**BROKEN INITIAL FOWARDREF**

jambo/parser/ref_type_parser.py

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from jambo.types.type_parser_options import TypeParserOptions
 from typing_extensions import Any, ForwardRef, TypeVar, Union, Unpack
 
 
-RefType = TypeVar("RefType", bound=Union[int, str])
+RefType = TypeVar("RefType", bound=Union[type, ForwardRef])
 
 
 class RefTypeParser(GenericTypeParser):
@@ -30,16 +30,13 @@ class RefTypeParser(GenericTypeParser):
                 "Look into $defs and # for recursive references."
             )
 
-        ref_type = None
-        mapped_properties = {}
-
         if properties["$ref"] == "#":
             if "title" not in context:
                 raise ValueError(
                     "RefTypeParser: Missing title in properties for $ref #"
                 )
 
-            ref_type = ForwardRef(context["title"])
+            return ForwardRef(context["title"]), {}
 
         elif properties["$ref"].startswith("#/$defs/"):
             target_name = None
@@ -56,17 +53,8 @@ class RefTypeParser(GenericTypeParser):
             if target_name is None or target_property is None:
                 raise ValueError(f"RefTypeParser: Invalid $ref {properties['$ref']}")
 
-            ref_type, mapped_properties = GenericTypeParser.type_from_properties(
+            return GenericTypeParser.type_from_properties(
                 target_name, target_property, **kwargs
             )
 
-        else:
-            raise ValueError(
-                "RefTypeParser: Invalid $ref format. "
-                "Only local references are supported."
-            )
-
-        if not required:
-            mapped_properties["default"] = None
-
-        return ref_type, mapped_properties
+        raise ValueError(f"RefTypeParser: Unsupported $ref {properties['$ref']}")

jambo/types/type_parser_options.py

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-from typing_extensions import Any, NotRequired, TypedDict
+from jambo.types.json_schema_type import JSONSchema
+
+from typing_extensions import NotRequired, TypedDict
 
 
 class TypeParserOptions(TypedDict):
     required: bool
-    context: dict[str, Any]
+    context: JSONSchema
     ref_cache: NotRequired[dict[str, type]]

tests/parser/test_ref_type_parser.py

@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-from jambo.parser import RefTypeParser
+from jambo.parser import ObjectTypeParser, RefTypeParser
+
+from typing_extensions import ForwardRef, get_type_hints
 
 from unittest import TestCase
 
 
 class TestRefTypeParser(TestCase):
-    def test_ref_type_parser_local_ref(self):
+    def test_ref_type_parser_with_def(self):
         properties = {
             "title": "person",
             "$ref": "#/$defs/person",
@@ -20,8 +22,8 @@ class TestRefTypeParser(TestCase):
         }
 
         type_parsing, type_validator = RefTypeParser().from_properties(
-            properties=properties,
-            name="placeholder",
+            "person",
+            properties,
             context=properties,
             required=True,
         )
@@ -32,3 +34,50 @@ class TestRefTypeParser(TestCase):
 
         self.assertEqual(obj.name, "John")
         self.assertEqual(obj.age, 30)
+
+    def test_ref_type_parser_with_forward_ref(self):
+        properties = {
+            "title": "person",
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "name": {"type": "string"},
+                "age": {"type": "integer"},
+                "emergency_contact": {
+                    "$ref": "#",
+                },
+            },
+        }
+
+        type_parsing, type_validator = ObjectTypeParser().from_properties(
+            "person",
+            properties,
+            context=properties,
+            required=True,
+        )
+        type_parsing.update_forward_refs(person=type_parsing)
+
+        self.assertIsInstance(type_parsing, type)
+
+        type_hints = get_type_hints(type_parsing, globals(), locals())
+
+        self.assertIsInstance(type_hints["emergency_contact"], ForwardRef)
+
+        """
+        This is a example of how to resolve ForwardRef in a dynamic model:
+        ```python
+            from typing import get_type_hints
+            
+            # Make sure your dynamic model has a name
+            model = type_parsing
+            model.update_forward_refs(person=model)  # 👈 resolve the ForwardRef("person")
+            
+            # Inject into globals manually
+            globalns = globals().copy()
+            globalns['person'] = model
+            
+            # Now you can get the resolved hints
+            type_hints = get_type_hints(model, globalns=globalns)
+        ```
+        Use `TypeParserOptions.ref_cache` option to cache and resolve ForwardRefs
+        inside the ObjectTypeParser.to_model method.
+        """