Sphinx

# `sphinx.ext.autodoc` – Include documentation from docstrings

This extension can import the modules you are documenting, and pull in documentation from docstrings in a semi-automatic way.

Warning

`autodoc` imports the modules to be documented. If any modules have side effects on import, these will be executed by `autodoc` when sphinx-build is run.

If you document scripts (as opposed to library modules), make sure that the main routine is protected by an `if __name__ == '__main__'` condition.

For this to work, the docstrings must of course be written in correct reStructuredText. You can then use all of the usual Sphinx markup in the docstrings, and it will end up correctly in the documentation. Together with hand-written documentation, this technique eases the pain of having to maintain two locations for documentation, while at the same time avoiding auto-generated-looking pure API documentation.

If you prefer NumPy or Google style docstrings over reStructuredText, you can also enable the `napoleon` extension. `napoleon` is a preprocessor that converts docstrings to correct reStructuredText before `autodoc` processes them.

## Getting started

### Setup

Activate the plugin by adding `'sphinx.ext.autodoc'` to the `extensions` list in `conf.py`:

    extensions = [
        ...
        'sphinx.ext.autodoc',
    ]

### Ensuring the code can be imported

`autodoc` analyses the code and docstrings by introspection after importing the modules. For importing to work, you have to make sure that your modules can be found by Sphinx and that dependencies can be resolved (if your module does `import foo`, but `foo` is not available in the python environment that Sphinx runs in, your module import will fail).

There are two ways to ensure this:

1. Use an environment that contains your package and Sphinx. This can e.g. be your local development environment (with an editable install), or an environment in CI in which you install Sphinx and your package. The regular installation process ensures that your package can be found by Sphinx and that all dependencies are available.

2. It is alternatively possible to patch the Sphinx run so that it can operate directly on the sources; e.g. if you want to be able to do a Sphinx build from a source checkout.

   - Patch `sys.path` in `conf.py` to include your source path. For example if you have a repository structure with `doc/conf.py` and your package is at `src/my_package`, then you should add the following to your `conf.py`.

         import sys
         from pathlib import Path

         sys.path.insert(0, str(Path('..', 'src').resolve()))

   - To cope with missing dependencies, specify the missing modules in the `autodoc_mock_imports` setting.

### Usage

You can now use the Directives to add formatted documentation for Python code elements like functions, classes, modules, etc. For example, to document the function `io.open()`, reading its signature and docstring from the source file, you’d write:

    .. autofunction:: io.open

You can also document whole classes or even modules automatically, using member options for the auto directives, like:

    .. automodule:: io
       :members:

Tip

As a hint to autodoc extension, you can put a `::` separator between the module name and the object name to let autodoc know the correct module, if it is ambiguous:

    .. autoclass:: module.name::Noodle

### Marking objects as public or private

- autodoc considers a member private if its docstring contains `:meta private:` in its Info field lists. For example:

      def my_function(my_arg, my_other_arg):
          """blah blah blah

          :meta private:
          """

  Added in version 3.0.

- autodoc considers a member public if its docstring contains `:meta public:` in its Info field lists, even if it starts with an underscore. For example:

      def _my_function(my_arg, my_other_arg):
          """blah blah blah

          :meta public:
          """

  Added in version 3.1.

- autodoc considers a variable member does not have any default value if its docstring contains `:meta hide-value:` in its Info field lists. Example:

      var1 = None  #: :meta hide-value:

  Added in version 3.5.

### Doc comments and docstrings

Python has no built-in support for docstrings for module data members or class attributes. To allow documenting these, `autodoc` recognises a special format of comment called a ‘doc comment’ or ‘documentation comment’.

These comments start with a colon and an optional space character, `'#:'` or `'#: '`. To be recognised, the comments must appear either on the same line as the variable or on one or more lines before the variable. Multi-line doc-comments must always appear on the lines before the variable’s definition.

