]):
d: T
class Test(Generic[T_contra]):
def __init__(self, some_type: Type[T_contra]) -> None:
self._type = some_type
def f(self) -> Data[T_contra]:
result = Data[T_contra]()
result.d = self._type()
return result
t: Test[str] = Test[object](object)
assert isinstance(t.f(), str)
Expected Behavior
Report a similar error as when I try to return T_contra instead of Data[T_contra] ("Cannot use a contravariant type variable as return type")
Actual Behavior
The code passes type checking, but fails at runtime.
Your Environment
- Mypy version used: 0.991
- Mypy command-line flags: no extra flags
- Mypy configuration options from
mypy.ini(and other config files): no configuration file - Python version used: 3.8.16
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by running the provided Python reproduction with mypy and compare it with the direct contravariant-TypeVar return case described in the report. No repository file or test is named; done means adding coverage and producing a diagnostic for the Data[T_contra] return, without allowing valid invariant generic uses to regress.
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Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 38/100