Generate better error message for incompatible **kwargs
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Description
This output is from #8772:
$ mypy test.py
test.py:6: error: Argument 2 to "dumps" has incompatible type "**Dict[str, int]"; expected "bool"
test.py:6: error: Argument 2 to "dumps" has incompatible type "**Dict[str, int]"; expected "Optional[Type[JSONEncoder]]"
test.py:6: error: Argument 2 to "dumps" has incompatible type "**Dict[str, int]"; expected "Optional[Tuple[str, str]]"
test.py:6: error: Argument 2 to "dumps" has incompatible type "**Dict[str, int]"; expected "Optional[Callable[[Any], Any]]"
Found 4 errors in 1 file (checked 1 source file)
The error messages are pretty confusing. We should special case this and produce a customized error message that explains the situation better.
Here's the code that triggers the errors:
import json
json_kwargs = dict(indent=2)
json.dumps({}, **json_kwargs)
Some ideas about what to do:
- Generate a single error message instead of multiple ones.
- Add a note suggesting the use of
Dict[str, Any]or a TypedDict type for the**kwargsargument. - Maybe also explain that mypy matches the value type against all arguments, or add a link to documentation (add something to common issues, for example).
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 reproducing the example in test.py with json.dumps and compare it with the output from #8772. Trace the existing **kwargs error reporting, then make the result a single clear diagnostic with guidance about Dict[str, Any] or TypedDict and verify the confusing repeated errors are gone.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- devtools
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100