For example, all three of the following variables have valid doc-comments:

    egg_and_spam = 1.50  #: A simple meal

    #: Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam!
    egg_bacon_sausage_and_spam = 2.49

    #: Truly gourmet cuisine for madam; Lobster Thermidor
    #: aux Crevettes with a mornay sauce garnished with
    #: truffle pate, brandy and a fried egg on top and spam.
    lobster_thermidor = 35.00

Alternatively, `autodoc` can recognise a docstring on the line immediately following the definition.

In the the following class definition, all attributes have documentation recognised by `autodoc`:

    class Foo:
        """Docstring for class Foo."""

        #: Doc comment for class attribute Foo.bar.
        #: It can have multiple lines.
        bar = 1

        flox = 1.5   #: Doc comment for Foo.flox. One line only.

        baz = 2
        """Docstring for class attribute Foo.baz."""

        def __init__(self):
            #: Doc comment for instance attribute qux.
            self.qux = 3

            self.spam = 4
            """Docstring for instance attribute spam."""

## Directives

`autodoc` provides several directives that are versions of the usual `py:module`, `py:class` and so forth. On parsing time, they import the corresponding module and extract the docstring of the given objects, inserting them into the page source under a suitable `py:module`, `py:class` etc. directive.

Note

Just as `py:class` respects the current `py:module`, `autoclass` will also do so. Likewise, `automethod` will respect the current `py:class`.

### Default directive options

To make any of the options described below the default, use the `autodoc_default_options` dictionary in `conf.py`.

If using defaults for the `:members:`, `:exclude-members:`, `:private-members:`, or `:special-members:` options, setting the option on a directive will override the default. Instead, to extend the default list with the per-directive option, the list may be prepended with a plus sign (`+`), as follows:

    .. autoclass:: Noodle
       :members: eat
       :private-members: +_spicy, _garlickly

Tip

If using `autodoc_default_options`, the defaults can be disabled per-directive with the negated form, `:no-option:` as an option of the directive For example:

    .. automodule:: foo
       :no-undoc-members:

### Automatically document modules

.. automodule::

  Document a module. By default, the directive only inserts the docstring of the module itself:

      .. automodule:: noodles

  will produce source like this:

      .. py:module:: noodles

         The noodles module.

  The directive can also contain content of its own, which will be inserted into the resulting non-auto directive source after the docstring (but before any automatic member documentation).

  Therefore, you can also mix automatic and non-automatic member documentation, as follows:

      .. automodule:: noodles
         :members: Noodle

         .. py:function:: boiled_noodle(time=10)

            Create a noodle that has been boiled for *time* minutes.

  Options

  :no-index:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented module or any auto-documented members.

    Added in version 0.4.

  :no-index-entry:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented module or any auto-documented members. Unlike `:no-index:`, cross-references are still created.

    Added in version 8.2.

  :platform: platforms (comma separated list)

    Indicate platforms on which the module is available. This is identical to `py:module`’s `:platform:` option.

  :synopsis: purpose (text)

    A sentence describing the module’s purpose. This is identical to `py:module`’s `:synopsis:` option.

    Added in version 0.5.

  :deprecated:

    Mark a module as deprecated. This is identical to `py:module`’s `:deprecated:` option.

    Added in version 0.5.

  :ignore-module-all: (no value)

    Do not use `__all__` when analysing the module to document.

    Added in version 1.7.

  Options for selecting members to document

  :members: (no value or comma separated list)

    Generate automatic documentation for all members of the target module:

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members:

    By default, `autodoc` only includes public members with a docstring or doc-comment (`#:`). If `__all__` exists, it will be used to define which members are public, unless the `:ignore-module-all:` option is set.

    To only document certain members, an explicit comma-separated list may be used as the argument to `:members:`:

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members: Noodle

  :exclude-members: (comma separated list)

    Exclude the given names from the members to document. For example:

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members:
           :exclude-members: NoodleBase

    Added in version 0.6.

  :imported-members: (no value)

    To prevent documentation of imported classes or functions, in an `automodule` directive with the `members` option set, only module members where the `__module__` attribute is equal to the module name given to `automodule` will be documented.

