gleam-lang/gleam

Hex Gleam dependency packages with colliding Erlang modules can fail to raise a compile error

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#4657 opened on Jun 1, 2025

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 (2 comments) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Rust (21,417 stars) (960 forks)batch import
help wanted

Description

sngrekov made a project with both Nibble and Glerray and started getting runtime errors. Both projects define the glearray_ffi Erlang module, and instead of raising an error at build time (as we should) we seem to let one clobber the other and as such one of the two packages will have the incorrect code.

Context: https://discord.com/channels/768594524158427167/1378738738376474634

Related: https://github.com/hayleigh-dot-dev/nibble/issues/24

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rust
Domain
build systemtooling
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.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
understanding of Erlang module compilationfamiliarity with Gleam's hex package resolution
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
45
Research direction
Investigate how Gleam resolves Hex dependencies and compiles Erlang modules. Look at the build system code (likely in `src/` directory) for module collision detection. Check the linked Discord conversation and nibble issue (#24) for context. Determine where a compile time error should be raised when two packages define the same Erlang module name, and propose a fix to prevent clobbering.