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missing-public-method-documentation (PDF610)

Added in 1.0.0 Never fix By default

Part of the PDF rule category.

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Fix is not available.

What it does

Checks for public non-dunder methods that are missing docstrings.

Dunder methods and __init__ are handled by separate rules. Methods decorated with configured optional-docstring decorators, such as standard override decorators by default, may omit docstrings because inherited method documentation is usually authoritative. A method is public when its own name, containing class, and containing module path are public.

Why is this useful?

Public methods should describe their behavior and API contract.

Ruff compatibility

This rule replaces Ruff's D102.

Examples

A public method without a docstring is reported:

class Client:
    """Client."""

    def connect(self):
        pass

PDF610: Line 4: Public method 'Client.connect' is missing docstring

Common method decorators do not remove the need for a docstring:

class Client:
    """Client."""

    @property
    def url(self):
        return "https://example.com"

    @classmethod
    def from_config(cls):
        return cls()

    @staticmethod
    def parse(value):
        return value

PDF610: Line 5: Public method 'Client.url' is missing docstring
PDF610: Line 9: Public method 'Client.from_config' is missing docstring
PDF610: Line 13: Public method 'Client.parse' is missing docstring

Methods decorated with configured optional-docstring decorators do not have to repeat inherited documentation:

class Client:
    """Client."""

    @typing.override
    def connect(self):
        pass

Dunder methods and __init__ are handled by separate rules:

class Client:
    """Client."""

    def __str__(self):
        return "client"

    def __init__(self):
        pass

Private method names and private owners are handled by PDF611 instead:

class _Client:
    """Client."""

    def connect(self):
        pass

class PublicClient:
    """Client."""

    def _connect(self):
        pass

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