2023-04-15 · TypeScript

Use satisfies instead of as when you only need checking

The difference between asserting a type and validating one, and why it matters during refactors.

Introduction

as hides mistakes until production while satisfies keeps inference intact; worked examples with config objects and variant unions show when each is correct.

Field notes

A few patterns we kept seeing while puttering around TypeScript problems:

  • The simple version survived every refactor; the clever version didn’t.
  • Documentation written during the work aged far better than documentation written after.
  • The second time a problem shows up, it is already a pattern — name it.

A checklist you can steal

  • The failure is reproducible with one command.
  • The fix has a test that fails without it.
  • Someone other than the author has run it on their machine.

Closing

Write the short version future-you will actually read. That is the whole trick.