document GHC-59738

message-index/messages/GHC-24083/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+---
+title: Scoped type variables only appears non-injectively in declaration header
+summary: a data declaration has a kind signature, where the implictly bound type variables cannot be matched up unambiguosly with the ones from the signature itself
+severity: error
+introduced: 9.6.4
+---
+
+The disconnected type variables error applies when kind-checking the header of a type/class declaration that has a 
+separate, standalone kind signature.
+
+For this consider:
+
+```haskell
+type S a = Type
+
+type C :: forall k. S k -> Constraint
+class C (a :: S kk) where
+ op :: .. kk ..
+```
+
+Note that the class has a separate kind signature, so the elaborated decl should
+look like
+
+```haskell 
+class C @kk (a :: S kk) where ..
+```
+
+But how can we "connect up" the scoped variable `kk` with the skolem kind from the
+standalone kind signature for `C`?  In general we do this by unifying the two.
+For example
+
+```haskell 
+type T k = (k,Type)
+type W :: forall k. T k -> Type
+data W (a :: (x,Type)) = ..
+```
+
+When we encounter `(a :: (x,Type))` we unify the kind `(x,Type)` with the kind `(T k)`
+from the standalone kind signature.  Of course, unification looks through synonyms
+so we end up with the mapping `[x :-> k]` that connects the scoped type variable `x`
+with the kind from the signature.
+
+But in our earlier example this unification is ineffective, because `S` is a
+phantom synonym (and hence non-injective) that just discards its argument. So our answer to this issue is:
+
+> if matchUpSigWithDecl fails to connect `kk` with `k`, by unification, 
+> we give up and complain about a "disconnected" type variable.
+
+The fix is easy: just add an explicit `@kk` parameter to the declaration, to bind `kk`
+explicitly, rather than binding it implicitly via unification.
+
+More discussion can be found [at ghc issue #24083](https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc/-/issues/24083). 
+
+This text was adapted from [Simon Peyton Jones' note on disconnected type variable, please refer to this note for more technical insight](https://gitlab.haskell.org/ghc/ghc/-/blob/2eee65e1a4f441e99b79f3dc6e7d60492e4cad78/compiler/GHC/Tc/Gen/HsType.hs#L3092-3147).