- name
- partial-implementation
- description
- Code returned as "done" is actually a stub — a placeholder body, a TODO comment, or a function that claims completion without real logic.
- emoji
- 🚧
- metadata
- clawdis
- os
- [macos, linux, windows]
partial-implementation
A function or module is declared complete, but the body is a stub. The most common form is a function with pass, return None, throw NotImplementedError, or a single TODO: comment in place of real logic.
Symptoms
- Function signature exists but the body contains only a comment,
pass,return,throw new Error("not implemented"), or similar. - Placeholder values returned (
return 0,return {},return null) where real computation was requested. - Tests pass only because the test is also a stub, or because the function always returns the fixture value.
- The agent claims a change is "complete" or "implemented" but no meaningful lines of logic were added.
What to do
- Before declaring a task done, re-read every function you added or modified. If the body is a placeholder, the task is not done.
- Search the diff for
TODO,FIXME,XXX,NotImplementedError,unimplemented!,pass, lonereturnorreturn null. Investigate each hit. - Run the code end-to-end, not just the type-checker. A stub satisfies the type checker but fails at runtime.
- Compare the implementation against the task description: every bullet of the task should map to concrete lines of logic, not comments.
- If part of the task is genuinely out of scope, say so explicitly rather than stubbing silently.