Analyzer

The analyzer is a generic crate aimed to implement a visitor-like infrastructure, where it's possible to inspect a piece of AST and emit diagnostics or actions based on a static check.

The analyzer allows implementors to create four different types of rules:

Syntax: This rule checks the syntax according to the language specification and emits error diagnostics accordingly.
Lint: This rule performs static analysis of the source code to detect invalid or error-prone patterns, and emits diagnostics along with proposed fixes.
Assist: This rule detects refactoring opportunities and emits code action signals.
Transformation: This rule detects transformations that should be applied to the code.

Creating a rule

When creating or updating a lint rule, you need to be aware that there's a lot of generated code inside our toolchain. Our CI ensures that this code is not out of sync and fails otherwise. See the code generation section for more details.

To create a new rule, you have to create and update several files. Because it is a bit tedious, Biome provides an easy way to create and test your rule using Just. Just is not part of the rust toolchain, you have to install it with a package manager.

Choose a name

Biome follows a naming convention according to what the rule does:

Forbid a concept
```
no<Concept>
```
When a rule's sole intention is to forbid a single concept - such as disallowing the use of debugger statements - the rule should be named using the no prefix. For example, the rule to disallow the use of debugger statements is named noDebugger.
Mandate a concept
```
use<Concept>
```
When a rule's sole intention is to mandate a single concept - such as forcing the use of camel-casing - the rule should be named using the use prefix. For example, the rule to mandating the use of camel-cased variable names is named useCamelCase.

Explain a rule to the user

A rule should be informative to the user, and give as much explanation as possible.

When writing a rule, you must adhere to the following pillars:

Explain to the user the error. Generally, this is the message of the diagnostic.
Explain to the user why the error is triggered. Generally, this is implemented with an additional node.
Tell the user what they should do. Generally, this is implemented using a code action. If a code action is not applicable a note should tell the user what they should do to fix the error.

Create and implement the rule

New rules must be placed inside the nursery group. This group is meant as an incubation space, exempt from semantic versioning. Once a rule is stable, it's promoted to a group that fits it. This is done in a minor/major release.

Tip

As a developer, you aren't forced to make a rule perfect in one PR. Instead, you are encouraged to lay out a plan and to split the work into multiple PRs.

If you aren't familiar with Biome's APIs, this is an option that you have. If you decide to use this option, you should make sure to describe your plan in an issue.

Let's say we want to create a new lint rule called useMyRuleName, follow these steps:

Run the command
```
just new-js-lintrule useMyRuleName
```
The script will generate a bunch of files for the JavaScript language, inside the biome_js_analyze crate. Among the other files, you'll find a file called use_my_new_rule_name.rs inside the biome_js_analyze/lib/src/lint/nursery folder. You'll implement your rule in this file.

If you want to create a CSS lint rule, run this script. It will generate a new lint rule in biome_css_analyze
```
just new-css-lintrule useMyRuleName
```
The Ast query type allows you to query the CST of a program.
The State type doesn't have to be used, so it can be considered optional. However, it has to be defined as type State = ().
Implement the run function:

This function is called every time the analyzer finds a match for the query specified by the rule, and may return zero or more "signals".
Implement the diagnostic function. Follow the pillars when writing the message of a diagnostic:
```
impl Rule for UseAwesomeTricks {
    // .. code
    fn diagnostic(_ctx: &RuleContext<Self>, _state: &Self::State) -> Option<RuleDiagnostic> {}
}
```
While implementing the diagnostic, please keep Biome's technical principals in mind.
Implement the optional action function, if we are able to provide a code action:
```
impl Rule for UseAwesomeTricks {
    // .. code
    fn action(ctx: &RuleContext<Self>, _state: &Self::State) -> Option<JsRuleAction> {
      let mut mutation = ctx.root().mutation();
      Some(JsRuleAction::new(
        ActionCategory::QuickFix,
        ctx.metadata().applicability(),
        markup! { "<MESSAGE>" }.to_owned(),
        mutation,
      ))
    }
}
```
It may return zero or one code action. Rules can return a code action that can be safe or unsafe. If a rule returns a code action, you must add fix_kind to the macro declare_lint_rule.
```
use biome_analyze::FixKind;
declare_lint_rule!{
  fix_kind: FixKind::Safe,
}
```
When returning a code action, you must pass the category and the applicability fields. category must be ActionCategory::QuickFix. applicability is derived from the metadata fix_kind. In other words, the code transformation should always result in code that doesn't change the behavior of the logic. In the case of noVar, it is not always safe to turn var to const or let.

