Optional checkers

Pylint provides the following optional plugins:

You can activate any or all of these extensions by adding a load-plugins line to the MAIN section of your .pylintrc, for example:

load-plugins=pylint.extensions.docparams,pylint.extensions.docstyle

Broad Try Clause checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.broad_try_clause. Verbatim name of the checker is broad_try_clause.

See also broad_try_clause checker's options' documentation

Broad Try Clause checker Messages

too-many-try-statements (W0717):

Try clause contains too many statements.

Code Style checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.code_style. Verbatim name of the checker is code_style.

Code Style checker Documentation

Checkers that can improve code consistency. As such they don't necessarily provide a performance benefit and are often times opinionated.

See also code_style checker's options' documentation

Code Style checker Messages

consider-using-tuple (R6102):

Consider using an in-place tuple instead of list Only for style consistency! Emitted where an in-place defined list can be replaced by a tuple. Due to optimizations by CPython, there is no performance benefit from it.

consider-using-namedtuple-or-dataclass (R6101):

Consider using namedtuple or dataclass for dictionary values Emitted when dictionary values can be replaced by namedtuples or dataclass instances.

prefer-typing-namedtuple (R6105):

Prefer 'typing.NamedTuple' over 'collections.namedtuple' 'typing.NamedTuple' uses the well-known 'class' keyword with type-hints for readability (it's also faster as it avoids an internal exec call). Disabled by default!

consider-using-assignment-expr (R6103):

Use '%s' instead Emitted when an if assignment is directly followed by an if statement and both can be combined by using an assignment expression :=. Requires Python 3.8 and py-version >= 3.8.

consider-using-augmented-assign (R6104):

Use '%s' to do an augmented assign directly Emitted when an assignment is referring to the object that it is assigning to. This can be changed to be an augmented assign. Disabled by default!

Comparison-Placement checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.comparison_placement. Verbatim name of the checker is comparison-placement.

Comparison-Placement checker Messages

misplaced-comparison-constant (C2201):

Comparison should be %s Used when the constant is placed on the left side of a comparison. It is usually clearer in intent to place it in the right hand side of the comparison.

Confusing Elif checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.confusing_elif. Verbatim name of the checker is confusing_elif.

Confusing Elif checker Messages

confusing-consecutive-elif (R5601):

Consecutive elif with differing indentation level, consider creating a function to separate the inner elif Used when an elif statement follows right after an indented block which itself ends with if or elif. It may not be obvious if the elif statement was willingly or mistakenly unindented. Extracting the indented if statement into a separate function might avoid confusion and prevent errors.

Consider-Using-Any-Or-All checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.for_any_all. Verbatim name of the checker is consider-using-any-or-all.

Consider-Using-Any-Or-All checker Messages

consider-using-any-or-all (C0501):

`for` loop could be `%s` A for loop that checks for a condition and return a bool can be replaced with any or all.

Consider Refactoring Into While checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.consider_refactoring_into_while_condition. Verbatim name of the checker is consider_refactoring_into_while.

Consider Refactoring Into While checker Messages

consider-refactoring-into-while-condition (R3501):

Consider using 'while %s' instead of 'while %s:' an 'if', and a 'break' Emitted when while True: loop is used and the first statement is a break condition. The if / break construct can be removed if the check is inverted and moved to the while statement.

Consider Ternary Expression checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.consider_ternary_expression. Verbatim name of the checker is consider_ternary_expression.

Consider Ternary Expression checker Messages

consider-ternary-expression (W0160):

Consider rewriting as a ternary expression Multiple assign statements spread across if/else blocks can be rewritten with a single assignment and ternary expression

Deprecated Builtins checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.bad_builtin. Verbatim name of the checker is deprecated_builtins.

Deprecated Builtins checker Documentation

This used to be the bad-builtin core checker, but it was moved to an extension instead. It can be used for finding prohibited used builtins, such as map or filter, for which other alternatives exists.

If you want to control for what builtins the checker should warn about, you can use the bad-functions option:

$ pylint a.py --load-plugins=pylint.extensions.bad_builtin --bad-functions=apply,reduce
...

