flake8-only-english

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Flake8 plugin that enforces corporate code style by detecting and reporting any only-english text in Python source code.
It ensures that comments, docstrings, and string literals are written in English only, maintaining consistency across the codebase.

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Features

• Scans Python files for only-english characters in:
  • Comments (# ...)
  • Docstrings (""" ... """ / ''' ... ''')
  • String literals ("..." / '...')
• Raises a linting error (NL001) when only-english text is found.
• Works seamlessly with Flake8 and pre-commit hooks.
• Lightweight and dependency-minimal.

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Installation

pip install flake8-only-english

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Usage

Run normally via flake8:

flake8 app

flake8 --select=NLE

flake8 --select=NLE001

flake8 --select=NLE002

Example output:

/example.py:5:10: NL001 only-english text detected in comment or string

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Example

# This is a valid English comment
def hello():
    """Valid English docstring"""
    msg = "Hello world"
    return msg

If only-english text is introduced, it will be flagged:

# Comment with only-english text  # 
def hello():
    """Function description with only-english text"""  # 
    msg = "String with only-english text"  # 
    return "Hello"  

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Example (with pre-commit)

Add to .pre-commit-config.yaml:

repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/AlgorithmAlchemy/flake8-only-english
    rev: v0.1.0
    hooks:
      - id: flake8
        additional_dependencies: [ flake8-only-english ]

Run:

pre-commit run --all-files

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Error Codes

• NL001 — only-english text detected in comment, docstring, or string literal.

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Development

Clone and install in editable mode:

git clone https://github.com/AlgorithmAlchemy/flake8-only-english
cd flake8-only-english
pip install -e .[dev]
pytest

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License

MIT License © 2025 AlgorithmAlchemy