Error / Violation CodesΒΆ

Flake8 and its plugins assign a code to each message that we refer to as a error code (or violation). Most plugins will list their error codes in their documentation or README.

Flake8 installs pycodestyle, pyflakes, and mccabe by default and generates its own error codes for pyflakes:

Code Example Message
F401 module imported but unused
F402 import module from line N shadowed by loop variable
F403 ‘from module import *’ used; unable to detect undefined names
F404 future import(s) name after other statements
F405 name may be undefined, or defined from star imports: module
   
F811 redefinition of unused name from line N
F812 list comprehension redefines name from line N
F821 undefined name name
F822 undefined name name in __all__
F823 local variable name ... referenced before assignment
F831 duplicate argument name in function definition
F841 local variable name is assigned to but never used

We also report one extra error: E999. We report E999 when we fail to compile a file into an Abstract Syntax Tree for the plugins that require it.

mccabe only ever reports one violation - C901 based on the complexity value provided by the user.

Users should also reference pycodestyle’s list of error codes.