See also deprecated_builtins checker's options' documentation

Deprecated Builtins checker Messages

bad-builtin (W0141):

Used builtin function %s Used when a disallowed builtin function is used (see the bad-function option). Usual disallowed functions are the ones like map, or filter , where Python offers now some cleaner alternative like list comprehension.

Design checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.mccabe. Verbatim name of the checker is design.

Design checker Documentation

You can now use this plugin for finding complexity issues in your code base.

Activate it through pylint --load-plugins=pylint.extensions.mccabe. It introduces a new warning, too-complex, which is emitted when a code block has a complexity higher than a preestablished value, which can be controlled through the max-complexity option, such as in this example:

$ cat a.py
def f10():
    """McCabe rating: 11"""
    myint = 2
    if myint == 5:
        return myint
    elif myint == 6:
        return myint
    elif myint == 7:
        return myint
    elif myint == 8:
        return myint
    elif myint == 9:
        return myint
    elif myint == 10:
        if myint == 8:
            while True:
                return True
        elif myint == 8:
            with myint:
                return 8
    else:
        if myint == 2:
            return myint
        return myint
    return myint
$ pylint a.py --load-plugins=pylint.extensions.mccabe
R:1: 'f10' is too complex. The McCabe rating is 11 (too-complex)
$ pylint a.py --load-plugins=pylint.extensions.mccabe --max-complexity=50
$

See also design checker's options' documentation

Design checker Messages

too-complex (R1260):

%s is too complex. The McCabe rating is %d Used when a method or function is too complex based on McCabe Complexity Cyclomatic

Dict-Init-Mutate checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.dict_init_mutate. Verbatim name of the checker is dict-init-mutate.

Dict-Init-Mutate checker Messages

dict-init-mutate (C3401):

Declare all known key/values when initializing the dictionary. Dictionaries can be initialized with a single statement using dictionary literal syntax.

Docstyle checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.docstyle. Verbatim name of the checker is docstyle.

Docstyle checker Messages

bad-docstring-quotes (C0198):

Bad docstring quotes in %s, expected """, given %s Used when a docstring does not have triple double quotes.

docstring-first-line-empty (C0199):

First line empty in %s docstring Used when a blank line is found at the beginning of a docstring.

Dunder checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.dunder. Verbatim name of the checker is dunder.

See also dunder checker's options' documentation

Dunder checker Messages

bad-dunder-name (W3201):

Bad or misspelled dunder method name %s. Used when a dunder method is misspelled or defined with a name not within the predefined list of dunder names.

Else If Used checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.check_elif. Verbatim name of the checker is else_if_used.

Else If Used checker Messages

else-if-used (R5501):

Consider using "elif" instead of "else" then "if" to remove one indentation level Used when an else statement is immediately followed by an if statement and does not contain statements that would be unrelated to it.

Empty-Comment checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.empty_comment. Verbatim name of the checker is empty-comment.

Empty-Comment checker Messages

empty-comment (R2044):

Line with empty comment Used when a # symbol appears on a line not followed by an actual comment

Eq-Without-Hash checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.eq_without_hash. Verbatim name of the checker is eq-without-hash.

Eq-Without-Hash checker Messages

eq-without-hash (W1641):

Implementing __eq__ without also implementing __hash__ Used when a class implements __eq__ but not __hash__. Objects get None as their default __hash__ implementation if they also implement __eq__.

Import-Private-Name checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.private_import. Verbatim name of the checker is import-private-name.

Import-Private-Name checker Messages

import-private-name (C2701):

Imported private %s (%s) Used when a private module or object prefixed with _ is imported. PEP8 guidance on Naming Conventions states that public attributes with leading underscores should be considered private.

Magic-Value checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.magic_value. Verbatim name of the checker is magic-value.

See also magic-value checker's options' documentation

Magic-Value checker Messages

magic-value-comparison (R2004):

Consider using a named constant or an enum instead of '%s'. Using named constants instead of magic values helps improve readability and maintainability of your code, try to avoid them in comparisons.