    Set the `imported-members` option if you want to prevent this behavior and document all available members.

    Note that attributes from imported modules will not be documented, because attribute documentation is discovered by parsing the source file of the current module.

    Added in version 1.2.

  :undoc-members:

    Generate automatic documentation for members of the target module that don’t have a docstring or doc-comment. For example:

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members:
           :undoc-members:

  :private-members: (no value or comma separated list)

    Generate automatic documentation for private members of the target module. This includes names with a leading underscore (e.g. `_private`) and those members explicitly marked as private with `:meta private:`.

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members:
           :private-members:

    To only document certain private members, an explicit comma-separated list may be used as the argument to `:private-members:`:

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members:
           :private-members: _spicy, _garlickly

    Added in version 1.1.

    Changed in version 3.2: The option can now take a comma-separated list of arguments.

  :special-members: (no value or comma separated list)

    Generate automatic documentation for special members of the target module, also known as ‘dunder’ names. This includes all names enclosed with a double-underscore, e.g. `__special__`:

        .. automodule:: my.Class
           :members:
           :special-members:

    To only document certain special members, an explicit comma-separated list may be used as the argument to `:special-members:`:

        .. automodule:: noodles
           :members:
           :special-members: __version__

    Added in version 1.1.

    Changed in version 1.2: The option can now take a comma-separated list of arguments.

  Options for documented members

  :member-order: (alphabetical, bysource, or groupwise)

    Choose the ordering of automatically documented members (default: `alphabetical`). This overrides the `autodoc_member_order` setting.

    - `alphabetical`: Use simple alphabetical order.

    - `groupwise`: Group by object type (class, function, etc), use alphabetical order within groups.

    - `bysource`: Use the order of objects in the module’s source. The `__all__` variable can be used to override this order.

    Note that for source order, the module must be a Python module with the source code available.

    Added in version 0.6.

    Changed in version 1.0: Support the `'bysource'` option.

  :show-inheritance: (no value)

    Enable the `:show-inheritance:` option for all members of the module, if `:members:` is enabled.

    Added in version 0.4.

### Automatically document classes or exceptions

.. autoclass::
.. autoexception::

  Document a class. For exception classes, prefer `.. autoexception::`. By default, the directive only inserts the docstring of the class itself:

      .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle

  will produce source like this:

      .. py:class:: Noodle

         The Noodle class's docstring.

  The directive can also contain content of its own, which will be inserted into the resulting non-auto directive source after the docstring (but before any automatic member documentation).

  Therefore, you can also mix automatic and non-automatic member documentation, as follows:

      .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
         :members: eat, slurp

         .. py:method:: boil(time=10)

            Boil the noodle for *time* minutes.

  Advanced usage

  - It is possible to override the signature for explicitly documented callable objects (functions, methods, classes) with the regular syntax that will override the signature gained from introspection:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle(type)

           .. automethod:: eat(persona)

    This is useful if the signature from the method is hidden by a decorator.

    Added in version 0.4.

  Options

  :no-index:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented class or any auto-documented members.

    Added in version 0.4.

  :no-index-entry:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented class or any auto-documented members. Unlike `:no-index:`, cross-references are still created.

    Added in version 8.2.

  :class-doc-from: (class, init, or both)

    Select which docstring will be used for the main body of the directive. This overrides the global value of `autoclass_content`. The possible values are:

    - `class`: Only use the class’s docstring. The `__init__()` method can be separately documented using the `:members:` option or `automethod`.

    - `init`: Only use the docstring of the `__init__()` method.

    - `both`: Use both, appending the docstring of the `__init__()` method to the class’s docstring.

    If the `__init__()` method doesn’t exist or has a blank docstring, `autodoc` will attempt to use the `__new__()` method’s docstring, if it exists and is not blank.

    Added in version 4.1.

