autoflake

Remove unused imports and variables from Python code

TLDR

Preview changes as a diff without modifying the file

$ autoflake [file.py]

Remove all unused imports in place

$ autoflake --in-place --remove-all-unused-imports [file.py]

Remove unused imports recursively from all Python files

$ autoflake --in-place --remove-all-unused-imports -r [.]

Check without modifying and exit non-zero if changes are needed

$ autoflake --check [file.py]

Remove unused imports and variables in place

$ autoflake --in-place --remove-unused-variables --remove-all-unused-imports [file.py]

SYNOPSIS

autoflake [--in-place] [--remove-unused-variables] [options] files

autoflake removes unused imports and variables from Python code. It helps keep code clean by eliminating dead code automatically.The tool uses static analysis to identify unused elements and can modify files in place or report issues.

PARAMETERS

-i, --in-place

Modify files directly instead of printing a diff

-s, --stdout

Write the result to standard output

--remove-unused-variables

Remove unused variables

--remove-all-unused-imports

Remove all unused imports, not just standard-library ones

--ignore-init-module-imports

Leave imports in _init_.py files untouched

--expand-star-imports

Expand wildcard imports (from x import *) when names can be resolved

--remove-duplicate-keys

Remove duplicate keys in dictionary literals

--check

Exit non-zero if changes are needed, without modifying files (CI mode)

--check-diff

Like --check, but also print the diff of proposed changes

-r, --recursive

Process directories recursively

-j n, --jobs n

Number of parallel jobs (0 uses all CPU cores)

--exclude globs

Exclude files and directories matching the comma-separated globs

--imports modules

Comma-separated list of additional modules whose unused imports should be removed

CAVEATS

May incorrectly identify imports used only in type hints. Does not handle all edge cases. Review changes before committing. Works well with other formatters like black.

HISTORY

autoflake was created to automate cleanup of unused Python imports, complementing code formatters and linters.

RESOURCES

Source code