Use a dedicated error code for abstract type object type error

docs/source/error_code_list.rst

@@ -564,6 +564,32 @@ Example:
     # Error: Cannot instantiate abstract class "Thing" with abstract attribute "save"  [abstract]
     t = Thing()
 
+Safe handling of abstract type object types [type-abstract]
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+
+Mypy always allows instantiating (calling) type objects typed as ``Type[t]``,
+even if it is not known that ``t`` is non-abstract, since it is a common
+pattern to create functions that act as object factories (custom constructors).
+Therefore, to prevent issues described in the above section, when an abstract
+type object is passed where ``Type[t]`` is expected, mypy will give an error.
+Example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+   from abc import ABCMeta, abstractmethod
+   from typing import List, Type, TypeVar
+
+   class Config(metaclass=ABCMeta):
+       @abstractmethod
+       def get_value(self, attr: str) -> str: ...
+
+   T = TypeVar("T")
+   def make_many(typ: Type[T], n: int) -> List[T]:
+       return [typ() for _ in range(n)]  # This will raise if typ is abstract
+
+   # Error: Only concrete class can be given where "Type[Config]" is expected [type-abstract]
+   make_many(Config, 5)
+
 Check that call to an abstract method via super is valid [safe-super]
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 

mypy/errorcodes.py

@@ -80,6 +80,9 @@ def __str__(self) -> str:
 ABSTRACT: Final = ErrorCode(
     "abstract", "Prevent instantiation of classes with abstract attributes", "General"
 )
+TYPE_ABSTRACT: Final = ErrorCode(
+    "type-abstract", "Require only concrete classes where Type[...] is expected", "General"
+)
 VALID_NEWTYPE: Final = ErrorCode(
     "valid-newtype", "Check that argument 2 to NewType is valid", "General"
 )

mypy/messages.py

@@ -1748,7 +1748,9 @@ def concrete_only_assign(self, typ: Type, context: Context) -> None:
 
     def concrete_only_call(self, typ: Type, context: Context) -> None:
         self.fail(
-            f"Only concrete class can be given where {format_type(typ)} is expected", context
+            f"Only concrete class can be given where {format_type(typ)} is expected",
+            context,
+            code=codes.TYPE_ABSTRACT,
         )
 
     def cannot_use_function_with_type(

test-data/unit/check-errorcodes.test

@@ -952,3 +952,15 @@ def bar() -> None: ...
 # This is inconsistent with how --warn-no-return behaves in general
 # but we want to minimize fallout of finally handling empty bodies.
 def baz() -> Optional[int]: ...  # OK
+
+[case testDedicatedErrorCodeTypeAbstract]
+import abc
+from typing import TypeVar, Type
+
+class C(abc.ABC):
+    @abc.abstractmethod
+    def foo(self) -> None: ...
+
+T = TypeVar("T")
+def test(tp: Type[T]) -> T: ...
+test(C)  # E: Only concrete class can be given where "Type[C]" is expected  [type-abstract]