private-module-attribute-owner-docstring-forbidden (PDF515)¶

Part of the PDF rule category.

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Fix is not available.

Rule is disabled if docstring-convention is none or pep257.

Rule is incompatible with PDF524.

What it does¶

Checks for private attributes documented in module docstring attribute documentation.

PDF515 checks Google Attributes sections, NumPy Attributes sections, and reStructuredText :ivar:, :cvar:, :var:, and :vartype: fields when the matching convention is active. Attribute names beginning with _ are private, including dunder-style names such as __all__.

The rule checks parsed primary module docstrings only. It does not require the private attribute to exist in the module inventory, and it reports repeated private entries independently. Class docstrings, function docstrings, and additional string literals after the primary module docstring are not module owner docstrings for this rule.

PDF515 forbids private module attributes in module docstring attribute entries regardless of whether the attribute exists. If the project instead wants private module attributes documented as attached docstrings, use PDF525; if it wants private module attributes documented in owner docstrings, use PDF524 and do not enable PDF515.

Why is this useful?¶

Private module attributes are implementation details and should usually stay out of module docstrings that describe the public module API.

Ruff compatibility¶

None.

Examples¶

A private module attribute documented in the module docstring is reported:

docstring-convention = "google"

"""Client defaults.

Attributes:
    _token (str): Internal token.
    timeout (float): Request timeout.
"""

_token: str
timeout: float

PDF515: Line 4: Module docstring documents private attribute '_token'

NumPy and reStructuredText attribute entries are checked under their active conventions:

docstring-convention = "numpy"

"""Client defaults.

Attributes
----------
_token, timeout, __all__ : object
    Module state.
_token : str
    Repeated internal token.
"""

PDF515: Line 5: Module docstring documents private attribute '_token'
PDF515: Line 5: Module docstring documents private attribute '__all__'
PDF515: Line 7: Module docstring documents private attribute '_token'

reStructuredText attribute value and type fields are checked under the rest convention:

docstring-convention = "rest"

"""Client defaults.

:ivar _token: Internal token.
:vartype _cache: dict[str, object]
:ivar timeout: Request timeout.
"""

PDF515: Line 3: Module docstring documents private attribute '_token'
PDF515: Line 4: Module docstring documents private attribute '_cache'

Only the primary module docstring is checked. Class docstrings and later string literals are ignored by PDF515:

docstring-convention = "google"

"""Client defaults."""

"""Attributes:
_module_token: Internal token.
"""

class Client:
    """HTTP client.

    Attributes:
        _token: Internal token.
    """

Options¶

None.