Don't forget to format your code with just f and lint with just l.

That's it! Now, let's test the rule.

Rule configuration

Some rules may allow customization using options. We try to keep rule options to a minimum and only when needed. Before adding an option, it's worth a discussion. Options should follow our technical philosophy.

Let's assume that the rule we implement support the following options:

behavior: a string among "A", "B", and "C";
threshold: an integer between 0 and 255;
behaviorExceptions: an array of strings.

We would like to set the options in the biome.json configuration file:

{
  "linter": {
    "rules": {
      "recommended": true,
      "nursery": {
        "my-rule": {
          "behavior": "A",
          "threshold": 30,
          "behaviorExceptions": ["f"],
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The first step is to create the Rust data representation of the rule's options.

use biome_deserialize_macros::Deserializable;

#[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, Deserializable)]
pub struct MyRuleOptions {
    behavior: Behavior,
    threshold: u8,
    behavior_exceptions: Vec<String>
}

#[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, Deserializable)]
pub enum Behavior {
    #[default]
    A,
    B,
    C,
}

To allow deserializing instances of the types MyRuleOptions and Behavior, they have to implement the Deserializable trait from the biome_deserialize crate. This is what the Deserializable keyword in the #[derive] statements above did. It's a so-called derive macros, which generates the implementation for the Deserializable trait for you.

With these types in place, you can set the associated type Options of the rule:

impl Rule for MyRule {
    type Query = Semantic<JsCallExpression>;
    type State = Fix;
    type Signals = Vec<Self::State>;
    type Options = MyRuleOptions;
}

A rule can retrieve its options with:

let options = ctx.options();

The compiler should warn you that MyRuleOptions does not implement some required types. We currently require implementing serde's traits Deserialize/Serialize. You can simply use a derive macros:

#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
#[cfg_attr(feature = "schemars", derive(JsonSchema))]
#[serde(rename_all = "camelCase", deny_unknown_fields)]
pub struct MyRuleOptions {
    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "is_default")]
    main_behavior: Behavior,

    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "is_default")]
    extra_behaviors: Vec<Behavior>,
}

#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone)]
#[cfg_attr(feature = "schemars", derive(JsonSchema))]
pub enum Behavior {
    #[default]
    A,
    B,
    C,
}

Coding the rule

Below, there are many tips and guidelines on how to create a lint rule using Biome infrastructure.

`declare_lint_rule`

This macro is used to declare an analyzer rule type, and implement the [RuleMeta] trait for it.

The macro itself expects the following syntax:

use biome_analyze::declare_lint_rule;

declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Documentation
    pub(crate) ExampleRule {
        version: "next",
        name: "myRuleName",
        language: "js",
        recommended: false,
    }
}

Biome lint rules inspired by other lint rules

If a lint rule is inspired by an existing rule from other ecosystems (ESLint, ESLint plugins, clippy, etc.), you can add a new metadata to the macro called source. Its value is &'static [RuleSource], which is a reference to a slice of RuleSource elements, each representing a different source.

If you're implementing a lint rule that matches the behaviour of the ESLint rule no-debugger, you'll use the variant ::ESLint and pass the name of the rule:

use biome_analyze::{declare_lint_rule, RuleSource};

declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Documentation
    pub(crate) ExampleRule {
        version: "next",
        name: "myRuleName",
        language: "js",
        recommended: false,
        sources: &[RuleSource::Eslint("no-debugger")],
    }
}

If the rule you're implementing has a different behaviour or option, you can add the source_kind metadata and use the RuleSourceKind::Inspired type. If there are multiple sources, we assume that each source has the same source_kind.

use biome_analyze::{declare_lint_rule, RuleSource, RuleSourceKind};

declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Documentation
    pub(crate) ExampleRule {
        version: "next",
        name: "myRuleName",
        language: "js",
        recommended: false,
        sources: &[RuleSource::Eslint("no-debugger")],
        source_kind: RuleSourceKind::Inspired,
    }
}

By default, source_kind is always RuleSourceKind::SameLogic.

