codespell
Fix common misspellings in text files
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Codespell is actively maintained, has zero known vulnerabilities, installs with no dependencies, and requires only Python 3.9+. It solves a real problem—catching typos in code and docs—with low friction and minimal false positives. The GPL-2.0-only license is copyleft; verify compatibility with your project before shipping it as a dependency, but using it locally as a development tool carries no license risk.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or above.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies.
- Active maintenance—last commit 2026-08-10, release 30 days ago.
License · maintenance · safety
GPL-2.0-only (copyleft) — GPL-2.0-only (copyleft): you may use and modify codespell freely, but any derivative work or distribution must also be licensed under GPL-2.0-only. Check your project's license compatibility before integrating.
last release 2026-07-15 (30 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-10 · 2,415 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 6,346,962 downloads/mo, #1,924 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install codespell
codespell
codespell -w # write changes to files
codespell -L word1,word2 # ignore specific words- Whether the built-in dictionary covers domain-specific terminology relevant to your codebase.
- Performance characteristics on very large codebases or repositories.
What it is and what it does
Codespell is a command-line tool that scans text files for a curated set of common misspellings and suggests corrections. Unlike full dictionary checkers, it targets known typos (like "adn" for "and") rather than validating every word, which keeps false positives low when working with niche terminology, code identifiers, or domain-specific language. It's designed primarily for source code but works on any text file.
The tool runs as a standalone CLI with no external runtime dependencies, making it easy to integrate into CI/CD pipelines, pre-commit hooks, or local development workflows. It supports dry-run mode (default), interactive correction, batch writing, word allowlists, file exclusion patterns, and configuration via INI or TOML files. You can also embed inline ignore directives directly in source code using comments.
Use it for
- Catch typos in source code comments and docstrings before committing.
- Run as a pre-commit hook or CI step to enforce spelling standards across a repository.
- Fix bulk misspellings across a large codebase with the `-w` flag and interactive review.
- Maintain a project-specific allowlist of non-standard terms to avoid repeated false positives.
- Check documentation, README files, and changelog entries for common spelling errors.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Codespell is actively maintained, has zero known vulnerabilities, installs with no dependencies, and requires only Python 3.9+. It solves a real problem—catching typos in code and docs—with low friction and minimal false positives. The GPL-2.0-only license is copyleft; verify compatibility with your project before shipping it as a dependency, but using it locally as a development tool carries no license risk.
Install
codespell on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Active maintenance—last commit 2026-08-10, release 30 days ago. Supports Python 3.9 through 3.13.
Requires Python 3.9 or above.
License in practice
GPL-2.0-only (copyleft): you may use and modify codespell freely, but any derivative work or distribution must also be licensed under GPL-2.0-only. Check your project's license compatibility before integrating.
Quickstart
pip install codespell
codespell
codespell -w # write changes to files
codespell -L word1,word2 # ignore specific wordsVerify before relying
- Whether the built-in dictionary covers domain-specific terminology relevant to your codebase.
- Performance characteristics on very large codebases or repositories.
Package facts
| License | GPL-2.0-only copyleft |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 30 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 6,346,962 / month, #1,924 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Intended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: MacOSOperating System :: Microsoft :: WindowsOperating System :: POSIXOperating System :: UnixProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development |
Evidence: codespell-2.4.3-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “spell check source code”
- codespellCodespell finds and fixes common misspellings in text files,…
- typosFinds and corrects spelling mistakes in source code across files,…
- sphinxcontrib-spellingA Sphinx extension that checks documentation for spelling errors…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Software Development packages
Provides backported and experimental type hints for Python 3.9+, allowing use of newer typing features on older Python versions and enabling early experimentation with type system PEPs before they enter the standard library.
NumPy provides an N-dimensional array object and a comprehensive suite of mathematical, linear algebra, Fourier transform, and random number functions for scientific computing in Python.
FastAPI is a Python web framework for building REST APIs using type hints, with automatic request validation, serialization, and interactive API documentation.
Provides a way to document function parameters, class attributes, return types, and variables inline using Python's `Annotated` type hint syntax instead of traditional docstrings.
Typer builds command-line applications from Python functions using type hints, automatically generating help text, argument parsing, and shell completion.
Install it if you are building CLIs in Python.
Distlib provides low-level packaging utilities for building, distributing, and managing Python software—including metadata handling, version specifiers, wheel support, script installation, and dependency resolution.
See also mkdocs-spellcheck · typos · pyspellchecker · pyspelling · symspellpy · textsearch · better-profanity · fuzzyset2 · language_tool_python · vale