# docvet

Flags missing Raises, Yields, Attributes, Examples and cross-reference sections in Google-style Python docstrings while you type.

- plugin · `type=plugin` · Claude Code · ★ 10
- Author: Alberto-Codes
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/Alberto-Codes/docvet
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/plugins/docvet

## What it does

docvet is a CLI that audits Python docstrings, and this plugin wires it into Claude. It parses your code with AST and compares the structure against the prose: a function that raises `ValueError` without a Raises section gets flagged. The rule catalog covers 32 entries across five areas — docstring presence, section completeness, staleness from git history, griffe rendering warnings, and missing `__init__.py` files that keep a package invisible to mkdocs.

Findings show up inline. Required rules arrive as warnings, recommended ones as hints. Configuration sits under `[tool.docvet]` in `pyproject.toml`, where you also set `fail-on` and the freshness thresholds. Pre-commit hooks and a GitHub Action are included, so the same checks can run in CI.

Rendering checks need an extra package: `pip install docvet[griffe]`. Skip it and the griffe rules never run. If `griffe` appears in `fail-on`, docvet prints that to stderr and exits 1, which is a different outcome from a gate that actually found problems. Pass `--no-fail-on-unavailable` to warn and exit 0 instead.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Plugin marketplace**
In the agent chat (not a shell):
```text
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-plugins-community
```
In the agent chat (not a shell):
```text
/plugin install docvet@claude-community
```

## When to use it
- catch a function that raises an exception with no Raises section
- verify every signature parameter shows up under Args
- spot a docstring left behind after the signature or body changed
- check whether a package directory has `__init__.py` so mkdocs can find it
- surface griffe parser warnings before the docs build

## Example prompts
- Check the docstrings under `src/mypackage/` and list the functions missing a Raises section
- Run docvet check --all and tell me which findings are required and which are hints
- Why does docvet flag `parse_config` in `utils.py`?

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

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```text
[![CI](https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/Alberto-Codes/docvet/ci.yml?branch=main)](https://github.com/Alberto-Codes/docvet/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[![Coverage](https://codecov.io/gh/Alberto-Codes/docvet/graph/badge.svg)](https://codecov.io/gh/Alberto-Codes/docvet)
[![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/docvet)](https://pypi.org/project/docvet/)
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[![Ruff](https://img.shields.io/endpoint?url=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/astral-sh/ruff/main/assets/badge/v2.json)](https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff)
[![docs vetted](https://img.shields.io/badge/docs%20vetted-docvet-purple)](https://github.com/Alberto-Codes/docvet)

# docvet

**Better docstrings, better AI.**

## Why docvet?

docvet combines docstring presence metrics, structural checks, history-based staleness signals, and renderer diagnostics in one CLI, with editor and agent interfaces. These checks help reviewers find documentation gaps; they do not prove that prose describes runtime behavior correctly.

| Layer | Check | ruff | interrogate | pydoclint | **docvet** |
|-------|-------|------|-------------|-----------|------------|
| 1. Presence | "Does a docstring exist?" | Yes (D rules, opt-in) | Yes, with coverage metrics | Skips absent docstrings | **Yes, with coverage metrics** |
| 2. Style | "Is it formatted consistently?" | Yes (D rules, opt-in) | -- | Some parsing/style checks | Limited format checks |
| 3. Completeness | "Do sections and code structure agree?" | Partial (D rules; DOC rules in preview) | -- | Arguments, returns, yields, raises, attributes, type hints | **AST-based section and agreement checks** |
| 4. Accuracy | "What needs review for staleness?" | Structural checks above | -- | Structural checks above | **Git diff/blame heuristics; no semantic proof** |
| 5. Rendering | "Are there parser warnings?" | -- | -- | -- | **Griffe diagnostics** |
| 6. Visibility | "Is package discovery incomplete?" | -- | -- | -- | **Missing `__init__.py` checks** |

Comparison reviewed **2026-10-21** against primary documentation: Ruff's [D103 presence rule](https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/undocumented-public-function/) and [DOC501 exception completeness rule](https://docs.astral.sh/ruff/rules/docstring-missing-exception/) (requires `--preview` and rule selection), [pydoclint's supported checks and styles](https://jsh9.github.io/pydoclint/), and [interrogate's coverage documentation](https://interrogate.readthedocs.io/en/latest/). Capabilities depend on enabled rules and configuration; `--` means no corresponding check is described in these sources.

**pydoclint** checks arguments, returns, yields, raises, class attributes, and type hints across Google, NumPy, and Sphinx styles. docvet's enrichment alone has 21 rules, including Raises, Yields, Receives, Warns, Attributes, Examples, cross-references, parameter agreement, and more. Add presence (coverage metrics + threshold enforcement), freshness (git diff/blame staleness signals), griffe rendering compatibility, and mkdocs coverage: 32 rules across 5 checks. Rule totals measure catalog entries, not equivalent coverage between tools.

Structural agreement checks compare documented elements with code structure. Freshness uses change history to suggest review: code can change without invalidating prose, and simultaneous code/docstring edits can still leave incorrect prose. Neither establishes semantic correctness.

**[Quickstart](#quickstart)** | **[GitHub Action](#github-action)** | **[Pre-commit](#pre-commit)** | **[Configuration](#configuration)** | **[AI Agent Integration](#ai-agent-integration)** | **[Docs](https://alberto-codes.github.io/docvet/)**

## What It Checks

**Presence** (existence) -- 2 rules:
`missing-docstring` `overload-has-docstring`
```
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First 4059 of 11536 bytes. © Alberto-Codes · MIT · https://github.com/Alberto-Codes/docvet

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