Category Macro

Declaring a rule using declare_lint_rule! will cause a new rule_category! macro to be declared in the surrounding module. This macro can be used to refer to the corresponding diagnostic category for this lint rule, if it has one. Using this macro instead of getting the category for a diagnostic by dynamically parsing its string name has the advantage of statically injecting the category at compile time and checking that it is correctly registered to the biome_diagnostics library.

declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Documentation
    pub(crate) ExampleRule {
        version: "next",
        name: "myRuleName",
        language: "js",
        recommended: false,
    }
}

impl Rule for ExampleRule {
    fn diagnostic(ctx: &RuleContext<Self>, _state: &Self::State) -> Option<RuleDiagnostic> {
        Some(RuleDiagnostic::new(
            rule_category!(),
            ctx.query().text_trimmed_range(),
            "message",
        ))
    }
}

Navigating the CST

When navigating the nodes and tokens of certain nodes, you will notice straight away that the majority of those methods will return a Result (SyntaxResult).

Generally, you will end up navigating the CST inside the run function, and this function will usually return an Option or a Vec.

If the run function returns an Option, you're encouraged to transform the Result into an Option and use the try operator ?. This will make your coding way easier:
```
fn run() -> Self::Signals {
  let prev_val = js_object_member.value().ok()?;
}
```

If the run function returns a Vec, you're encouraged to use the let else trick to reduce code branching:

  fn run() -> Self::Signals {
    let Ok(prev_val) = js_object_member.value() else {
      return vec![]
    };
  }

Query multiple nodes

There are times when you might need to query multiple nodes at once. Instead of querying the root of the CST, you can use the macro declare_node_union! to "join" multiple nodes into an enum:

use biome_rowan::{declare_node_union, AstNode};
use biome_js_syntax::{AnyJsFunction, JsMethodObjectMember, JsMethodClassMember};

declare_node_union! {
  pub AnyFunctionLike = AnyJsFunction | JsMethodObjectMember | JsMethodClassMember
}

When creating a new node like this, we internally prefix them with Any* and postfix them with *Like. This is our internal naming convention.

The type AnyFunctionLike implements the trait AstNode, which means that it implements all methods such as syntax, children, etc.

Semantic Model

The semantic model provides information about the references of a binding (declaration) within a program, indicating if it is written (e.g., const a = 4), read (e.g., const b = a, where a is read), or exported.

How to use the query `Semantic<>` in a lint rule

We have a for loop that creates an index i, and we need to identify where this index is used inside the body of the loop

for (let i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
  array[i] = i
}

To get started we need to create a new rule using the semantic type type Query = Semantic<JsForStatement>; We can now use the ctx.model() to get information about bindings in the for loop.

impl Rule for ForLoopCountReferences {
    type Query = Semantic<JsForStatement>;
    type State = ();
    type Signals = Option<Self::State>;
    type Options = ();

    fn run(ctx: &RuleContext<Self>) -> Self::Signals {
        let node = ctx.query();

        // The model holds all informations about the semantic, like scopes and declarations
        let model = ctx.model();

        // Here we are extracting the `let i = 0;` declaration in for loop
        let initializer = node.initializer()?;
        let declarators = initializer.as_js_variable_declaration()?.declarators();
        let initializer = declarators.first()?.ok()?;
        let initializer_id = initializer.id().ok()?;

        // Now we have the binding of this declaration
        let binding = initializer_id
            .as_any_js_binding()?
            .as_js_identifier_binding()?;

        // How many times this variable appers in the code
        let count = binding.all_references(model).count();

        // Get all read references
        let readonly_references = binding.all_reads(model);

        // Get all write references
        let write_references = binding.all_writes(model);
    }
}

Multiple signals

Some rules require you to find all possible cases upfront in run function. To achieve that you can change Signals type from Option<()> to Vec<()>. This will call the diagnostic/action function for every item of the vec.

