symbolDescriptions

Reports Symbol() calls without description arguments.

✅ This rule is included in the ts stylistic and stylisticStrict presets.

Creating symbols without descriptions makes debugging difficult, as the symbol’s purpose isn’t clear when inspecting it. While the description doesn’t affect the symbol’s uniqueness, it appears in the symbol’s string representation and can be accessed via Symbol.prototype.description. Providing meaningful descriptions helps developers understand the purpose of each symbol during debugging and logging.

const 
const uniqueId: typeof uniqueId
uniqueId = 
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
(description?: string | number) => symbol
Returns a new unique Symbol value.
@param ― description Description of the new Symbol object.
Symbol();
const 
const privateKey: typeof privateKey
privateKey = 
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
(description?: string | number) => symbol
Returns a new unique Symbol value.
@param ― description Description of the new Symbol object.
Symbol();

class 
class MyClass
MyClass {
  [
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
(description?: string | number) => symbol
Returns a new unique Symbol value.
@param ― description Description of the new Symbol object.
Symbol()]() {
    return "method";
  }
}

const 
const uniqueId: typeof uniqueId
uniqueId = 
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
(description?: string | number) => symbol
Returns a new unique Symbol value.
@param ― description Description of the new Symbol object.
Symbol("uniqueId");
const 
const privateKey: typeof privateKey
privateKey = 
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
(description?: string | number) => symbol
Returns a new unique Symbol value.
@param ― description Description of the new Symbol object.
Symbol("privateKey");

class 
class MyClass
MyClass {
  [
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
(description?: string | number) => symbol
Returns a new unique Symbol value.
@param ― description Description of the new Symbol object.
Symbol("customMethod")]() {
    return "method";
  }
}

// Well-known symbols don't need descriptions
const 
const iterator: symbol
iterator = 
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
Symbol.
SymbolConstructor.iterator: typeof Symbol.iterator
A method that returns the default iterator for an object. Called by the semantics of the
for-of statement.
iterator;

// Symbol.for() creates global symbols with identifiers
const 
const globalSymbol: typeof globalSymbol
globalSymbol = 
var Symbol: SymbolConstructor
Symbol.
SymbolConstructor.for(key: string): symbol
Returns a Symbol object from the global symbol registry matching the given key if found.
Otherwise, returns a new symbol with this key.
@param ― key key to search for.
for("app.config");

Options

This rule is not configurable.

When Not To Use It

If you’re working in a codebase where symbol descriptions aren’t important for debugging purposes, or if you dynamically create many anonymous symbols, you might choose to disable this rule.

Equivalents in Other Linters

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symbolDescriptions

Examples

Options

When Not To Use It

Further Reading

Equivalents in Other Linters