Symbol resolution

The matching rules that map identifiers in code and prose to indexed symbols.

quickinfo resolves each identifier in a Python snippet against the index, using the snippet’s own imports and bindings. The examples on this page use real symbols from the Python standard library, so every rule is live: hover the underlined names.

Exact dotted ids

A full dotted name resolves when it’s in the index, in prose and in code: pathlib.Path names the class directly.

import pathlib

config = pathlib.Path("app.toml")

Import aliases

An import binds a local name to a module or symbol, and names built on it resolve through the import:

from json import dumps
from pathlib import Path

text = dumps({"ok": True})
here = Path.cwd()

dumps resolves to json.dumps, and Path.cwd to pathlib.Path.cwd.

Unique short names

A bare name resolves when one indexed id ends with it and no other does: OrderedDict names collections.OrderedDict. A name that matches more than one symbol stays plain: Queue alone could be queue.Queue or multiprocessing.Queue, so it gets no hover until an import or a dotted name decides it.

Inferred local types

A local assigned from a constructor call, or bound by with ... as, takes the class as its type. Attributes on it resolve through the class, and through its documented base classes when the class doesn’t define them:

from pathlib import Path
import zipfile

config = Path("app.toml")
print(config.name)

with zipfile.ZipFile("bundle.zip") as archive:
    print(archive.namelist())

config.name resolves to pathlib.PurePath.name: Path inherits name from PurePath. archive.namelist resolves on ZipFile.

Names the snippet binds

A name the snippet assigns, takes as a parameter, or binds with as or for is the snippet’s own variable. It stays plain even when it matches a unique short name:

name = "app.toml"
print(name)

Here name is a string. In prose, name still names the PurePath property.

Preferred prefixes

When the index mixes ids from more than one source, such as your package and the Python standard library, the preferPrefixes option breaks short-name collisions: the id carrying a listed prefix wins. With preferPrefixes: ['queue.'], a bare Queue names queue.Queue even when the index also holds multiprocessing.Queue.