Taking previous example and modifying it a bit we can apply diagnostic for each item easily.

impl Rule for ForLoopCountReferences {
    type Query = Semantic<JsForStatement>;
    type State = TextRange;
    type Signals = Vec<Self::State>; // Replaced Option with Vec
    type Options = ();

    fn run(ctx: &RuleContext<Self>) -> Self::Signals {
        let node = ctx.query();

        let model = ctx.model();

        ...

        // Get all write references
        let write_references = binding.all_writes(model);

        // Find all places where variable is being written to and get node ranges
        let write_ranges = write_references.into_iter().map(|write| {
            let syntax = write.syntax();
            let range = syntax.text_range();

            Some(range)
        }).collect::<Vec<_>>();

        write_ranges
    }

    fn diagnostic(_: &RuleContext<Self>, range: &Self::State) -> Option<RuleDiagnostic> {
        // This will be called for each vector item
    }
}

Code action

A rule can implement a code action. A code action provides to the final user the option to fix or change their code.

In a lint rule, for example, it signals an opportunity for the user to fix the diagnostic emitted by the rule.

First, you have to add a new metadata called fix_kind, its value is the FixKind.

use biome_analyze::{declare_lint_rule, FixKind};

declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Documentation
    pub(crate) ExampleRule {
        version: "next",
        name: "myRuleName",
        language: "js",
        recommended: false,
        fix_kind: FixKind::Safe,
    }
}

Then, you'll have to implement the action function of the trait Rule and return a JsRuleAction.

JsRuleAction needs, among other things, a mutation type, which you will use to store all additions, deletions and replacements that you will execute inside the action:

impl Rule for ExampleRule {
    fn action(ctx: &RuleContext<Self>, _state: &Self::State) -> Option<JsRuleAction> {
      let mut mutation = ctx.root().begin();

      Some(JsRuleAction::new(
        ActionCategory::QuickFix,
        ctx.metadata().applicability(),
        markup! { "Remove the '"{name.text_trimmed()}"' element." }.to_owned(),
        mutation,
      ))
    }
}

The function ctx.metadata().applicability() will compute the Applicability type from the fix_kind value you provided at the beginning, inside the macro.

Custom Visitors

Some lint rules may need to deeply inspect the child nodes of a query match before deciding on whether they should emit a signal or not. These rules can be inefficient to implement using the query system, as they will lead to redundant traversal passes being executed over the same syntax tree. To make this more efficient, you can implement a custom Queryable type and associated Visitor to emit it as part of the analyzer's main traversal pass. As an example, here's how this could be done to implement the useYield rule:

// First, create a visitor struct that holds a stack of function syntax nodes and booleans
#[derive(Default)]
struct MissingYieldVisitor {
    stack: Vec<(AnyFunctionLike, bool)>,
}

// Implement the `Visitor` trait for this struct
impl Visitor for MissingYieldVisitor {
    type Language = JsLanguage;

    fn visit(
        &mut self,
        event: &WalkEvent<SyntaxNode<Self::Language>>,
        mut ctx: VisitorContext<Self::Language>,
    ) {
        match event {
            WalkEvent::Enter(node) => {
                // When the visitor enters a function node, push a new entry on the stack
                if let Some(node) = AnyFunctionLike::cast_ref(node) {
                    self.stack.push((node, false));
                }

                if let Some((_, has_yield)) = self.stack.last_mut() {
                    // When the visitor enters a `yield` expression, set the
                    // `has_yield` flag for the top entry on the stack to `true`
                    if JsYieldExpression::can_cast(node.kind()) {
                        *has_yield = true;
                    }
                }
            }
            WalkEvent::Leave(node) => {
                // When the visitor exits a function, if it matches the node of the top-most
                // entry of the stack and the `has_yield` flag is `false`, emit a query match
                if let Some(exit_node) = AnyFunctionLike::cast_ref(node) {
                    if let Some((enter_node, has_yield)) = self.stack.pop() {
                        debug_assert_eq!(enter_node, exit_node);
                        if !has_yield {
                            ctx.match_query(MissingYield(enter_node));
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

