apple/pkl · error

notAType

notAType

Error message

notAType

What it means

`notAType` is thrown by ResolveDeclaredTypeNode.getImport when the import in a qualified type exists and is an import, but the referenced member inside it is a glob (star import) rather than a concrete type. Type annotations must name actual types, not glob-imported bindings.

Source

Thrown at pkl-core/src/main/java/org/pkl/core/ast/type/ResolveDeclaredTypeNode.java:66

    assert importName.isLocalProp();

    var member = module.getMember(importName);
    if (member == null) {
      throw exceptionBuilder()
          .evalError("cannotFindModuleImport", importName)
          .withSourceSection(importNameSection)
          .build();
    }

    if (!member.isImport()) {
      throw exceptionBuilder()
          .evalError("notAModuleImport", importName)
          .withSourceSection(importNameSection)
          .build();
    }

    if (member.isGlob()) {
      throw exceptionBuilder()
          .evalError("notAType", importName)
          .withSourceSection(importNameSection)
          .build();
    }

    assert member.getConstantValue() == null;
    var result = module.getCachedValue(importName);
    if (result == null) {
      result = callNode.call(member.getCallTarget(), module, module, importName);
      module.setCachedValue(importName, result);
    }
    return (VmTyped) result;
  }

  protected @Nullable Object getType(
      VmTyped module, Identifier typeName, SourceSection typeNameSection) {
    var member = module.getMember(typeName);
    if (member == null) return null;

View on GitHub (pinned to f3efcbfc9b)

Solutions

1. Import the specific module containing the type directly instead of using a glob import
2. Reference the type via the module that actually declares it as a class/typealias
3. Replace the glob import with an explicit named import

Example fix

// before
import "*" as lib
x: lib.Config
// after
import "config.pkl" as cfg
x: cfg.Config

// avoid glob imports when using qualified types
if (/^import\s+"\*"/m.test(source)) console.warn("glob import used with qualified type");

When it happens

Trigger: Using `starImport.TypeName` where the member matched through a glob (`import "*" as starImport`) is not a type/class, e.g. it's a glob binding that can't be used as a declared type.

Common situations: Using glob imports in modules with qualified type annotations; expecting a glob import member to be a class when it is a value or module-level binding.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• cannotFindModuleImport
• notAModuleImport
• cannotFindQualifiedType
• cannotResolveInLocalDependencyNotGlobbable
• cannotFindStdLibModule

AI-assisted analysis of apple/pkl@f3efcbfc9b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/83781ff73e331a73. Report an issue: GitHub.