Scala 3: Implicit parameters should be provided with a `using` clause
From Scala 3.7 the compiler warns when you pass an argument to an implicit parameter list by plain application, as in xs.sorted(ord). Scala 3 wants the call site to say using, so a reader can tell the argument fills an implicit slot. It arrives in large numbers when an existing codebase upgrades, and it fails the build outright where -Werror or -Xfatal-warnings is on.
Quick fix
Read the commands before running them. Anything that restarts a service, deletes data or changes permissions should be tried on a non-production system first.
// Before
xs.sorted(Ordering.Int.reverse)
// After
xs.sorted(using Ordering.Int.reverse)
# Let the compiler rewrite every call site, then remove these options
scalacOptions ++= Seq("-rewrite", "-source", "3.7-migration")
sbt clean compile
# Or silence only this warning while migrating gradually
scalacOptions += "-Wconf:msg=Implicit parameters should be provided with a `using` clause:s"
How to diagnose Scala errors
Scala's most distinctive error class is binary incompatibility: libraries are published per Scala major version, and mixing artifacts built for different versions produces confusing "not a member of" or NoSuchMethodError failures. The %% operator in sbt exists precisely to append the right suffix, and most unresolved-dependency errors are a % where %% was needed.
If the quick fix above does not resolve it, work through these steps. They apply to this whole class of error, not just to this one message, which is usually what saves the time.
- Check the Scala version suffix on every dependency. Use
%%for Scala libraries and plain%only for Java ones. - Run
sbt evictedto list dependencies that were evicted by version conflict. A frequent source of runtime NoSuchMethodError. - Use
sbt dependencyTreeto see the resolved graph and locate the transitive dependency pulling in an old version. - For inference failures, add explicit type annotations at the boundary rather than at the error site; inference failures usually propagate from further up.
- Clear stale state with
sbt cleanand remove~/.ivy2/cacheor~/.cache/coursierentries only for the specific failing artifact.
Tools worth reaching for
sbt evictedsbt dependencyTreecoursier resolvescalac -explainMiMa (binary compat checks)
Authoritative references
Primary documentation for this error, worth reading before applying any fix in production.
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