diff --git a/.changeset/warm-flowers-burn.md b/.changeset/warm-flowers-burn.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91cde3efb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/warm-flowers-burn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@hey-api/codegen-core': patch
+---
+
+**fix**: simplify symbol merging logic
diff --git a/dev/openapi-ts.config.ts b/dev/openapi-ts.config.ts
index c366f5414..504e47447 100644
--- a/dev/openapi-ts.config.ts
+++ b/dev/openapi-ts.config.ts
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ export default defineConfig(() => {
           // signature: 'object',
           // transformer: '@hey-api/transformers',
           // transformer: true,
-          validator: 'valibot',
+          // validator: 'valibot',
           // validator: {
           //   request: 'zod',
           //   response: 'zod',
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ export default defineConfig(() => {
           // definitions: 'z{{name}}',
           exportFromIndex: true,
           // metadata: true,
-          name: 'valibot',
+          // name: 'valibot',
           // requests: {
           //   case: 'PascalCase',
           //   name: '{{name}}Data',
diff --git a/packages/codegen-core/src/planner/planner.ts b/packages/codegen-core/src/planner/planner.ts
index a5ee20320..e5645b5bb 100644
--- a/packages/codegen-core/src/planner/planner.ts
+++ b/packages/codegen-core/src/planner/planner.ts
@@ -358,6 +358,7 @@ export class Planner {
   private assignTopLevelName(
     args: Partial<AssignOptions> & {
       ctx: AnalysisContext;
+      debug?: boolean;
       node?: INode;
       symbol: Symbol;
     },
@@ -388,6 +389,7 @@ export class Planner {
     args: Pick<Partial<AssignOptions>, 'scope'> &
       Pick<AssignOptions, 'scopesToUpdate'> & {
         ctx: AnalysisContext;
+        debug?: boolean;
         /** The file the symbol belongs to. */
         file: File;
         node?: INode;
@@ -410,6 +412,7 @@ export class Planner {
   private assignSymbolName(
     args: AssignOptions & {
       ctx: AnalysisContext;
+      debug?: boolean;
       /** The file the symbol belongs to. */
       file: File;
       node?: INode;
diff --git a/packages/codegen-core/src/project/namespace.ts b/packages/codegen-core/src/project/namespace.ts
index d6b1aaa1d..8a4ee8fd1 100644
--- a/packages/codegen-core/src/project/namespace.ts
+++ b/packages/codegen-core/src/project/namespace.ts
@@ -1,77 +1,37 @@
 import type { SymbolKind } from '../symbols/types';
 
+const kindRank: Record<SymbolKind, number> = {
+  class: 3,
+  enum: 4,
+  function: 5,
+  interface: 1,
+  namespace: 0,
+  type: 2,
+  var: 6,
+};
+
 /**
  * Returns true if two declarations of given kinds
  * are allowed to share the same identifier in TypeScript.
  */
 export function canShareName(a: SymbolKind, b: SymbolKind): boolean {
-  // same-kind always valid for interfaces (merging)
-  if (a === 'interface' && b === 'interface') return true;
-
-  // type vs interface merges
-  if (
-    (a === 'interface' && b === 'type') ||
-    (a === 'type' && b === 'interface')
-  ) {
-    return false; // TypeScript does NOT merge type-alias with interface.
-  }
-
-  // type vs type = conflict
-  if (a === 'type' && b === 'type') return false;
-
-  // interface vs class = allowed (declare-merge)
-  if (
-    (a === 'interface' && b === 'class') ||
-    (a === 'class' && b === 'interface')
-  ) {
-    return true;
+  // sort based on TypeScript merge precedence so `a` is always the weaker merge candidate
+  // ensures that asymmetric merges like `type + var` are correctly handled
+  if (kindRank[a] > kindRank[b]) {
+    [a, b] = [b, a];
   }
 
-  // enum vs namespace = allowed (merges into value+type)
-  if (
-    (a === 'enum' && b === 'namespace') ||
-    (a === 'namespace' && b === 'enum')
-  ) {
-    return true;
+  switch (a) {
+    case 'interface':
+      return b === 'class' || b === 'interface';
+    case 'namespace':
+      return (
+        b === 'class' || b === 'enum' || b === 'function' || b === 'namespace'
+      );
+    case 'type':
+      // type can only merge with value-only declarations
+      return b === 'function' || b === 'var';
+    default:
+      return false;
   }
-
-  // class vs namespace = allowed
-  if (
-    (a === 'class' && b === 'namespace') ||
-    (a === 'namespace' && b === 'class')
-  ) {
-    return true;
-  }
-
-  // namespace vs namespace = allowed (merging)
-  if (a === 'namespace' && b === 'namespace') return true;
-
-  // enum vs enum = conflict IF values conflict (TypeScript flags duplicates)
-  if (a === 'enum' && b === 'enum') return false;
-
-  // function and namespace merge (namespace can augment function)
-  if (
-    (a === 'function' && b === 'namespace') ||
-    (a === 'namespace' && b === 'function')
-  ) {
-    return true;
-  }
-
-  // these collide with each other in the value namespace
-  const valueKinds = new Set<SymbolKind>(['class', 'enum', 'function', 'var']);
-
-  const aInValue = valueKinds.has(a);
-  const bInValue = valueKinds.has(b);
-
-  if (aInValue && bInValue) return false;
-
-  // type-only declarations do not collide with value-only declarations
-  const typeKinds = new Set<SymbolKind>(['interface', 'type']);
-  const aInType = typeKinds.has(a);
-  const bInType = typeKinds.has(b);
-
-  // if one is type-only and the other is value-only, they do NOT collide
-  if (aInType !== bInType) return true;
-
-  return true;
 }