So. I was working with this code:

public function front(?string $sortBy,
        ?string $time,
        ?string $type,
        ?string $filter,
        string $federation,
        Request $request): Response
    {
        $user = $this->getUser();

        if (!$user)
        {
            $filter = 'all';
        }

        $criteria = new EntryPageView($this->getPageNb($request));
        $criteria->showSortOption($criteria->resolveSort($sortBy))    

... and so on; the function continues. VSCode told me there was a syntax error on the close brace on the if statement. I stared at it for a while, then pasted the code into GPT (not Copilot). Here's the conversation we had about it:

Me

What's the syntax error here?

(and I pasted the code)

GPT

The syntax error in your PHP function public function front seems to be due to the incorrect placement of the closing curly brace for the if statement. It appears that the if statement is not properly closed before the $criteria initialization begins. The corrected code should look like this:

public function front(?string $sortBy, ?string $time, ?string $type, ?string $filter, string $federation, Request $request): Response
{
    $user = $this->getUser();

    if (!$user) {
        $filter = 'all';
    } // Closing brace for the if statement

    $criteria = new EntryPageView($this->getPageNb($request));
    $criteria->showSortOption($criteria->resolveSort($sortBy));
    // ... rest of your function code ...
}

Ensure that each statement and block is properly closed and followed correctly by the next statement. This corrected structure should resolve the syntax error you are encountering.

Me

I don't get it. I put a closing curly brace right after the statement in mine... what am I missing?

GPT

I apologize for the confusion. Upon re-examining your code, it seems the placement of the curly brace is correct. If you're still encountering a syntax error, it may not be related to the if statement structure.

Let's look at other possible issues:

... and so on. Pasting GPT's recommended if-statement block, including the curly brace that was already there, fixed the error. I have since re-pasted the same thing I initially gave to GPT to VSCode, and it all works now, and asking the exact same question of GPT again now leads to random guesses which have nothing to do with the cursed curly brace that was previously causing problems for both VSCode and GPT.

I have given up and moved on at this point, content to say vaguely that maybe the unusual brace style, or pasting the incomplete function without semicolon or final close brace, managed to coincidentally confuse GPT on exactly the same line where VSCode had gotten confused for unexplained reasons. But the whole thing still has this Twilight-Zone oddness to me.