| 📦 Turbo Golo d710c1b k33g 22h ago | 1 | # How to ask what the code means |
| 2 | |
| 3 | This guide shows how to follow a name through a Golo file: what it is, where it is declared, and what is wrong with it. It assumes Turbo Golo is installed and the language server is running — the status bar says `LSP: ready` when it is. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | For moving around a file — searching, jumping to a line, switching windows — see [How to move around a file](navigate-code.md) instead. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ## Put the cursor on a name |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Any character of it will do. Every question below asks about the **position of the cursor**, not about a selection, so there is nothing to highlight first. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | ## Ask |
| 12 | |
| 13 | | To find | Do | Shortcut | With `golo lsp` | |
| 14 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| 15 | | What it is | **Code ▸ Describe symbol** | `F1` | answered | |
| 16 | | Where it is declared | **Code ▸ Go to definition** | `F12` | answered | |
| 17 | | Where its *type* is declared | **Code ▸ Go to type definition** | | nothing found | |
| 18 | | What implements it | **Code ▸ Find implementations…** | | answered — its declaration | |
| 19 | | Everywhere it is used | **Code ▸ Find references…** | `Shift-F12` | answered, within the file | |
| 20 | |
| 21 | **One of these five reports nothing with `golo lsp`.** The server is the interpreter itself in language-server mode, and it does not advertise `typeDefinition`, so **Go to type definition** answers nothing found however good the code is. The other four work, within the file: **Find references** lists the declaration and every call, and **Find implementations** answers with the declaration — Golo has no interfaces, so a function is its own implementation. Both symbol searches below work too. See [colouring and completion](../explanation/colouring-and-completion.md) for why the one gap is written down rather than hidden behind a greyed-out menu item. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | What the two that work know is **the file in front**, at top level: |
| 24 | |
| 25 | - **Describe symbol** on a function you declared shows its signature and the `#` comments written immediately above it; on a builtin such as `println` or a symbol pulled in by `import` from an embedded module — `gololang.Errors`, `gololang.Types` — it shows the interpreter's own documentation. |
| 26 | - **Go to definition** takes you to a top-level function or union declared in the same file. A function imported from a module of your own on disk is not resolved. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | One answer takes you straight there. Should a question ever come back with several, they open a list showing each file, its line, and the text of that line; move with the arrow keys, `Enter` to go, `Esc` to stay where you are. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ## When nothing comes back |
| 31 | |
| 32 | Three different things look alike, and the status bar tells them apart: |
| 33 | |
| 34 | | It says | Meaning | |
| 35 | | --- | --- | |
| 36 | | `No … found`, in the question's own words | The server answered, and there are none — which, for type definitions, is what this server always says | |
| 37 | | `LSP: starting…` | The server has not finished starting. Wait a moment and ask again. | |
| 38 | | `LSP: off` on the status bar | No server is running. See [How to enable completion](enable-completion.md). | |
| 39 | | `LSP: no golo — see https://codeberg.org/TypeUnsafe/golo-script/releases` | There is no `golo` on `PATH` or in `/usr/local/bin`. See [How to install GoloScript](install-goloscript.md). | |
| 40 | |
| 41 | ## Find something by name instead |
| 42 | |
| 43 | - **Code ▸ Symbol in file…** lists what the file in front declares, indented, with each symbol's kind — the top-level functions and unions, each union's variants nested under it. An outline you can walk; choosing one goes to it. |
| 44 | - **Code ▸ Symbol in project…** (`Ctrl-T`) asks for a name and searches every `.golo` file under the project root, open or not — top-level functions, unions and module names. An empty name lists them all. |
| 45 | |
| 46 | ## See what is wrong |
| 47 | |
| 48 | **Code ▸ Problems…** lists every problem the server has reported, for **every file it has loaded** — usually more than the one you are editing. Choosing one goes to the line. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | `golo lsp` reports two kinds of problem, on open and again on every edit: syntax errors from its lexer and parser, and lints for the two mistakes it sees most — `:` and `.` confused in a method call, and C-style `//` or `/* */` comments, where Golo uses `#` and `----`. A syntax error is placed on the line the message names, or on line 1 when it names none, and the whole line is marked rather than a column. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | Lines with a problem carry a mark in the gutter, beside the line number: |
| 53 | |
| 54 | | Mark | Meaning | |
| 55 | | --- | --- | |
| 56 | | `×` | An error | |
| 57 | | `!` | A warning | |
| 58 | | `i` | Information | |
| 59 | | `·` | A hint | |
| 60 | |
| 61 | A line with more than one problem shows the worst of them. |
| 62 | |
| 63 | **The marks need the line numbers.** They sit in the column that separates the numbers from the text, so hiding the gutter with **Options ▸ Line numbers** hides them too. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | ## See also |
| 66 | |
| 67 | - Every item and its key: [Menus](../reference/menus.md) |
| 68 | - Getting a server running: [How to enable completion](enable-completion.md) |
| 69 | - What the editor asks, and why: [Colouring and completion](../explanation/colouring-and-completion.md) |
| 70 | - What `golo lsp` answers, exactly: [Golo tools](../reference/golo-tools.md) |