  Options for selecting members to document

  :members: (no value or comma separated list)

    Generate automatic documentation for all members of the target class:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:

    By default, `autodoc` only includes public members with a docstring or doc-comment (`#:`) that are attributes of the target class (i.e. not inherited).

    To only document certain members, an explicit comma-separated list may be used as the argument to `:members:`:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members: eat, slurp

  :exclude-members: (comma separated list)

    Exclude the given names from the members to document. For example:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :exclude-members: prepare

    Added in version 0.6.

  :inherited-members: (comma separated list)

    To generate automatic documentation for members inherited from base classes, use the `:inherited-members:` option:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :inherited-members:

    This can be combined with the `:undoc-members:` option to generate automatic documentation for all available members of the class.

    The members of classes listed in the argument to `:inherited-members:` are excluded from the automatic documentation. This defaults to `object` if no argument is provided, meaning that members of the `object` class are not documented. To include these, use `None` as the argument.

    For example; If your class `MyList` is derived from `list` class and you don’t want to document `list.__len__()`, you should specify a option `:inherited-members: list` to avoid special members of list class.

    Note

    Should any of the inherited members use a format other than reStructuredText for their docstrings, there may be markup warnings or errors.

    Added in version 0.3.

    Changed in version 3.0: `:inherited-members:` now takes the name of a base class to exclude as an argument.

    Changed in version 5.0: A comma separated list of base class names can be used.

  :undoc-members: (no value)

    Generate automatic documentation for members of the target class that don’t have a docstring or doc-comment. For example:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :undoc-members:

  :private-members: (no value or comma separated list)

    Generate automatic documentation for private members of the target class. This includes names with a leading underscore (e.g. `_private`) and those members explicitly marked as private with `:meta private:`.

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :private-members:

    To only document certain private members, an explicit comma-separated list may be used as the argument to `:private-members:`:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :private-members: _spicy, _garlickly

    Added in version 1.1.

    Changed in version 3.2: The option can now take arguments.

  :special-members: (no value or comma separated list)

    Generate automatic documentation for special members of the target class, also known as ‘dunder’ names. This includes all names enclosed with a double-underscore, e.g. `__special__`:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :special-members:

    To only document certain special members, an explicit comma-separated list may be used as the argument to `:special-members:`:

        .. autoclass:: noodles.Noodle
           :members:
           :special-members: __init__, __name__

    Added in version 1.1.

    Changed in version 1.2: The option can now take a comma-separated list of arguments.

  Options for documented members

  :member-order: (alphabetical, bysource, or groupwise)

    Choose the ordering of automatically documented members (default: `alphabetical`). This overrides the `autodoc_member_order` setting.

    - `'alphabetical'`: Use simple alphabetical order.

    - `'groupwise'`: Group by object type (class, function, etc), use alphabetical order within groups.

    - `'bysource'`: Use the order of objects in the module’s source. The `__all__` variable can be used to override this order.

    Note that for source order, the module must be a Python module with the source code available.

    Added in version 0.6.

    Changed in version 1.0: Support the `'bysource'` option.

  :show-inheritance: (no value)

    Insert the class’s base classes after the class signature.

    Added in version 0.4.

### Automatically document function-like objects

.. autofunction::
.. automethod::
.. autoproperty::
.. autodecorator::

  Document a function, method, property, or decorator. By default, the directive only inserts the docstring of the function itself:

      .. autofunction:: noodles.average_noodle

  will produce source like this:

      .. py:function:: noodles.average_noodle

         The average_noodle function's docstring.

  The directive can also contain content of its own, which will be inserted into the resulting non-auto directive source after the docstring.

  Therefore, you can also mix automatic and non-automatic documentation, as follows:

      .. autofunction:: noodles.average_noodle

         .. note:: For more flexibility, use the :py:class:`!Noodle` class.

  Added in version 2.0: `autodecorator`.

  Added in version 2.1: `autoproperty`.

  Note

  If you document decorated functions or methods, keep in mind that `autodoc` retrieves its docstrings by importing the module and inspecting the `__doc__` attribute of the given function or method. That means that if a decorator replaces the decorated function with another, it must copy the original `__doc__` to the new function.

