Inconsistent lookup/resolution for `typeof` in JSDoc in references search

[DanielRosenwasser]

/**
 * @template T
 * @param {T} a
 * @return {typeof a}
 */
function f(a) {
    return a;
}

Today, this gives the following error (playground link):

 * @return {typeof a}
                   ~
error: Cannot find name 'a'.

However, if you add an outer declaration of a (playground link):

let a = 123;

/**
 * @template T
 * @param {T} a
 * @return {typeof a}
 */
function f(a) {
    return a;
}

typeof a "correctly" resolves to the outer a (and you can see so with the error), but go-to-definition and find-all-references resolve locally to the parameter, not the outer local.

[sw1tch3roo]

Hi! I’d like to work on this issue, let me know if that’s okay

[DanielRosenwasser]

Sure, give it a shot - I can't say everyone will agree with my opinion on this, but I think the right fix here is actually to make typeof a resolve to the parameters, rather than outer variables. The reason is that it's inconsistent with how we'd think about the TypeScript equivalent:

function f<T>(a: T): typeof a {
    return a;
}

[sw1tch3roo]

Sure, give it a shot - I can't say everyone will agree with my opinion on this, but I think the right fix here is actually to make typeof a resolve to the parameters, rather than outer variables. The reason is that it's inconsistent with how we'd think about the TypeScript equivalent:

function f(a: T): typeof a {
return a;
}

Thanks! I agree — resolving typeof to the parameter itself rather than an outer variable does seem more consistent with the TypeScript behavior, especially when we consider generic signatures like:

function f<T>(a: T): typeof a {
  return a;
}

I'll give it a shot with that approach.

As an alternative (if the team prefers to keep current behavior), I could also explore detecting this case and issuing an error or warning when typeof refers to an outer scope shadowed by a parameter — but I think adjusting the resolver makes more sense and is cleaner.

Can you assign it to me? I'll start working on a draft PR and will share it for feedback soon =)