oxc-project/oxc · warning · OxcDiagnostic

Expected Symbol to have a description.

Error message

Expected Symbol to have a description.

What it means

oxlint `eslint/symbol-description`: `Symbol()` was invoked without a description argument. `symbol_description_diagnostic` (symbol_description.rs:12) reports 'Expected Symbol to have a description.' with help 'Pass a description argument to the Symbol()'. Descriptions show up in `Symbol.prototype.toString`/`description` and are the only way to tell two otherwise-anonymous symbols apart while debugging.

Source

Thrown at crates/oxc_linter/src/rules/eslint/symbol_description.rs:12

use oxc_ast::AstKind;
use oxc_diagnostics::OxcDiagnostic;
use oxc_macros::declare_oxc_lint;
use oxc_span::Span;

use crate::{AstNode, context::LintContext, rule::Rule};

#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone)]
pub struct SymbolDescription;

fn symbol_description_diagnostic(span: Span) -> OxcDiagnostic {
    OxcDiagnostic::warn("Expected Symbol to have a description.")
        .with_help("Pass a description argument to the Symbol()")
        .with_label(span)
}

declare_oxc_lint!(
    /// ### What it does
    ///
    /// Require symbol descriptions.
    ///
    /// ### Why is this bad?
    ///
    /// The Symbol function may have an optional description.
    ///
    /// ```js
    /// var foo = Symbol("some description");
    ///
    /// var someString = "some description";
    /// var bar = Symbol(someString);

View on GitHub (pinned to e1e7af627c)

Solutions

1. Pass a descriptive string: `Symbol()` becomes `Symbol('user.id')`.
2. For well-known symbols (`Symbol.iterator` etc.) nothing is needed — the rule only flags constructor calls with no arguments.
3. Keep descriptions stable and meaningful; they aid stack traces and `console.log` output but do not affect identity.

Example fix

// before
const EVENT_FIRED = Symbol();

// after
const EVENT_FIRED = Symbol('event.fired');

# flag description-less symbols
rg -n --pcre2 '\bnew\s+Symbol\(\s*\)|(?<!\.)Symbol\(\s*\)' src/

When it happens

Trigger: `const s = Symbol();` or `const s = new Symbol();` — a call to the global `Symbol` with an empty argument list (an explicit `undefined` argument defeats the purpose and is equally undescriptive).

Common situations: Registry/constant symbols created quickly without labels; tutorial code copied verbatim; symbols used as object keys where debugging later requires knowing which symbol is which.

Related errors

• Empty array binding pattern
• Empty object binding pattern
• `alert`, `confirm` and `prompt` functions are not allowed
• `debugger` statement is not allowed
• Redundant Boolean call

AI-assisted analysis of oxc-project/oxc@e1e7af627c (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f90ff87da8ba904d. Report an issue: GitHub.