Multiple Types checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.redefined_variable_type. Verbatim name of the checker is multiple_types.

Multiple Types checker Messages

redefined-variable-type (R0204):

Redefinition of %s type from %s to %s Used when the type of a variable changes inside a method or a function.

No Self Use checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.no_self_use. Verbatim name of the checker is no_self_use.

No Self Use checker Messages

no-self-use (R6301):

Method could be a function Used when a method doesn't use its bound instance, and so could be written as a function.

Overlap-Except checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.overlapping_exceptions. Verbatim name of the checker is overlap-except.

Overlap-Except checker Messages

overlapping-except (W0714):

Overlapping exceptions (%s) Used when exceptions in handler overlap or are identical

Parameter Documentation checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.docparams. Verbatim name of the checker is parameter_documentation.

Parameter Documentation checker Documentation

If you document the parameters of your functions, methods and constructors and their types systematically in your code this optional component might be useful for you. Sphinx style, Google style, and Numpy style are supported. (For some examples, see https://pypi.org/project/sphinxcontrib-napoleon/ .)

You can activate this checker by adding the line:

load-plugins=pylint.extensions.docparams

to the MAIN section of your .pylintrc.

This checker verifies that all function, method, and constructor docstrings include documentation of the

  • parameters and their types

  • return value and its type

  • exceptions raised

and can handle docstrings in

  • Sphinx style (param, type, return, rtype, raise / except):

    def function_foo(x, y, z):
    '''function foo ...

    :param x: bla x
    :type x: int

    :param y: bla y
    :type y: float

    :param int z: bla z

    :return: sum
    :rtype: float

    :raises OSError: bla
    '''
    return x + y + z

  • or the Google style (Args:, Returns:, Raises:):

    def function_foo(x, y, z):
    '''function foo ...

    Args:
        x (int): bla x
        y (float): bla y

        z (int): bla z

    Returns:
        float: sum

    Raises:
        OSError: bla
    '''
    return x + y + z

  • or the Numpy style (Parameters, Returns, Raises):

    def function_foo(x, y, z):
    '''function foo ...

    Parameters
    ----------
    x: int
        bla x
    y: float
        bla y

    z: int
        bla z

    Returns
    -------
    float
        sum

    Raises
    ------
    OSError
        bla
    '''
    return x + y + z

You'll be notified of missing parameter documentation but also of naming inconsistencies between the signature and the documentation which often arise when parameters are renamed automatically in the code, but not in the documentation. Note: by default docstrings of private and magic methods are not checked. To change this behaviour (for example, to also check __init__) add no-docstring-rgx=^(?!__init__$)_ to the BASIC section of your .pylintrc.

Constructor parameters can be documented in either the class docstring or the __init__ docstring, but not both:

class ClassFoo(object):
    '''Sphinx style docstring foo

    :param float x: bla x

    :param y: bla y
    :type y: int
    '''
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        pass

class ClassBar(object):
    def __init__(self, x, y):
        '''Google style docstring bar

        Args:
            x (float): bla x
            y (int): bla y
        '''
        pass

In some cases, having to document all parameters is a nuisance, for instance if many of your functions or methods just follow a common interface. To remove this burden, the checker accepts missing parameter documentation if one of the following phrases is found in the docstring:

  • For the other parameters, see

  • For the parameters, see

(with arbitrary whitespace between the words). Please add a link to the docstring defining the interface, e.g. a superclass method, after "see":

def callback(x, y, z):
    '''Sphinx style docstring for callback ...

    :param x: bla x
    :type x: int

    For the other parameters, see
    :class:`MyFrameworkUsingAndDefiningCallback`
    '''
    return x + y + z

def callback(x, y, z):
    '''Google style docstring for callback ...

    Args:
        x (int): bla x

    For the other parameters, see
    :class:`MyFrameworkUsingAndDefiningCallback`
    '''
    return x + y + z

Naming inconsistencies in existing parameter and their type documentations are still detected.

