TS branded string as key of the object

Question

Imagine, that I have class Foo with string identifier.

class Foo {
    id = '123' as FooId;
}

I try to ensure static typing of it using a brand enum.

enum FooIdBranding {}
type FooId = string & FooIdBranding;

So now, my goal is specific object, where the key is FooId and the value is Foo.

type fooCache = { [key: FooId]: Foo };

Unfortunately, it doesn't work:

TS1023: An index signature parameter type must be 'string' or 'number'

I thought, that the Record is my solution, but is doesn't work too.

type FooCache = Record<FooId, Foo>;

({} as FooCache)['123' as FooId] = new Foo();

TS 7017: Element implicitly has an 'any' type because type Record<FooId, Foo> has no index signature

Is there a correct way in TypeScript to resolve this problem?

Voracious

Not possible at the moment, typescript forces idnex parameter to be number or string not even a union of that will do. Work is beeign done in this area, not sure if this exact scenario will be supported: github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/pull/26797 – Cottonweed

Are there any workarounds? – Voracious

Depends how far you want to go with lying to the compiler.. this will enforce the restrictions you want: typescript-play.js.org/#code/… – Cottonweed

Looks dynamically =) It feels, like using Map<FooId, Foo> is now the best way – Voracious

It's still using strings .. it just lies to the compiler that the object is only indexable by the unique symbol .. it does the job but is a bit hackish .. – Cottonweed

No, it doesn't use string and it allows you to use even real objects – Voracious

And here is with branding – Voracious

Answer 1

"Symbol and Template String Pattern Index Signatures" were added to TypeScript 4.4, so this is now possible.

type FooId = string & {brand: 'FooId'};
const id1 = '1' as FooId
const id2 = '2' as FooId

class Foo {
  constructor(public id: FooId) {}
}

type fooCache = { [key: FooId]: Foo };

const foo: fooCache = {
  // Type '{ key: Foo; }' is not assignable to type 'fooCache'.
  // Object literal may only specify known properties, and 'key' does not exist in type 'fooCache'.(2322)
  // (property) key: Foo
  key: new Foo(id1)
}

// All good
const bar: fooCache = {
  [id1]: new Foo(id1)
}

Example in the TS playground.

Thanh