error TS2339: Property 'x' does not exist on type 'Y'

Question

I don\'t understand why this code generates TypeScript error. (It\'s not the original code and is a bit derived, so please ignore the non-sense in the example):

Answer 1

The correct fix is to add the property in the type definition as explained in @Nitzan Tomer's answer. If that's not an option though:

(Hacky) Workaround 1

You can assign the object to a constant of type any, then call the 'non-existing' property.

const newObj: any = oldObj;
return newObj.someProperty;

You can also cast it as any:

return (oldObj as any).someProperty;

This fails to provide any type safety though, which is the point of TypeScript.

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(Hacky) Workaround 2

Another thing you may consider, if you're unable to modify the original type, is extending the type like so:

interface NewType extends OldType {
  someProperty: string;
}

Now you can cast your variable as this NewType instead of any. Still not ideal but less permissive than any, giving you more type safety.

return (oldObj as NewType).someProperty;