See also parameter_documentation checker's options' documentation

Parameter Documentation checker Messages

differing-param-doc (W9017):

"%s" differing in parameter documentation Please check parameter names in declarations.

differing-type-doc (W9018):

"%s" differing in parameter type documentation Please check parameter names in type declarations.

multiple-constructor-doc (W9005):

"%s" has constructor parameters documented in class and __init__ Please remove parameter declarations in the class or constructor.

missing-param-doc (W9015):

"%s" missing in parameter documentation Please add parameter declarations for all parameters.

missing-type-doc (W9016):

"%s" missing in parameter type documentation Please add parameter type declarations for all parameters.

missing-raises-doc (W9006):

"%s" not documented as being raised Please document exceptions for all raised exception types.

useless-param-doc (W9019):

"%s" useless ignored parameter documentation Please remove the ignored parameter documentation.

useless-type-doc (W9020):

"%s" useless ignored parameter type documentation Please remove the ignored parameter type documentation.

missing-any-param-doc (W9021):

Missing any documentation in "%s" Please add parameter and/or type documentation.

missing-return-doc (W9011):

Missing return documentation Please add documentation about what this method returns.

missing-return-type-doc (W9012):

Missing return type documentation Please document the type returned by this method.

missing-yield-doc (W9013):

Missing yield documentation Please add documentation about what this generator yields.

missing-yield-type-doc (W9014):

Missing yield type documentation Please document the type yielded by this method.

redundant-returns-doc (W9008):

Redundant returns documentation Please remove the return/rtype documentation from this method.

redundant-yields-doc (W9010):

Redundant yields documentation Please remove the yields documentation from this method.

Redefined-Loop-Name checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.redefined_loop_name. Verbatim name of the checker is redefined-loop-name.

Redefined-Loop-Name checker Messages

redefined-loop-name (W2901):

Redefining %r from loop (line %s) Used when a loop variable is overwritten in the loop body.

Set Membership checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.set_membership. Verbatim name of the checker is set_membership.

Set Membership checker Messages

use-set-for-membership (R6201):

Consider using set for membership test Membership tests are more efficient when performed on a lookup optimized datatype like sets.

Typing checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.typing. Verbatim name of the checker is typing.

Typing checker Documentation

Find issue specifically related to type annotations.

See also typing checker's options' documentation

Typing checker Messages

broken-noreturn (E6004):

'NoReturn' inside compound types is broken in 3.7.0 / 3.7.1 typing.NoReturn inside compound types is broken in Python 3.7.0 and 3.7.1. If not dependent on runtime introspection, use string annotation instead. E.g. Callable[..., 'NoReturn']. https://bugs.python.org/issue34921

broken-collections-callable (E6005):

'collections.abc.Callable' inside Optional and Union is broken in 3.9.0 / 3.9.1 (use 'typing.Callable' instead) collections.abc.Callable inside Optional and Union is broken in Python 3.9.0 and 3.9.1. Use typing.Callable for these cases instead. https://bugs.python.org/issue42965

deprecated-typing-alias (W6001):

'%s' is deprecated, use '%s' instead Emitted when a deprecated typing alias is used.

consider-using-alias (R6002):

'%s' will be deprecated with PY39, consider using '%s' instead%s Only emitted if 'runtime-typing=no' and a deprecated typing alias is used in a type annotation context in Python 3.7 or 3.8.

consider-alternative-union-syntax (R6003):

Consider using alternative Union syntax instead of '%s'%s Emitted when 'typing.Union' or 'typing.Optional' is used instead of the alternative Union syntax 'int | None'.

redundant-typehint-argument (R6006):

Type `%s` is used more than once in union type annotation. Remove redundant typehints. Duplicated type arguments will be skipped by mypy tool, therefore should be removed to avoid confusion.

While Used checker

This checker is provided by pylint.extensions.while_used. Verbatim name of the checker is while_used.

While Used checker Messages

while-used (W0149):

Used `while` loop Unbounded while loops can often be rewritten as bounded for loops. Exceptions can be made for cases such as event loops, listeners, etc.