- 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]
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
anybut fail at runtime.