python / python/mypy

False negative: `typing.Literal[<Union expression>]`

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bug semantic-analyzer topic-literal-types topic-runtime-semantics
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug Report, To Reproduce, & Actual Behaviour

See mypy playground

from typing import Literal

a: Literal[1 | None]
reveal_type(a)
note: Revealed type is "Union[Literal[1], None]"
Success: no issues found in 1 source file

For the runtime counterpart, this will result in a TypeError: unsupported operand type(s) for |: 'int' and 'NoneType' if the module doesn't have from __future__ import annotations or invalid results for runtime annotation inspectors (e.g. in the case of typing.Literal[1 | 2]).

Expected Behavior

Maybe:

error: Invalid type: Literal[...] cannot contain arbitrary expressions  [valid-type]
note: Revealed type is "Any"

Your Environment

  • Mypy version used: 1.10
  • Mypy command-line flags: None
  • Mypy configuration options from mypy.ini (and other config files): None
  • Python version used: 3.10 & 3.12

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 example in the linked mypy playground with Python 3.10 or 3.12 and the shown Literal[1 | None] annotation. Trace how mypy handles Literal arguments and compare the result with the proposed invalid-type diagnostic and Any reveal; done means arbitrary union expressions are rejected consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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