show

Definition, type signature, and usages of a symbol — where it’s defined, its type signature, and optionally all usages. Searches the whole project by name, no file path needed.

Backward compatibility: tyf inspect still works as a hidden alias for tyf show.

Use Class.member dotted notation (one level only) to narrow to a specific class member. Module-qualified names (module.func) and nested paths (Outer.Inner.method) are not supported; using 2+ dots is a usage error.

Examples: tyf show MyClass tyf show MyClass.get_data # narrow to a specific class method tyf show calculate_sum UserService # multiple symbols at once tyf show MyClass –references # also show all usages tyf show MyClass –doc # include docstring tyf show MyClass –all # show everything: doc + refs + test refs tyf show MyClass –file src/models.py # narrow to one file

Usage

tyf show <SYMBOLS> [OPTIONS]

Arguments

<symbols> (required): Symbol name(s) to show. Use Class.member (one level) to narrow to a class member.

Options

-f, --file: Narrow the search to a specific file (searches whole project if omitted)
-r, --references: Also find all references (can be slow on large codebases)
-d, --doc: Include the docstring in the output (off by default)
-a, --all: Show everything: docstring, references, and test references

Examples

# Show a single symbol
tyf show MyClass

# Show a specific class method (dotted notation)
tyf show MyClass.get_data

# Show multiple symbols at once
tyf show MyClass my_function

# Show a symbol in a specific file
tyf show MyClass --file src/module.py

# Include docstring
tyf show MyClass --doc

# Show everything (doc + refs + test refs)
tyf show MyClass --all

# Using the backward-compatible alias
tyf inspect MyClass

Dotted notation (`Class.member`)

Class.member narrows a lookup to a member of a specific class — useful when the same method name (e.g. get_data) exists on several classes. The container is resolved first, then its members are searched, so Database.get_data resolves to Database’s member and never Cache’s same-named one.

Limitations:

One level only. Class.member is supported; nested paths like Outer.Inner.method are not.
Module-qualified names are not supported. module.func will not match — dotted notation addresses class members, not module paths.
Two or more dots is a usage error. tyf show a.b.c prints a message to stderr and exits nonzero (it does not attempt a lookup). The same applies to a leading or trailing dot (.foo, foo.).
A valid dotted query that matches nothing (e.g. Database.nope or Nonesuch.get_data) is a normal “not found” and exits 0 — there is no fallback to the bare member or container name.
No inherited-member resolution: only members defined directly on the class are matched (same limitation as members).

Unresolved types

The Signature section reports a symbol’s type from ty’s analysis. When ty cannot resolve a type — typically because a third-party library’s stubs are not installed — it would normally report Unknown. Instead, tyf shows the literal type annotation as written in source (e.g. def build(self) -> pa.Table). Only the source file is read, so this works without the project’s dependencies installed. A symbol with no source annotation is marked (unannotated) rather than Unknown.

ty-find