python / python/mypy

`NamedTuple` parametrized with a `ParamSpec` can't be used as an annotation

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bug topic-named-tuple topic-paramspec
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Python
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Description

Bug Report

NamedTuple parametrized with a ParamSpec can't be used as an annotation.

It's probably easiest to look at my repro to see what I mean.

I know that generic support for NamedTuple is new-ish as of 3.11, but I couldn't find any documentation that says ParamSpec is somehow still unsupported.

To Reproduce

from collections.abc import Callable
from typing import NamedTuple


class T[**P](NamedTuple):
    plugin: Callable[P, int]


def f[**P](a: T[P]) -> None:
    pass

I note that if I change T from a NamedTuple to a dataclass, there's no error.

Expected Behavior

$ mypy t.py                     
Success: no issues found in 1 source file

Actual Behavior

$ mypy t.py
t.py:9: error: Invalid location for ParamSpec "P"  [valid-type]
t.py:9: note: You can use ParamSpec as the first argument to Callable, e.g., "Callable[P, int]"
Found 1 error in 1 file (checked 1 source file)

The error is referring to the T[P] annotation.

Your Environment

  • Mypy version used: mypy 1.17.1 (compiled: yes)
  • Mypy command-line flags: mypy
  • Mypy configuration options from mypy.ini (and other config files): none
  • Python version used: Python 3.13.5

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 running the supplied Python 3.13.5 reproducer with mypy 1.17.1 and inspect how the type checker validates the T[P] annotation for a generic NamedTuple. Done means the example reports no issues, while the existing invalid ParamSpec cases remain diagnosed and a regression test covers this behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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