// Declare a query match struct type containing a JavaScript function node
pub(crate) struct MissingYield(AnyFunctionLike);

impl QueryMatch for MissingYield {
    fn text_range(&self) -> TextRange {
        self.0.range()
    }
}

// Implement the `Queryable` trait for this type
impl Queryable for MissingYield {
    // `Input` is the type that `ctx.match_query()` is called with in the visitor
    type Input = Self;
    type Language = JsLanguage;
    // `Output` if the type that `ctx.query()` will return in the rule
    type Output = AnyFunctionLike;
    type Services = ();

    fn build_visitor(
        analyzer: &mut impl AddVisitor<Self::Language>,
        _: &<Self::Language as Language>::Root,
    ) {
        // Register our custom visitor to run in the `Syntax` phase
        analyzer.add_visitor(Phases::Syntax, MissingYieldVisitor::default);
    }

    // Extract the output object from the input type
    fn unwrap_match(services: &ServiceBag, query: &Self::Input) -> Self::Output {
        query.0.clone()
    }
}

impl Rule for UseYield {
    // Declare the custom `MissingYield` queryable as the rule's query
    type Query = MissingYield;

    fn run(ctx: &RuleContext<Self>) -> Self::Signals {
        // Read the function's root node from the queryable output
        let query: &AnyFunctionLike = ctx.query();

        // ...
    }
}

Common Logic Mistakes

There are some common mistakes that can lead to bugs or false positives in lint rules. These tips should help you avoid them and write more robust rules.

Not checking if a variable is global

Some rules aim to ban certain functions or variables (eg. noConsoleLog bans console.log). A common mistake make this check without considering if the variable is global or not. This can lead to false positives if the variable is declared in a local scope.

console.log(); // <-- This should be reported because `console` is a global variable
const console = { log() {} };
console.log(); // <-- This should not be reported because `console` is redeclared as a local variable

To avoid this, you should consult the semantic model to check if the variable is global or not.

Test the rule

Quick test

A swift way to test your rule is to go inside the biome_js_analyze/src/lib.rs file (this will change based on where you're implementing the rule) and modify the quick_test function.

Usually this test is ignored, so remove comment the macro #[ignore] macro, change the let SOURCE variable to whatever source code you need to test. Then update the rule filter, and add your rule:

let rule_filter = RuleFilter::Rule("nursery", "useAwesomeTrick");

Now from your terminal, go inside the biome_js_analyze folder and run the test using cargo:

cargo t quick_test

Remember that, in case you add dbg! macros inside your source code, you'll have to use --show-output:

cargo t quick_test -- --show-output

The test is designed to show diagnostics and code actions if the rule correctly emits the signal. If nothing is shown, your logic didn't emit any signal.

Snapshots

Inside the tests/specs/ folder, rules are divided by group and rule name. The test infrastructure is rigid around the association of the pair "group/rule name", which means that your test cases are placed inside the wrong group, you won't see any diagnostics.

Since each new rule will start from nursery, that's where we start. If you used just new-js-lintrule, a folder that use the name of the rule should exist. Otherwise, create a folder called myRuleName/, and then create one or more files where you want to create different cases.

A common pattern is to create files prefixed by invalid or valid. The files prefixed by invalid contain code that are reported by the rule. The files prefixed by valid contain code that are not reported by the rule.

Files ending with the extension .jsonc are differently handled. These files should contain an array of strings where each string is a code snippet. For instance, for the rule noVar, the file invalidScript.jsonc contains:

["var x = 1; foo(x);", "for (var x of [1,2,3]) { foo(x); }"]

Note that code in a file ending with the extension .jsonc are in a script environment. This means that you cannot use syntax that belongs to ECMAScript modules such as import and export.

Run the command:

just test-lintrule myRuleName

and if you've done everything correctly, you should see some snapshots emitted with diagnostics and code actions.

Check our main contribution document to know how to deal with the snapshot tests.