  Advanced usage

  - It is possible to override the signature for explicitly documented callable objects (functions, methods, classes) with the regular syntax that will override the signature gained from introspection:

        .. autoclass:: Noodle(type)

           .. automethod:: eat(persona)

    This is useful if the signature from the method is hidden by a decorator.

    Added in version 0.4.

  Options

  :no-index:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented function.

    Added in version 0.4.

  :no-index-entry:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented function. Unlike `:no-index:`, cross-references are still created.

    Added in version 8.2.

### Automatically document attributes or data

.. autodata::
.. autoattribute::

  Document a module level variable or constant (‘data’) or class attribute. By default, the directive only inserts the docstring of the variable itself:

      .. autodata:: noodles.FLOUR_TYPE

  will produce source like this:

      .. py:data:: noodles.FLOUR_TYPE

         The FLOUR_TYPE constant's docstring.

  The directive can also contain content of its own, which will be inserted into the resulting non-auto directive source after the docstring.

  Therefore, you can also mix automatic and non-automatic member documentation, as follows:

      .. autodata:: noodles.FLOUR_TYPE

         .. hint:: Cooking time can vary by which flour type is used.

  Changed in version 0.6: `autodata` and `autoattribute` can now extract docstrings.

  Changed in version 1.1: Doc-comments are now allowed on the same line of an assignment.

  Options

  :no-index:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented variable or constant.

    Added in version 0.4.

  :no-index-entry:

    Do not generate an index entry for the documented variable or constant. Unlike `:no-index:`, cross-references are still created.

    Added in version 8.2.

  :annotation: value (string)

    Added in version 1.2.

    By default, `autodoc` attempts to obtain the type annotation and value of the variable by introspection, displaying it after the variable’s name. To override this, a custom string for the variable’s value may be used as the argument to `annotation`.

    For example, if the runtime value of `FILE_MODE` is `0o755`, the displayed value will be `493` (as `oct(493) == '0o755'`). This can be fixed by setting `:annotation: = 0o755`.

    If `:annotation:` is used without arguments, no value or type hint will be shown for the variable.

  :no-value:

    Added in version 3.4.

    To display the type hint of the variable without a value, use the `:no-value:` option. If both the `:annotation:` and `:no-value:` options are used, `:no-value:` has no effect.

## Configuration

There are also config values that you can set:

autoclass_content
  Type:
    `str`
  Default:
    `'class'`

  This value selects what content will be inserted into the main body of an `autoclass` directive. The possible values are:

  `'class'`

    Only the class’ docstring is inserted. You can still document `__init__` as a separate method using `automethod` or the `members` option to `autoclass`.

  `'both'`

    Both the class’ and the `__init__` method’s docstring are concatenated and inserted.

  `'init'`

    Only the `__init__` method’s docstring is inserted.

  Added in version 0.3.

  If the class has no `__init__` method or if the `__init__` method’s docstring is empty, but the class has a `__new__` method’s docstring, it is used instead.

  Added in version 1.4.

autodoc_class_signature
  Type:
    `str`
  Default:
    `'mixed'`

  This value selects how the signature will be displayed for the class defined by `autoclass` directive. The possible values are:

  `'mixed'`

    Display the signature with the class name.

  `'separated'`

    Display the signature as a method.

  Added in version 4.1.

autodoc_member_order
  Type:
    `str`
  Default:
    `'alphabetical'`

  Define the order in which `automodule` and `autoclass` members are listed. Supported values are:

  - `'alphabetical'`: Use alphabetical order.

  - `'groupwise'`: order by member type. The order is:

    - for modules, exceptions, classes, functions, data

    - for classes: class methods, static methods, methods,

        and properties/attributes

    Members are ordered alphabetically within groups.

  - `'bysource'`: Use the order in which the members appear in the source code. This requires that the module must be a Python module with the source code available.

  Added in version 0.6.

