Microsoft/TypeScript

Find all references for ambient module

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#9,077 opened on Jun 10, 2016

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 (1 comment) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)TypeScript (48,455 stars) (6,726 forks)batch import
Domain: APIHelp WantedSuggestion

Description

// declarations.d.ts
declare module "x" {
    export const x: number;
}

// index.ts
import {x} from "x";

Goto-declaration for "x" in index.ts works, but find-all-references for "x" in declarations.d.ts finds only itself.

In this case one can simply look through each of export in the module's body and find all of their references; but for shorthand ambient modules (declare module "x";) that won't work, as there is no module body.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
developer experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
TypeScript compiler internalsunderstanding of language service reference finding
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
30
Research direction
Investigate TypeScript's language service source code for find all references functionality. Likely in `src/services/refactors/findReferences.ts`. Focus on how the service handles ambient module declarations (`declare module "x"`) and shorthand ambient modules. Check the reference resolution logic for symbols from such modules. The issue indicates that references are found only within the declaration file, not across imports. Examine the checkSourceFile or symbol lookup functions to understand the missing cross file references.