What is a hallucinated API, and how do you catch one before it causes damage?

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Re-explain

A hallucinated API is an invented method, option, endpoint, or package whose plausible name makes it look real.

Let the compiler, type checker, or language server flag unknown symbols.
Run a focused experiment in dynamic code instead of trusting an explanation.
Check unfamiliar calls in official documentation for the project's installed version.
Review a package's registry, publisher, and source before installation; plausible invented names can create supply-chain risk.
Keep new dependencies behind human approval.

When sources conflict, trust the executable project and authoritative documentation over the model's confidence.

Rewriting in plainer words…

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