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@jjmarr-amd jjmarr-amd commented Sep 22, 2025

This is a new linter check that implements Scott Meyers' recommendation to avoid default lambda captures, e.g. [&]() { ... }.

The check does not contain an autofix. This will be added in a future PR to reduce the code review burden on this PR.

This PR was generated with AI tools. My workflow involved 20 minutes of discussion about the check with AI, after which the AI generated commit 35df1c6. I then reviewed the PR at jjmarr-amd#1 and made various changes to the LLM output in follow-up commits. This took me a few months in between other work.

I disagreed with the LLM on a few somewhat important points. First, the original warning called out the type of default capture (by-value or by-reference) in the warning message. I felt that was overengineered and unnecessary. Second, the LLM created an AST_MATCHER that matched every lambda, then checked for the presence of a default capture in check(). From previous code reviews I believe it's better to put that logic into the matcher itself.

on-behalf-of: @amd [email protected]

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llvmbot commented Sep 22, 2025

@llvm/pr-subscribers-clang-tools-extra

@llvm/pr-subscribers-clang-tidy

Author: JJ Marr (jjmarr-amd)

Changes

This is a new linter check that implements Scott Meyers' recommendation to avoid default lambda captures, e.g. [&]() { ... }.

The check does not contain an autofix. This will be added in a future PR to reduce the code review burden on this PR.

This PR was generated with AI tools. My workflow involved 20 minutes of discussion about the check with AI, after which the AI generated commit 35df1c6. I then reviewed the PR at jjmarr-amd#1 and made various changes to the LLM output in follow-up commits.

I disagreed with the LLM on a few somewhat important points. First, the original warning called out the type of default capture (by-value or by-reference) in the warning message. I felt that was overengineered and unnecessary. Second, the LLM created an AST_MATCHER that matched every lambda, then checked for the presence of a default capture in check(). From previous code reviews I believe it's better to put that logic into the matcher itself.


Full diff: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/160150.diff

8 Files Affected:

  • (modified) clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp (+3)
  • (modified) clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt (+1)
  • (added) clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.cpp (+40)
  • (added) clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.h (+34)
  • (modified) clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst (+9)
  • (added) clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.rst (+43)
  • (modified) clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst (+1)
  • (added) clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.cpp (+98)
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp
index 8baa8f6b35d4c..67222cbafb5f9 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/BugproneTidyModule.cpp
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "CopyConstructorInitCheck.h"
 #include "CrtpConstructorAccessibilityCheck.h"
 #include "DanglingHandleCheck.h"
+#include "DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.h"
 #include "DerivedMethodShadowingBaseMethodCheck.h"
 #include "DynamicStaticInitializersCheck.h"
 #include "EasilySwappableParametersCheck.h"
@@ -136,6 +137,8 @@ class BugproneModule : public ClangTidyModule {
         "bugprone-copy-constructor-init");
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<DanglingHandleCheck>(
         "bugprone-dangling-handle");
+    CheckFactories.registerCheck<DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck>(
+        "bugprone-default-lambda-capture");
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<DerivedMethodShadowingBaseMethodCheck>(
         "bugprone-derived-method-shadowing-base-method");
     CheckFactories.registerCheck<DynamicStaticInitializersCheck>(
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt
index b0dbe84a16cd4..c8c31f9f96bb0 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ add_clang_library(clangTidyBugproneModule STATIC
   CopyConstructorInitCheck.cpp
   CrtpConstructorAccessibilityCheck.cpp
   DanglingHandleCheck.cpp
+  DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.cpp
   DerivedMethodShadowingBaseMethodCheck.cpp
   DynamicStaticInitializersCheck.cpp
   EasilySwappableParametersCheck.cpp
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..288feb7853e0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#include "DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.h"
+#include "clang/AST/ASTContext.h"
+#include "clang/ASTMatchers/ASTMatchFinder.h"
+
+using namespace clang::ast_matchers;
+
+namespace clang::tidy::bugprone {
+
+namespace {
+AST_MATCHER(LambdaExpr, hasDefaultCapture) {
+  return Node.getCaptureDefault() != LCD_None;
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+void DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck::registerMatchers(MatchFinder *Finder) {
+  Finder->addMatcher(lambdaExpr(hasDefaultCapture()).bind("lambda"), this);
+}
+
+void DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck::check(const MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) {
+  const auto *Lambda = Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<LambdaExpr>("lambda");
+  assert(Lambda);
+
+  SourceLocation DefaultCaptureLoc = Lambda->getCaptureDefaultLoc();
+  if (DefaultCaptureLoc.isInvalid())
+    return;
+
+  diag(DefaultCaptureLoc, "lambda default captures are discouraged; "
+                          "prefer to capture specific variables explicitly");
+}
+
+} // namespace clang::tidy::bugprone
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.h b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9af861aaf2e93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/clang-tidy/bugprone/DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+//
+// Part of the LLVM Project, under the Apache License v2.0 with LLVM Exceptions.
+// See https://llvm.org/LICENSE.txt for license information.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception
+//
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+#ifndef LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_BUGPRONE_DEFAULT_LAMBDA_CAPTURE_H
+#define LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_BUGPRONE_DEFAULT_LAMBDA_CAPTURE_H
+
+#include "../ClangTidyCheck.h"
+
+namespace clang::tidy::bugprone {
+
+/** Flags lambdas that use default capture modes
+ *
+ * For the user-facing documentation see:
+ * http://clang.llvm.org/extra/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.html
+ */
+class DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck : public ClangTidyCheck {
+public:
+  DefaultLambdaCaptureCheck(StringRef Name, ClangTidyContext *Context)
+      : ClangTidyCheck(Name, Context) {}
+  void registerMatchers(ast_matchers::MatchFinder *Finder) override;
+  void check(const ast_matchers::MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) override;
+  std::optional<TraversalKind> getCheckTraversalKind() const override {
+    return TK_IgnoreUnlessSpelledInSource;
+  }
+};
+
+} // namespace clang::tidy::bugprone
+
+#endif // LLVM_CLANG_TOOLS_EXTRA_CLANG_TIDY_BUGPRONE_DEFAULT_LAMBDA_CAPTURE_H
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
index bc916396a14ca..780cf41373128 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/ReleaseNotes.rst
@@ -203,6 +203,15 @@ New checks
   Finds virtual function overrides with different visibility than the function
   in the base class.
 
