pylint

Check Python file

$ pylint [file.py]

$ pylint --rcfile=[.pylintrc] [file.py]

$ pylint --disable=[C0114] [file.py]

$ pylint --generate-rcfile > [.pylintrc]

$ pylint --output-format=json [file.py]

pylint [options] modules

pylint is a comprehensive static analysis tool that checks Python code for programming errors, coding standard violations, and code smells. It inspects modules without running them, reporting issues organized by category: conventions (C), refactoring suggestions (R), warnings (W), errors (E), and fatal problems (F), each with a numeric code for precise filtering.
The tool is highly configurable through .pylintrc files or pyproject.toml sections, allowing teams to enable, disable, or customize individual checks to match project standards. It also produces an overall code quality score out of 10, making it useful for tracking code health over time in CI pipelines. Plugins extend its analysis to frameworks like Django and SQLAlchemy.

MODULES

Python modules to check.

Configuration file.

Disable checks.

Enable checks.

Output format.

Generate config.

.pylintrc

Project-level configuration file for enabling/disabling checks, setting thresholds, and defining coding standards.

Project configuration with a `[tool.pylint]` section supporting the same options as .pylintrc.

Alternative configuration file with a `[pylint]` section for check settings.

User-level default configuration applied when no project config is found.

Can be slow on large codebases. Highly configurable.

Pylint was created as a comprehensive Python code analysis tool.

pyflakes(1), flake8(1), mypy(1), ruff(1)