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Python: self.x() on an instance attribute links to an unrelated module-level function x #2958
Description
self.x(), where x is an instance attribute holding a callable, links by exact name to a module-level function x anywhere in the project, even in an unrelated file.
# pkg/cli.py
class ScriptInfo:
def __init__(self, create_app=None):
self.create_app = create_app
def load_app(self):
if self.create_app is not None:
return self.create_app() # line 7
return None
# examples/factory.py
def create_app():
return object()| call | edge on main |
expected |
|---|---|---|
self.create_app() (line 7) |
create_app in examples/factory.py (resolvedBy: exact-match) ✗ |
none: it calls whatever was passed in |
Reproduced on main at 2577601, with CODEGRAPH_KERNEL=0 and with the native kernel. Linux/WSL2, Node 22.23.2.
Where it shows up. I checked every Python calls edge against jedi's goto-definition and found two cases in flask (d086db8). The first is the core of its CLI: ScriptInfo.load_app in src/flask/cli.py:342 calls self.create_app() (assigned in __init__, line 316), and it links to examples/celery/src/task_app/__init__.py's create_app. So the example app shows up as a callee of Flask's app loading. In the second, self.app(environ, start_response) in tests/test_basic.py:299 links to the app pytest fixture in tests/conftest.py.
Expected. A call with a self./cls. receiver names a member of the instance or class: a method in the class or its bases, or an attribute. It should never fall through to a same-named module-level function in another file. 2577601 made such calls prefer the caller's own class member when one exists; this is the case where none does, and the bare-name match still answers.
Related: 2577601 / #1952, #2954 (TS this.m() landing on a same-named import), #2948.
Activity
inth3shadows commentedon Oct 29, 2026
Re-checked on
mainat 60b0d7a (2026-10-29): still reproduces as described.Two more shapes, found by diffing codegraph's call edges against
scip-python:self.out = nn.Linear(h, V)is set in__init__, andforwardcallsself.out(...). That call links toout = (games.filter(...)), a module-level variable in an unrelated script (labs/nn-nfl-lab/export_features.py:15).setUp. A test bindsself.repo, self.run = _git_repo(...)and then callsself.run("git", "add", "-A"). The call links to a free functionrunin a harness module the test doesn't import.Minimal form:
I filed this again by mistake as #3039, which is now closed as a duplicate of this issue.
self.attr(...)on an instance attribute links an unrelated, un-imported module function of the same name #3039 as a duplicate of this issue