+- New :doc:`bugprone-default-lambda-capture
+  <clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/default-lambda-capture>` check.
+
+  Finds lambda expressions that use default capture modes (``[=]`` or ``[&]``)
+  and suggests using explicit captures instead. Default captures can lead to
+  subtle bugs including dangling references with ``[&]``, unnecessary copies
+  with ``[=]``, and make code less maintainable by hiding which variables are
+  actually being captured.
+
 New check aliases
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f1fcf3ec52948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+.. title:: clang-tidy - bugprone-default-lambda-capture
+
+bugprone-default-lambda-capture
+===============================
+
+  Finds lambda expressions that use default capture modes (``[=]`` or ``[&]``)
+  and suggests using explicit captures instead. Default captures can lead to
+  subtle bugs including dangling references with ``[&]``, unnecessary copies
+  with ``[=]``, and make code less maintainable by hiding which variables are
+  actually being captured.
+
+Implements Item 31 of Effective Modern C++ by Scott Meyers.
+
+Example
+-------
+
+.. code-block:: c++
+
+  void example() {
+    int x = 1;
+    int y = 2;
+    
+    // Bad - default capture by copy
+    auto lambda1 = [=]() { return x + y; };
+    
+    // Bad - default capture by reference
+    auto lambda2 = [&]() { return x + y; };
+    
+    // Good - explicit captures
+    auto lambda3 = [x, y]() { return x + y; };
+    auto lambda4 = [&x, &y]() { return x + y; };
+  }
+
+The check will warn on:
+
+- Default capture by copy: ``[=]``
+- Default capture by reference: ``[&]``
+- Mixed captures with defaults: ``[=, &x]`` or ``[&, x]``
+
+The check will not warn on:
+
+- Explicit captures: ``[x]``, ``[&x]``, ``[x, y]``, ``[this]``
+- Empty capture lists: ``[]``
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
index 472d509101cdb..5232f650f6579 100644
--- a/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/docs/clang-tidy/checks/list.rst
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ Clang-Tidy Checks
    :doc:`bugprone-copy-constructor-init <bugprone/copy-constructor-init>`, "Yes"
    :doc:`bugprone-crtp-constructor-accessibility <bugprone/crtp-constructor-accessibility>`, "Yes"
    :doc:`bugprone-dangling-handle <bugprone/dangling-handle>`,
+   :doc:`bugprone-default-lambda-capture <bugprone/default-lambda-capture>`,
    :doc:`bugprone-derived-method-shadowing-base-method <bugprone/derived-method-shadowing-base-method>`,
    :doc:`bugprone-dynamic-static-initializers <bugprone/dynamic-static-initializers>`,
    :doc:`bugprone-easily-swappable-parameters <bugprone/easily-swappable-parameters>`,
diff --git a/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.cpp b/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..010edf11f0a2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/clang-tools-extra/test/clang-tidy/checkers/bugprone/default-lambda-capture.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+// RUN: %check_clang_tidy %s bugprone-default-lambda-capture %t
+
+void test_default_captures() {
+  int value = 42;
+  int another = 10;
+
+  auto lambda1 = [=](int x) { return value + x; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:19: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+
+  auto lambda2 = [&](int x) { return value + x; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:19: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+
+  auto lambda3 = [=, &another](int x) { return value + another + x; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:19: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+
+  auto lambda4 = [&, value](int x) { return value + another + x; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:19: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+}
+
+void test_acceptable_captures() {
+  int value = 42;
+  int another = 10;
+
+  auto lambda1 = [value](int x) { return value + x; };
+  auto lambda2 = [&value](int x) { return value + x; };
+  auto lambda3 = [value, another](int x) { return value + another + x; };
+  auto lambda4 = [&value, &another](int x) { return value + another + x; };
+
+  auto lambda5 = [](int x, int y) { return x + y; };
+
+  struct S {
+    int member = 5;
+    void foo() {
+      auto lambda = [this]() { return member; };
+    }
+  };
+}
+
+void test_nested_lambdas() {
+  int outer_var = 1;
+  int middle_var = 2;
+  int inner_var = 3;
+
+  auto outer = [=]() {
+    // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:17: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+    
+    auto inner = [&](int x) { return outer_var + middle_var + inner_var + x; };
+    // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:19: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+    
+    return inner(10);
+  };
+}
+
+void test_lambda_returns() {
+  int a = 1, b = 2, c = 3;
+
+  auto create_adder = [=](int x) {
+    // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:24: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+    return [x](int y) { return x + y; }; // Inner lambda is fine - explicit capture
+  };
+  
+  auto func1 = [&]() { return a; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:17: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+  
+  auto func2 = [=]() { return b; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:17: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+}
+
+class TestClass {
+  int member = 42;
+  
+public:
+  void test_member_function_lambdas() {
+    int local = 10;
+    
+    auto lambda1 = [=]() { return member + local; };
+    // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:21: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+    
+    auto lambda2 = [&]() { return member + local; };
+    // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:21: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+    
+    auto lambda3 = [this, local]() { return member + local; };
+    auto lambda4 = [this, &local]() { return member + local; };
+  }
+};
+
+template<typename T>
+void test_template_lambdas() {
+  T value{};
+  
+  auto lambda = [=](T x) { return value + x; };
+  // CHECK-MESSAGES: :[[@LINE-1]]:18: warning: lambda default captures are discouraged; prefer to capture specific variables explicitly [bugprone-default-lambda-capture]
+}
+
+void instantiate_templates() {
+  test_template_lambdas<int>();
+  test_template_lambdas<double>();
+}