  Changed in version 1.0: Support for `'bysource'`.

autodoc_default_options
  Type:
    `dict[str, str | bool]`
  Default:
    `{}`

  The default options for autodoc directives. They are applied to all autodoc directives automatically. It must be a dictionary which maps option names to the values. For example:

      autodoc_default_options = {
          'members': 'var1, var2',
          'member-order': 'bysource',
          'special-members': '__init__',
          'undoc-members': True,
          'exclude-members': '__weakref__'
      }

  Setting `None` or `True` to the value is equivalent to giving only the option name to the directives.

  The supported options are:

  - `'members'`: See `automodule:members`.

  - `'undoc-members'` See `automodule:undoc-members`.

  - `'private-members'`: See `automodule:private-members`.

  - `'special-members'`: See `automodule:special-members`.

  - `'inherited-members'`: See `autoclass:inherited-members`.

  - `'imported-members'`: See `automodule:imported-members`.

  - `'exclude-members'`: See `automodule:exclude-members`.

  - `'ignore-module-all'`: See `automodule:ignore-module-all`.

  - `'member-order'`: See `automodule:member-order`.

  - `'show-inheritance'`: See `autoclass:show-inheritance`.

  - `'class-doc-from'`: See `autoclass:class-doc-from`.

  - `'no-value'`: See `autodata:no-value`.

  - `'no-index'`: See `automodule:no-index`.

  - `'no-index-entry'`: See `automodule:no-index-entry`.

  Added in version 1.8.

  Changed in version 2.0: Accepts `True` as a value.

  Changed in version 2.1: Added `'imported-members'`.

  Changed in version 4.1: Added `'class-doc-from'`.

  Changed in version 4.5: Added `'no-value'`.

autodoc_docstring_signature
  Type:
    `bool`
  Default:
    `True`

  Functions imported from C modules cannot be introspected, and therefore the signature for such functions cannot be automatically determined. However, it is an often-used convention to put the signature into the first line of the function’s docstring.

  If this boolean value is set to `True` (which is the default), autodoc will look at the first line of the docstring for functions and methods, and if it looks like a signature, use the line as the signature and remove it from the docstring content.

  autodoc will continue to look for multiple signature lines, stopping at the first line that does not look like a signature. This is useful for declaring overloaded function signatures.

  Added in version 1.1.

  Changed in version 3.1: Support overloaded signatures

  Changed in version 4.0: Overloaded signatures do not need to be separated by a backslash

autodoc_mock_imports
  Type:
    `list[str]`
  Default:
    `[]`

  This value contains a list of modules to be mocked up. This is useful when some external dependencies are not met at build time and break the building process. You may only specify the root package of the dependencies themselves and omit the sub-modules:

      autodoc_mock_imports = ['django']

  Will mock all imports under the `django` package.

  Added in version 1.3.

  Changed in version 1.6: This config value only requires to declare the top-level modules that should be mocked.

autodoc_typehints
  Type:
    `str`
  Default:
    `'signature'`

  This value controls how to represent typehints. The setting takes the following values:

  - `'signature'` – Show typehints in the signature

  - `'description'` – Show typehints as content of the function or method The typehints of overloaded functions or methods will still be represented in the signature.

  - `'none'` – Do not show typehints

  - `'both'` – Show typehints in the signature and as content of the function or method

  Overloaded functions or methods will not have typehints included in the description because it is impossible to accurately represent all possible overloads as a list of parameters.

  Added in version 2.1.

  Added in version 3.0: New option `'description'` is added.

  Added in version 4.1: New option `'both'` is added.

autodoc_typehints_description_target
  Type:
    `str`
  Default:
    `'all'`

  This value controls whether the types of undocumented parameters and return values are documented when `autodoc_typehints` is set to `'description'`. Supported values:

  - `'all'`: Types are documented for all parameters and return values, whether they are documented or not.

  - `'documented'`: Types will only be documented for a parameter or a return value that is already documented by the docstring.

  - `'documented_params'`: Parameter types will only be annotated if the parameter is documented in the docstring. The return type is always annotated (except if it is `None`).

