nushell/crates/nu-std
132ikl 214714e0ab
Add run-time type checking for command pipeline input (#14741)
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# Description
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This PR adds type checking of all command input types at run-time.
Generally, these errors should be caught by the parser, but sometimes we
can't know the type of a value at parse-time. The simplest example is
using the `echo` command, which has an output type of `any`, so
prefixing a literal with `echo` will bypass parse-time type checking.

Before this PR, each command has to individually check its input types.
This can result in scenarios where the input/output types don't match
the actual command behavior. This can cause valid usage with an
non-`any` type to become a parse-time error if a command is missing that
type in its pipeline input/output (`drop nth` and `history import` do
this before this PR). Alternatively, a command may not list a type in
its input/output types, but doesn't actually reject that type in its
code, which can have unintended side effects (`get` does this on an
empty pipeline input, and `sort` used to before #13154).

After this PR, the type of the pipeline input is checked to ensure it
matches one of the input types listed in the proceeding command's
input/output types. While each of the issues in the "before this PR"
section could be addressed with each command individually, this PR
solves this issue for _all_ commands.

**This will likely cause some breakage**, as some commands have
incorrect input/output types, and should be adjusted. Also, some scripts
may have erroneous usage of commands. In writing this PR, I discovered
that `toolkit.nu` was passing `null` values to `str join`, which doesn't
accept nothing types (if folks think it should, we can adjust it in this
PR or in a different PR). I found some issues in the standard library
and its tests. I also found that carapace's vendor script had an
incorrect chaining of `get -i`:

```nushell
let expanded_alias = (scope aliases | where name == $spans.0 | get -i 0 | get -i expansion)
```

Before this PR, if the `get -i 0` ever actually did evaluate to `null`,
the second `get` invocation would error since `get` doesn't operate on
`null` values. After this PR, this is immediately a run-time error,
alerting the user to the problematic code. As a side note, we'll need to
PR this fix (`get -i 0 | get -i expansion` -> `get -i 0.expansion`) to
carapace.

A notable exception to the type checking is commands with input type of
`nothing -> <type>`. In this case, any input type is allowed. This
allows piping values into the command without an error being thrown. For
example, `123 | echo $in` would be an error without this exception.
Additionally, custom types bypass type checking (I believe this also
happens during parsing, but not certain)

I added a `is_subtype` method to `Value` and `PipelineData`. It
functions slightly differently than `get_type().is_subtype()`, as noted
in the doccomments. Notably, it respects structural typing of lists and
tables. For example, the type of a value `[{a: 123} {a: 456, b: 789}]`
is a subtype of `table<a: int>`, whereas the type returned by
`Value::get_type` is a `list<any>`. Similarly, `PipelineData` has some
special handling for `ListStream`s and `ByteStream`s. The latter was
needed for this PR to work properly with external commands.

Here's some examples.

Before:
```nu
1..2 | drop nth 1
Error: nu::parser::input_type_mismatch

  × Command does not support range input.
   ╭─[entry #9:1:8]
 1 │ 1..2 | drop nth 1
   ·        ────┬───
   ·            ╰── command doesn't support range input
   ╰────

echo 1..2 | drop nth 1
# => ╭───┬───╮
# => │ 0 │ 1 │
# => ╰───┴───╯
```

After this PR, I've adjusted `drop nth`'s input/output types to accept
range input.

Before this PR, zip accepted any value despite not being listed in its
input/output types. This caused different behavior depending on if you
triggered a parse error or not:
```nushell
1 | zip [2]
# => Error: nu::parser::input_type_mismatch
# => 
# =>   × Command does not support int input.
# =>    ╭─[entry #3:1:5]
# =>  1 │ 1 | zip [2]
# =>    ·     ─┬─
# =>    ·      ╰── command doesn't support int input
# =>    ╰────
echo 1 | zip [2]
# => ╭───┬───────────╮
# => │ 0 │ ╭───┬───╮ │
# => │   │ │ 0 │ 1 │ │
# => │   │ │ 1 │ 2 │ │
# => │   │ ╰───┴───╯ │
# => ╰───┴───────────╯
```

