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Dataclasses fail to narrow with issubclass() in Python >= 3.13 #21635
Description
Bug Report
With Python >= 3.13, given cls: type[A] and if issubclass(cls, M) where A and M are dataclasses, mypy is unable to narrow the type of cls to type[M]. Instead, the guarded block is not typechecked at all.
When iterating over a list[type[A]] in a comprehension with if issubclass(cls, M) where A and M are dataclasses, mypy is unable to narrow the type of cls to type[M]. Instead, the comprehension result expression is typechecked with cls at its original unnarrowed type type[A].
To Reproduce
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import reveal_type
@dataclass
class A:
pass
@dataclass
class M:
pass
@dataclass
class B(A):
pass
@dataclass
class C(M, A):
pass
cls: type[A] = C
if issubclass(cls, M):
reveal_type(cls)
n: int = 'foo'Expected Behavior
The type of cls is revealed as type[M], followed by a type error for the assignment of a str to a variable of type int.
Actual Behavior
No type is revealed, silent success.
For comprehensions:
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import reveal_type
@dataclass
class A:
pass
@dataclass
class M:
pass
@dataclass
class B(A):
pass
@dataclass
class C(M, A):
pass
alist: list[type[A]] = [B, C]
mlist = [cls for cls in alist if issubclass(cls, M)]
reveal_type(mlist)Expected Behavior
note: Revealed type is "list[type[<subclass of "A" and "M">]]"
And if we annotate mlist: list[type[M]] it still typechecks.
Actual Behavior
note: Revealed type is "list[type[A]]"
And if we annotate mlist: list[type[M]] we get:
error: List comprehension has incompatible type List[type[A]]; expected List[type[M]] [misc]
Notes
This error DOES NOT occur if the classes are not dataclasses.
This error DOES NOT occur in a regular for loop:
mlist: list[type[M]] = []
cls: type[A]
for cls in alist:
if issubclass(cls, M):
mlist.append(cls)This error DOES still occur if issubclass() is wrapped in a TypeIs guard function:
def is_m(t: type) -> TypeIs[type[M]]:
return issubclass(t, M)
alist: list[type[A]] = [B, C]
mlist: list[type[M]] = [cls for cls in alist
if is_m(cls)]Your Environment
- Mypy version used: mypy 2.1.0 (compiled: no)
- Mypy command-line flags: none
- Mypy configuration options from
mypy.ini(and other config files): nothing special - Python version used: 3.13.13
Activity
[-]issubclass() fails to narrow dataclasses in comprehensions[/-][+]Dataclasses fail to narrow in comprehensions[/+]ygale commentedon Jul 5, 2026
@apoorvdarshan Thanks for the PR. However, it does not solve the problem. It only masks the type error by incorrectly typing the classes as
Never. In fact, this is not an impossible type - as you can see from the repro in the description, the intersection of the types is not empty.Thanks to your PR, I have made the issue title and repro more precise. Note that the PR does not include the repro in its tests. If it included the original repro the test would have passed, but only because the error is masked. The current more precise repro would still fail.
The PR still might have merit for the case where the type is actually impossible, as in the tests supplied in the PR. But that discussion would be out of scope here; perhaps open a separate issue for that case.
[-]Dataclasses fail to narrow in comprehensions[/-][+]Dataclasses fail to narrow in Python >= 3.13[/+][-]Dataclasses fail to narrow in Python >= 3.13[/-][+]Dataclasses fail to narrow with `issubclass()` in Python >= 3.13[/+]ygale commentedon Jul 5, 2026
This turns out to be a regression for dataclasses in Python >= 3.13, caused by the introduction of auto-generated
__replace__()methods.Comprehensions are not required to hit this bug, though the effect of the bug is different for comprehensions.
Root cause: When mypy compares the types of two unrelated dataclasses in
issubclass(), the new auto-generated__replace__()methods always cause it to think that the dataclasses are incompatible and assigns the typeNever. This causes the broken behaviors described in the reproductions.I updated the title and description yet again to make them even more precise. I submitted a PR.
The "regular for loop" case in the description works only because the guarded block is not typechecked at all. I added a better reproduction for that, so this case is no longer interesting.
The
TypeIscase in the description turns out to be a completely different failure mode and so out of scope here. I will open a separate issue for that.There is a similar failure for
NamedTuple. That too is a completely different failure mode and out of scope here. I'll open a separate issue also for that one.Add regression test for plain issubclass() narrowing (no comprehension)
Fix regression in dataclass narrowing for Python >= 3.13 (python#21675)