Skill: Clojure Syntax Rescue

Goal

To efficiently fix "Unmatched delimiter", "Unexpected EOF", and "Invalid token" errors in Clojure files without falling into a guessing loop.

Use This Skill When

• You get a build error like Unmatched delimiter ), Unexpected EOF, or reading string.
• You have tried to fix a bracket issue once and failed.
• You are confused by nested maps or threading macros (->, ->>).

Do Not Use This Skill When

• The error is a logic error or runtime exception (use shadow-cljs-debug instead).

Steps

1. Stop Guessing: Do not just add/remove a parenthesis at the end of the line/file.
2. Locate with Linter:
   • Run pnpm lint or clj-kondo --lint <file> to get the exact line/column of the mismatch.
   • The build tool often reports the end of the file (EOF), but the linter finds the start of the mismatch.
3. Isolate the Form:
   • Identify the top-level form (function or def) containing the error.
   • If the form is complex, copy it to a scratch buffer or rewrite it from scratch.
   • It is often faster to re-type a function correctly than to debug a 5-level deep bracket mismatch.
4. Check Macros:
   • Threading macros (->, ->>) implicitly insert arguments. Ensure you aren't double-nesting.
   • case, cond, and let require exact pairing. Check those first.
5. Verify:
   • Run the linter again before running the full build.

Output

• A syntactically valid file.

Strong Hints

• Constraint: Never try to fix a LISP bracket error by eye-balling it if it's nested more than 2 levels deep. Use a tool/linter.
• Tip: Unexpected EOF almost always means a missing closing parenthesis ) or brace } somewhere above, rarely at the actual end.
• Tip: Vectors [] and Maps {} are common culprits. Check them first.

Suggested Next Skills

Check the Skill Graph for the full workflow.

• shadow-cljs-debug