  Added in version 4.0.

  Added in version 5.0: New option `'documented_params'` is added.

autodoc_type_aliases
  Type:
    `dict[str, str]`
  Default:
    `{}`

  A dictionary for users defined type aliases that maps a type name to the full-qualified object name. It is used to keep type aliases not evaluated in the document.

  The type aliases are only available if your program enables Postponed Evaluation of Annotations (PEP 563) feature via `from __future__ import annotations`.

  For example, there is code using a type alias:

      from __future__ import annotations

      AliasType = Union[List[Dict[Tuple[int, str], Set[int]]], Tuple[str, List[str]]]

      def f() -> AliasType:
          ...

  If `autodoc_type_aliases` is not set, autodoc will generate internal mark-up from this code as following:

      .. py:function:: f() -> Union[List[Dict[Tuple[int, str], Set[int]]], Tuple[str, List[str]]]

         ...

  If you set `autodoc_type_aliases` as `{'AliasType': 'your.module.AliasType'}`, it generates the following document internally:

      .. py:function:: f() -> your.module.AliasType:

         ...

  Added in version 3.3.

autodoc_typehints_format
  Type:
    `str`
  Default:
    `'short'`

  This value controls the format of typehints. The setting takes the following values:

  - `'fully-qualified'` – Show the module name and its name of typehints

  - `'short'` – Suppress the leading module names of the typehints (e.g. `io.StringIO` -> `StringIO`)

  Added in version 4.4.

  Changed in version 5.0: The default setting was changed to `'short'`

autodoc_preserve_defaults
  Type:
    `bool`
  Default:
    `False`

  If True, the default argument values of functions will be not evaluated on generating document. It preserves them as is in the source code.

  Added in version 4.0: Added as an experimental feature. This will be integrated into autodoc core in the future.

autodoc_use_type_comments
  Type:
    `bool`
  Default:
    `True`

  Attempt to read `# type: ...` comments from source code to supplement missing type annotations, if True.

  This can be disabled if your source code does not use type comments, for example if it exclusively uses type annotations or does not use type hints of any kind.

  Added in version 8.2: Added the option to disable the use of type comments in via the new `autodoc_use_type_comments` option, which defaults to `True` for backwards compatibility. The default will change to `False` in Sphinx 10.

autodoc_warningiserror
  Type:
    `bool`
  Default:
    `True`

  This value controls the behavior of `sphinx-build --fail-on-warning` during importing modules. If `False` is given, autodoc forcedly suppresses the error if the imported module emits warnings.

  Changed in version 8.1: This option now has no effect as `--fail-on-warning` no longer exits early.

autodoc_inherit_docstrings
  Type:
    `bool`
  Default:
    `True`

  This value controls the docstrings inheritance. If set to True the docstring for classes or methods, if not explicitly set, is inherited from parents.

  Added in version 1.7.

suppress_warnings
  Type:
    `Sequence[str]`
  Default:
    `()`

  `autodoc` supports suppressing warning messages via `suppress_warnings`. It defines the following additional warnings types:

  - autodoc

  - autodoc.import_object

## Docstring preprocessing

autodoc provides the following additional events:

autodoc-process-docstring(app, what, name, obj, options, lines)

  Added in version 0.4.

  Emitted when autodoc has read and processed a docstring. lines is a list of strings – the lines of the processed docstring – that the event handler can modify in place to change what Sphinx puts into the output.

  Parameters:

    - app – the Sphinx application object

    - what – the type of the object which the docstring belongs to (one of `'module'`, `'class'`, `'exception'`, `'function'`, `'method'`, `'attribute'`)

    - name – the fully qualified name of the object

    - obj – the object itself

    - options – the options given to the directive: an object with attributes `inherited_members`, `undoc_members`, `show_inheritance` and `no-index` that are true if the flag option of same name was given to the auto directive

    - lines – the lines of the docstring, see above

autodoc-before-process-signature(app, obj, bound_method)

  Added in version 2.4.