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github-actions bot commented Sep 23, 2025

✅ With the latest revision this PR passed the C/C++ code linter.

@EugeneZelenko
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Please address Clang-Tidy complains.

@jjmarr-amd
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jjmarr-amd commented Sep 23, 2025

Please address Clang-Tidy complains.

Trying to figure out why this wasn't flagged by clangd. Maybe it's because clangd can't see the filename?

@jjmarr-amd jjmarr-amd requested a review from vbvictor September 25, 2025 15:09
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leave comments for myself

Coding guidelines that recommend against defaulted lambda captures include:

* Item 31 of Effective Modern C++ by Scott Meyers
* `AUTOSAR C++ Rule A5-1-2 <https://www.mathworks.com/help//releases/
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todo: open up the HTML and verify the new link works.

@jjmarr-amd
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Attempted to use AI to add the auto fix-it functionality. I couldn't get it to work on my own without a bunch of annoying string manipulation. I feel like there is a better non-string manipulation way of generating the proposed fix-its.

I also have no idea why a "VLA capture" would be so difficult or how I'm supposed to capture it. The LLM kept flagging this for me as a potential issue.

Previous thread: https://reviews.llvm.org/D4368

I decided to ignore it.

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I like reviewing AI-generated code in the web interface.

Comment on lines 38 to 42
if (Capture.capturesVLAType()) {
// VLA captures are rare and complex - for now we skip them
// A full implementation would need to handle the VLA type properly
return std::nullopt;
}
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I have no idea how I'm supposed to handle this. Also, I think I need to add a TODO.

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clang-tidy will crash if I remove this and pass in a VLA type, so I'm going to have to handle this case.

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@jjmarr-amd jjmarr-amd Oct 8, 2025

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clang/lib/AST/StmtPrinter.cpp:2368-2370 has this interesting line:

    case LCK_VLAType:
      llvm_unreachable("VLA type in explicit captures.");
    }

I have come to the conclusion that it's impossible to explicitly capture a VLA, since VLAs aren't ISO standard C++. So, if a VLA shows up, the check will early-return without a warning.

IMO, if you've gone to the effort of enabling clang-tidy and you're still using variable-length arrays for some reason, this check likely won't convince you otherwise.

I'm somewhat surprised that an LLM was good enough to flag this as a potential issue but not good enough to comprehend that it's impossible to fix.

@jjmarr-amd jjmarr-amd changed the title [clang-tidy] Add readability-default-lambda-capture [clang-tidy] Add readability-avoid-default-lambda-capture Oct 8, 2025

* Item 31 of Effective Modern C++ by Scott Meyers

This check does not lint for variable-length array (VLA) captures. VLAs are not
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How about moving before list of guidelines?

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It seemed like a post-script to me, but sure.

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