rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

`unreachable_patterns` not emitted on macros generated by another crate's macro

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A-diagnostics A-lints A-patterns C-bug L-false-negative L-unreachable_patterns needs-triage T-compiler
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

I tried this code:

crate_a:

#[macro_export]
macro_rules! create_pats {
    () => {
        macro_rules! pat_a {
            () => {
                _
            };
        }
        macro_rules! pat_b {
            () => {
                _
            };
        }
    };
}

crate_b:

use crate_a::create_pats;

create_pats!();

#[deny(unreachable_patterns)]
fn demo(value: u8) -> i32 {
    match value {
        pat_a!() => 42,
        pat_b!() => 24,
    }
}

I expected to see this happen: unreachable_pattern error

error: unreachable pattern
  --> crate_a/src/lib.rs:11:17
   |
 6 |                 _
   |                 - matches any value
...
11 |                 _
   |                 ^ no value can reach this

  --> crate_b/src/main.rs:9:17
 9 |         pat_b!() => 24,
   |         -------- in this macro invocation
   |
note: the lint level is defined here
  --> src/main.rs:5:8
   |
 5 | #[deny(unreachable_patterns)]
   |        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   = note: this error originates in the macro `pat_b` (in Nightly builds, run with -Z macro-backtrace for more info)

Instead, this happened: successful compilation

When the create_pats! macro is defined in crate_b, the lint is emitted as expected.

Meta

rustc --version --verbose:

rustc 1.98.0-nightly (b30f3df3b 2026-06-11)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: b30f3df3ba3c4c9de2f58f1a75dd9500b79b3f8d
commit-date: 2026-06-11
host: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
release: 1.98.0-nightly
LLVM version: 22.1.6

@rustbot label +A-diagnostics +A-lints +A-patterns +L-unreachable_patterns +T-compiler +L-false-negative

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 by reproducing the two-crate example using crate_a/src/lib.rs and crate_b/src/main.rs, then compare it with the case where create_pats! is defined in crate_b. Trace how the unreachable_patterns lint is handled for macros generated across crates. Done means the pat_b!() arm is diagnosed as unreachable when the lint is denied.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
50/100

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