What causes "%w: getSymbolsInScope requires a location" in microsoft/typescript-go?

Send either a location node handle obtained from a prior symbol/AST query, or both file and position together

microsoft/typescript-go · error · ErrClientError

%w: getSymbolsInScope requires a location

Error message

%w: getSymbolsInScope requires a location

What it means

getSymbolsInScope requires a location to enumerate visible symbols, and resolveLocation returned nil without error: the request carried neither a non-empty location node handle nor both file and position. Any subset (file without position, position without file, or nothing) triggers this guard.

Source

Thrown at internal/api/session.go:1615

	}

	return setup.newSymbolResponse(symbol), nil
}

// handleGetSymbolsInScope returns all symbols with the given meaning that are visible at a location.
func (s *Session) handleGetSymbolsInScope(ctx context.Context, params *GetSymbolsInScopeParams) ([]*SymbolResponse, error) {
	setup, err := s.setupChecker(ctx, params.Snapshot, params.Project)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	defer setup.done()

	location, err := setup.resolveLocation(params.Location, params.File, params.Position)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if location == nil {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: getSymbolsInScope requires a location", ErrClientError)
	}

	symbols := setup.checker.GetSymbolsInScope(location, ast.SymbolFlags(params.Meaning))
	results := make([]*SymbolResponse, len(symbols))
	for i, symbol := range symbols {
		results[i] = setup.newSymbolResponse(symbol)
	}

	return results, nil
}

// handleGetSignaturesOfType returns the call or construct signatures of a type.
func (s *Session) handleGetSignaturesOfType(ctx context.Context, params *GetSignaturesOfTypeParams) ([]*SignatureResponse, error) {
	setup, err := s.setupChecker(ctx, params.Snapshot, params.Project)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	defer setup.done()

View on GitHub (pinned to 1bcfa18d79)

Solutions

Send either a location node handle obtained from a prior symbol/AST query, or both file and position together
Validate the pair client-side: file and position must be present or absent as a unit
If you only have an offset, make sure the file identifier accompanies it

Example fix

// before
getSymbolsInScope(snap, proj, {meaning: 1}) // no location at all

// after
pos := uint32(120)
getSymbolsInScope(snap, proj, {file: &api.DocumentIdentifier{FileName: "/abs/a.ts"}, position: &pos, meaning: 1})

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Type guard

func hasScopeLocation(p *api.GetSymbolsInScopeParams) bool {
    if p == nil { return false }
    if p.Location != "" { return true }
    return p.File != nil && p.Position != nil // file and position must arrive as a pair
}

Try / catch

if err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), "requires a location") {
    // request-shape bug: add location handle or file+position, then re-send
}

Prevention

Treat file+position as one composite field; serialize both or neither
Beware omitempty zeroing position (0 is a valid offset) — use pointers as the struct does
Reuse node handles returned by earlier symbol queries as the location anchor

When it happens

Trigger: Sending params with all three optional fields (location, file, position) absent or empty; serializing pointers as null via omitempty so both sides of the file+position pair disappear; sending only file or only position.

Common situations: Client structs with omitempty on both file and position where one is zero-valued; refactors that pass a location handle from an unrelated response (empty string when unset); UI events that carry a cursor offset but no document.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/typescript-go@1bcfa18d79 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0f4585efb7e77e88. Report an issue: GitHub.