.describe() is not wrapping, but creates a "new" _def

[hco]

Hey there 👋

I've regularly hoped for some kind of "metadata" in zod, but read a lot of discussion about why it's not needed.

In my case, I just need to be able to identify some of my own schemas.
I do this by comparing someSchema._def with mySchema._def, unwrapping optional et al.

Now I noticed that it does not work with descriptions. Digging into the zod code, I found this:

zod/src/types.ts

Lines 499 to 505 in 0862731

	describe(description: string): this {
	const This = (this as any).constructor;
	return new This({
	...this._def,
	description,
	});
	}

My feeling is that this means that the ._def will not point to my schema anymore.
What do you think about adding something like unwrap or innerType to describe, too?
Or am I doing something wrong?

[m10rten]

Hi, this pattern is very common in zod, the general def type name will be available, might not be what you need but that could be a pointer in the right direction.