After this PR, it works the same in both cases. For cases like this, if
we do decide we want `zip` or other commands to accept any input value,
then we should explicitly add that to the input types.
```nushell
1 | zip [2]
# => Error: nu::parser::input_type_mismatch
# => 
# =>   × Command does not support int input.
# =>    ╭─[entry #3:1:5]
# =>  1 │ 1 | zip [2]
# =>    ·     ─┬─
# =>    ·      ╰── command doesn't support int input
# =>    ╰────
echo 1 | zip [2]
# => Error: nu:🐚:only_supports_this_input_type
# => 
# =>   × Input type not supported.
# =>    ╭─[entry #14:2:6]
# =>  2 │ echo 1 | zip [2]
# =>    ·      ┬   ─┬─
# =>    ·      │    ╰── only list<any> and range input data is supported
# =>    ·      ╰── input type: int
# =>    ╰────
```

# User-Facing Changes
<!-- List of all changes that impact the user experience here. This
helps us keep track of breaking changes. -->

**Breaking change**: The type of a command's input is now checked
against the input/output types of that command at run-time. While these
errors should mostly be caught at parse-time, in cases where they can't
be detected at parse-time they will be caught at run-time instead. This
applies to both internal commands and custom commands.

Example function and corresponding parse-time error (same before and
after PR):
```nushell
def foo []: int -> nothing {
  print $"my cool int is ($in)"
}

1 | foo
# => my cool int is 1

"evil string" | foo
# => Error: nu::parser::input_type_mismatch
# => 
# =>   × Command does not support string input.
# =>    ╭─[entry #16:1:17]
# =>  1 │ "evil string" | foo
# =>    ·                 ─┬─
# =>    ·                  ╰── command doesn't support string input
# =>    ╰────
# => 
```

Before:
```nu
echo "evil string" | foo
# => my cool int is evil string
```

After:
```nu
echo "evil string" | foo
# => Error: nu:🐚:only_supports_this_input_type
# => 
# =>   × Input type not supported.
# =>    ╭─[entry #17:1:6]
# =>  1 │ echo "evil string" | foo
# =>    ·      ──────┬──────   ─┬─
# =>    ·            │          ╰── only int input data is supported
# =>    ·            ╰── input type: string
# =>    ╰────
```

Known affected internal commands which erroneously accepted any type:
* `str join`
* `zip`
* `reduce`

# Tests + Formatting
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> **Note**
> from `nushell` you can also use the `toolkit` as follows
> ```bash
> use toolkit.nu # or use an `env_change` hook to activate it
automatically
> toolkit check pr
> ```
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- 🟢 `toolkit fmt`
- 🟢 `toolkit clippy`
- 🟢 `toolkit test`
- 🟢 `toolkit test stdlib`


# After Submitting
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* Play whack-a-mole with the commands and scripts this will inevitably
break
2025-01-08 23:09:47 +01:00
..
src Always load default env/config values (#14249) 2024-11-20 16:15:15 -06:00
std small, backwards compatible enhancements to std (#14763) 2025-01-06 11:30:07 -06:00
tests Add run-time type checking for command pipeline input (#14741) 2025-01-08 23:09:47 +01:00
Cargo.toml Bump version to 0.101.1 (#14661) 2024-12-24 23:47:00 +01:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Surprising symlink resolution for std path add (#13258) 2024-06-28 18:11:48 -05:00
LICENSE add LICENSE to nu-std (#8803) 2023-04-07 13:39:21 -07:00
README.md Change the usage misnomer to "description" (#13598) 2024-08-22 12:02:08 +02:00
testing.nu Add run-time type checking for command pipeline input (#14741) 2025-01-08 23:09:47 +01:00

Welcome to the standard library of `nushell`!

The standard library is a pure-nushell collection of custom commands which provide interactive utilities and building blocks for users writing casual scripts or complex applications.

To see what's here:

> use std
> scope commands | select name description | where name =~ "std "
#┬───────────name────────────┬───────────────────description───────────────────
0│std assert                 │Universal assert command
1│std assert equal           │Assert $left == $right
2│std assert error           │Assert that executing the code generates an error
3│std assert greater         │Assert $left > $right
4│std assert greater or equal│Assert $left >= $right
             ...                                     ...
─┴───────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────

🧰 Using the standard library in the REPL or in scripts

All commands in the standard library must be "imported" into the running environment (the interactive read-execute-print-loop (REPL) or a .nu script) using the use command.

You can choose to import the whole module, but then must refer to individual commands with a std prefix, e.g:

use std

std log debug "Running now"
std assert (1 == 2)

Or you can enumerate the specific commands you want to import and invoke them without the std prefix.

use std ["log debug" assert]

log debug "Running again"
assert (2 == 1)

This is probably the form of import you'll want to add to your env.nu for interactive use.

✏️ contribute to the standard library

You're invited to contribute to the standard library! See CONTRIBUTING.md for details