Fabricated Symbols

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name: fabricated-symbols description: Code calls functions, classes, or methods that don't exist — either on project types or on third-party library APIs. emoji: 👻 metadata: clawdis: os: [macos, linux, windows]

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fabricated-symbols

The agent invokes a symbol that isn't defined. Most often this is a plausible-looking method on a third-party object, or a utility "I'm sure we have one of those" that the project actually lacks.

Symptoms

Generated code calls someLibrary.convenientHelper(...) where the library has no such method.

Invented method signatures on framework objects (wrong argument order, wrong return type).

References to utility functions the project doesn't have.

Runtime AttributeError / TypeError: X is not a function / undefined is not a function.

What to do

For every symbol you invoke on a third-party library, check the library's real API — docs, source, or type definitions — before writing code.

For every symbol you invoke on a project type, grep the codebase to confirm it exists. Don't assume.

If a helper is missing, either add it explicitly (and say you're adding it) or use what the project actually has.

Prefer the library's documented API over clever-looking shortcuts. Invented methods often look like what the library "should" have.

When refactoring, run the type-checker after every meaningful change. Invented methods sometimes type-check against any but fail at runtime.