  Emitted before autodoc formats a signature for an object. The event handler can modify an object to change its signature.

  Parameters:

    - app – the Sphinx application object

    - obj – the object itself

    - bound_method – a boolean indicates an object is bound method or not

autodoc-process-signature(app, what, name, obj, options, signature, return_annotation)

  Added in version 0.5.

  Emitted when autodoc has formatted a signature for an object. The event handler can return a new tuple `(signature, return_annotation)` to change what Sphinx puts into the output.

  Parameters:

    - app – the Sphinx application object

    - what – the type of the object which the docstring belongs to (one of `'module'`, `'class'`, `'exception'`, `'function'`, `'method'`, `'attribute'`)

    - name – the fully qualified name of the object

    - obj – the object itself

    - options – the options given to the directive: an object with attributes `inherited_members`, `undoc_members`, `show_inheritance` and `no-index` that are true if the flag option of same name was given to the auto directive

    - signature – function signature, as a string of the form `'(parameter_1, parameter_2)'`, or `None` if introspection didn’t succeed and signature wasn’t specified in the directive.

    - return_annotation – function return annotation as a string of the form `' -> annotation'`, or `None` if there is no return annotation

The `sphinx.ext.autodoc` module provides factory functions for commonly needed docstring processing in event `autodoc-process-docstring`:

sphinx.ext.autodoc.cut_lines(pre: int, post: int = 0, what: Sequence[str] | None = None) → _AutodocProcessDocstringListener

  Return a listener that removes the first pre and last post lines of every docstring. If what is a sequence of strings, only docstrings of a type in what will be processed.

  Use like this (e.g. in the `setup()` function of `conf.py`):

      from sphinx.ext.autodoc import cut_lines

      app.connect('autodoc-process-docstring', cut_lines(4, what={'module'}))

  This can (and should) be used in place of `automodule_skip_lines`.

sphinx.ext.autodoc.between(marker: str, what: Sequence[str] | None = None, keepempty: bool = False, exclude: bool = False) → _AutodocProcessDocstringListener

  Return a listener that either keeps, or if exclude is True excludes, lines between lines that match the marker regular expression. If no line matches, the resulting docstring would be empty, so no change will be made unless keepempty is true.

  If what is a sequence of strings, only docstrings of a type in what will be processed.

autodoc-process-bases(app, name, obj, options, bases)

  Emitted when autodoc has read and processed a class to determine the base-classes. bases is a list of classes that the event handler can modify in place to change what Sphinx puts into the output. It’s emitted only if `show-inheritance` option given.

  Parameters:

    - app – the Sphinx application object

    - name – the fully qualified name of the object

    - obj – the object itself

    - options – the options given to the class directive

    - bases – the list of base classes signature. see above.

  Added in version 4.1.

  Changed in version 4.3: `bases` can contain a string as a base class name. It will be processed as reStructuredText.

## Skipping members

autodoc allows the user to define a custom method for determining whether a member should be included in the documentation by using the following event:

autodoc-skip-member(app, what, name, obj, skip, options)

  Added in version 0.5.

  Emitted when autodoc has to decide whether a member should be included in the documentation. The member is excluded if a handler returns `True`. It is included if the handler returns `False`.

  If more than one enabled extension handles the `autodoc-skip-member` event, autodoc will use the first non-`None` value returned by a handler. Handlers should return `None` to fall back to the skipping behavior of autodoc and other enabled extensions.

  Parameters:

    - app – the Sphinx application object

    - what – the type of the object which the docstring belongs to (one of `'module'`, `'class'`, `'exception'`, `'function'`, `'method'`, `'attribute'`)

    - name – the fully qualified name of the object

    - obj – the object itself

    - skip – a boolean indicating if autodoc will skip this member if the user handler does not override the decision

    - options – the options given to the directive: an object with attributes `inherited_members`, `undoc_members`, `show_inheritance` and `no-index` that are true if the flag option of same name was given to the auto directive