From f4307decc53d72290d2527aa0908fff129544585 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tim Fennis <fennis.tim@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2026 17:41:43 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?fix(analyser):=20say=20what=20a=20function=20ta?=
 =?UTF-8?q?kes=20when=20no=20overload=20fits=20a=20call=20=F0=9F=92=AC?=
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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 ndc_analyser/src/analyser/calls.rs | 25 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
 ndc_analyser/src/analyser/tests.rs | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
 ndc_analyser/src/error.rs          | 14 ++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 59 insertions(+)

diff --git a/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/calls.rs b/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/calls.rs
index 52be8bf1..18c9b38c 100644
--- a/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/calls.rs
+++ b/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/calls.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use super::Analyser;
 use super::solver::{CallNodes, CallSite, Constraint};
 use crate::error::AnalysisError;
 use crate::overloads::{CallKind, Overloads};
+use itertools::Itertools;
 use ndc_core::{NodeId, StaticType};
 use ndc_lexer::{NumericLiteral, Span};
 use ndc_parser::{Expression, ExpressionLocation};
@@ -32,9 +33,33 @@ impl Analyser {
             AnalysisError::function_not_found_suggest_cast(name, types, span)
         } else {
             AnalysisError::function_not_found(name, types, span)
+                .with_overloads(name, &self.what_the_overloads_take(candidates))
         }
     }
 
+    /// What each overload `candidates` can reach takes, as `(Int, String)`,
+    /// when there are few enough to list: why `put("a")` doesn't fit a `put`
+    /// whose body made its parameter an Int.
+    fn what_the_overloads_take(&self, candidates: &Candidates) -> Vec<String> {
+        const MOST: usize = 3;
+        let symbols = self.overloads().reachable_symbols(candidates);
+        if symbols.len() > MOST {
+            return Vec::new();
+        }
+        symbols
+            .into_iter()
+            .filter_map(
+                |symbol| match self.vars.shown(self.types.get_type(symbol)) {
+                    StaticType::Function {
+                        parameters: Some(parameters),
+                        ..
+                    } => Some(format!("({})", parameters.iter().join(", "))),
+                    _ => None,
+                },
+            )
+            .collect()
+    }
+
     /// Overload resolution over the types declared so far.
     pub(super) fn overloads(&self) -> Overloads<'_> {
         Overloads::new(&self.types, &self.vars, self.resolver.symbols())
diff --git a/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/tests.rs b/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/tests.rs
index 80a50a53..b75ae679 100644
--- a/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/tests.rs
+++ b/ndc_analyser/src/analyser/tests.rs
@@ -1721,3 +1721,23 @@ fn a_list_literal_holding_the_list_it_is_pushed_to_is_analysed() {
         assert!(result.errors.len() <= 1, "{source}: {:?}", result.errors);
     }
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn a_call_no_overload_takes_says_what_the_overloads_take() {
+    // `put`'s body puts `x` in `r`, which the first call settles as holding
+    // Ints, so `put` takes an Int from then on.
+    let (_, result) = analyse_with_globals(
+        "let r = []; fn put(x) { r.push(x); 0 } put(1); put(\"a\");",
+        natives(&[("push", "<T>(List<T>, T)")]),
+    );
+    let help = result
+        .errors
+        .iter()
+        .find_map(|error| error.help_text().map(str::to_string));
+    assert_eq!(
+        help.as_deref(),
+        Some("`put` takes (Int)"),
+        "{:?}",
+        result.errors
+    );
+}
diff --git a/ndc_analyser/src/error.rs b/ndc_analyser/src/error.rs
index 926cc88c..757a2679 100644
--- a/ndc_analyser/src/error.rs
+++ b/ndc_analyser/src/error.rs
@@ -264,6 +264,20 @@ impl AnalysisError {
         }
     }
 
+    /// This error with help saying what the overloads of `name` take, given
+    /// as `(Int, String)` each, if any.
+    pub(crate) fn with_overloads(self, name: &str, overloads: &[String]) -> Self {
+        let help_text = match overloads {
+            [] => return self,
+            [only] => format!("`{name}` takes {only}"),
+            several => format!("The overloads of `{name}` take {}", several.join(", ")),
+        };
+        Self {
+            help_text: Some(help_text),
+            ..self
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Same as [`Self::function_not_found`], for a call an overload would
     /// accept if the arguments were known more precisely.
     pub(crate) fn function_not_found_suggest_cast(