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Using PyLint for linting Python code
How to use PyLint in Visual Studio to check issues in Python code.
07/12/2017
devlang-python
python
conceptual
kraigb
kraigb
douge
python
data-science

Using PyLint to check Python code

PyLint, a widely used tool that checks for errors in Python code and encourages good Python coding patterns, is integrated into Visual Studio for Python projects.

Just right-click a Python project in Solution Explorer and select Python > Run PyLint...:

PyLint command on context menu for Python projects

Using this command prompts you to install PyLint into your active environment if it's not already present.

PyLint warnings and errors appear in the Error List window:

PyLint error list

Double-clicking an error takes you directly to the source code that generated the issue.

Tip

See the PyLint features reference for a detailed list of all the PyLint output messages.

Setting PyLint command-line options

The command-line options section of the PyLint documentation describes how to control PyLint's behavior through a .pylintrc configuration file. Such a file can be placed in the root of a Python project in Visual Studio or elsewhere depending on how widely you want those settings applied (see the command-line options for details).

For example, to suppress the "missing docstring" warnings shown in the previous image with a .pylintrc file in a project, do the steps:

  1. On the command line, navigate to your project root (which contains your .pyproj file) and run the following command to generate a commented configuration file:

    pylint --generate-rcfile > .pylintrc

  2. In Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click your project, select Add > Exiting Item..., navigate to and select the new .pylintrc file, and select Add.

  3. Open the file for editing, which contains a variety of settings you can work with. To disable a warning, locate the [MESSAGES CONTROL] section, then locate the disable setting in that section. There is a long string of specific messages, to which you can append whichever warnings you want. In the example here, append ,missing-docstring (including the delineating comma).

  4. Save the .pylintrc file and run PyLint again to see that the warnings are now suppressed.

Tip

To use a .pylintrc file from a network share, create an environment variable named PYLINTRC with the value of the filename on the network share using a UNC path or a mapped drive letter. For example, PYLINTRC=\\myshare\python\.pylintrc.