Document the rule

The documentation needs to adhere to the following rules:

The first paragraph of the documentation is used as brief description of the rule, and it must be written in one single line. Breaking the paragraph in multiple lines will break the table content of the rules page.
The next paragraphs can be used to further document the rule with as many details as you see fit.
The documentation must have a ## Examples header, followed by two headers: ### Invalid and ### Valid. ### Invalid must go first because we need to show when the rule is triggered.
Rule options if any, must be documented in the ## Options section.
Each code block must have a language defined.
When adding invalid snippets in the ### Invalid section, you must use the expect_diagnostic code block property. We use this property to generate a diagnostic and attach it to the snippet. A snippet must emit only ONE diagnostic.
When adding valid snippets in the ### Valid section, you can use one single snippet.
You can use the code block property ignore to tell the code generation script to not generate a diagnostic for an invalid snippet.
Update the language field in the declare_lint_rule! macro to the language the rule primarily applies to.
- If your rule applies to any JavaScript, you can leave it as js.
- If your rule only makes sense in a specific JavaScript dialect, you should set it to jsx, ts, or tsx, whichever is most appropriate.

Here's an example of how the documentation could look like:

use biome_analyze::declare_lint_rule;
declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Disallow the use of `var`.
    ///
    /// _ES2015_ allows to create variables with block scope instead of function scope
    /// using the `let` and `const` keywords.
    /// Block scope is common in many other programming languages and help to avoid mistakes.
    ///
    /// Source: https://eslint.org/docs/latest/rules/no-var
    ///
    /// ## Examples
    ///
    /// ### Invalid
    ///
    /// ```js,expect_diagnostic
    /// var foo = 1;
    /// ```
    ///
    /// ```js,expect_diagnostic
    /// var bar = 1;
    /// ```
    ///
    /// ### Valid
    ///
    /// ```js
    /// const foo = 1;
    /// let bar = 1;
    ///```
    pub(crate) NoVar {
        version: "next",
        name: "noVar",
        language: "js",
        recommended: false,
    }
}

This will cause the documentation generator to ensure the rule does emit exactly one diagnostic for this code, and to include a snapshot for the diagnostic in the resulting documentation page.

Code generation

For simplicity, use just to run all the commands with:

just gen-lint

Commit your work

Once the rule implemented, tested, and documented, you are ready to open a pull request!

Stage and commit your changes:

> git add -A
> git commit -m 'feat(biome_js_analyze): myRuleName'

Deprecate a rule

There are occasions when a rule must be deprecated, to avoid breaking changes. The reason of deprecation can be multiple.

In order to do, the macro allows adding additional field to add the reason for deprecation

use biome_analyze::declare_lint_rule;

declare_lint_rule! {
    /// Disallow the use of `var`.
    ///
    /// ## Examples
    ///
    /// ### Invalid
    ///
    /// ```js,expect_diagnostic
    /// var a, b;
    /// ```
    pub(crate) NoVar {
        version: "1.0.0",
        name: "noVar",
        language: "js",
        deprecated: "Use the rule `noAnotherVar`",
        recommended: false,
    }
}

Provide feedback

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CONTRIBUTING.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

Analyzer

Creating a rule

Choose a name

Explain a rule to the user

Create and implement the rule

Rule configuration

Coding the rule

`declare_lint_rule`

Biome lint rules inspired by other lint rules

Category Macro

Navigating the CST

Query multiple nodes

Semantic Model

How to use the query `Semantic<>` in a lint rule

Multiple signals

Code action

Custom Visitors

Common Logic Mistakes

Not checking if a variable is global

Test the rule

Quick test

Snapshots

Document the rule

Code generation

Commit your work

Deprecate a rule

Files

CONTRIBUTING.md

Latest commit

History

CONTRIBUTING.md

File metadata and controls

Analyzer

Creating a rule

Choose a name

Explain a rule to the user

Create and implement the rule

Rule configuration

Coding the rule

declare_lint_rule

Biome lint rules inspired by other lint rules

Category Macro

Navigating the CST

Query multiple nodes

Semantic Model

How to use the query Semantic<> in a lint rule

Multiple signals

Code action

Custom Visitors

Common Logic Mistakes

Not checking if a variable is global

Test the rule

Quick test

Snapshots

Document the rule

Code generation

Commit your work

Deprecate a rule

`declare_lint_rule`

How to use the query `Semantic<>` in a lint rule