From 6b8bce1aba43963d4a85c01c2539880986098300 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: agra <alex@swipelab.co>
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2026 22:40:43 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] docs: file issue 0191 (coerceToType welds type-incompatible
 value into return slot, no diagnostic)

---
 ...ype-no-coercibility-check-welds-garbage.md | 69 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 69 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 issues/0191-coerce-to-type-no-coercibility-check-welds-garbage.md

diff --git a/issues/0191-coerce-to-type-no-coercibility-check-welds-garbage.md b/issues/0191-coerce-to-type-no-coercibility-check-welds-garbage.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# 0191 — `coerceToType` silently welds a type-incompatible value into the return slot (no diagnostic)
+
+**Status:** OPEN
+
+## Symptom
+
+Returning a value whose type is not coercible to the declared return
+type (e.g. a `string` where `i64` is expected) is **silently accepted**:
+the compiler reinterprets the bytes instead of emitting a type-mismatch
+diagnostic, producing garbage at runtime with **exit 0**.
+
+- Observed: `bad :: () -> i64 { "not an int" }` compiles and runs,
+  printing a garbage integer (the string's pointer reinterpreted as
+  `i64`), exit 0.
+- Expected: a clear "cannot return 'string' where 'i64' is expected"
+  (type-mismatch) diagnostic + non-zero exit.
+
+This is the silent-clobber failure mode the project forbids: a bad
+coercion fabricated rather than rejected.
+
+## Reproduction
+
+```sx
+#import "modules/std.sx";
+
+bad :: () -> i64 { "not an int" }      // trailing expression
+main :: () { print("{}\n", bad()); }
+```
+
+Run: `./zig-out/bin/sx run repro.sx` → exit 0, prints e.g. `4352919116`
+(should error). The explicit-return form is identical:
+
+```sx
+bad :: () -> i64 { return "not an int"; }
+```
+
+It is **not** failable-specific — a plain non-failable return reproduces
+it. A value-failable `-> i64 !E { "not an int" }` welds the 16-byte
+string struct into the declared `i64` slot (`ret { i64, i32 } { {ptr,i64}
+..., i32 0 }`), so the caller's `catch` can even phantom-fire on the
+garbage tag.
+
+## Investigation prompt
+
+Root cause: `coerceToType` (in `src/ir/lower/` — grep for `pub fn
+coerceToType`) performs the requested coercion (or a bit-reinterpret)
+WITHOUT first checking that the source type is actually coercible to the
+destination. The value/explicit-return/failable-success return paths all
+call it and trust the result. The companion `lowerFailableSuccessReturn`
+inherits the same gap.
+
+Likely fix: `coerceToType` should validate coercibility (the same rules
+used for assignment / call-argument coercion) and, when the source type
+cannot coerce to the destination, emit a
+`diagnostics.addFmt(.err, span, "cannot coerce '<src>' to '<dst>'...")`
+and return a sentinel (or have callers handle a `null`/`.unresolved`),
+rather than reinterpreting bytes. Thread the offending value's span
+through (the return paths already plumb a span — see issue 0190's
+`lowerValueBody`/`lowerReturn` work).
+
+Verification: the repros above must error with a type-mismatch diagnostic
++ exit 1; legitimate coercions (`i32` → `i64`, `&T` → `*T`, numeric
+widening, struct-literal → struct, etc.) must keep working; the full
+corpus must stay green. Add a diagnostics regression example for the
+incompatible-return case.
+
+(Found by adversarial review during the issue-0190 fix, commit
+`df1327e3`. Pre-existing — independent of the 0190 change; reproduces on
+plain non-failable returns.)