doc8
Style checker for Sphinx (or other) RST documentation
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. doc8 is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with low friction, and is widely used (top 5000 PyPI packages). It fills a clear niche in RST documentation quality assurance. Install it if you maintain Sphinx or reStructuredText documentation and want automated style enforcement.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution.
- Actively maintained with recent commits and a stable production status across Python 3.10 through 3.14.
License · maintenance · safety
Apache-2.0 (permissive) — Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in most projects, including commercial, with minimal restrictions beyond attribution.
last release 2025-06-13 (427 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-10 · 176 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 902,421 downloads/mo, #4,770 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install doc8
from doc8 import doc8
result = doc8(max_line_length=99)
print(result.report())- Whether the package handles Markdown or other markup formats beyond RST and plain text.
- Performance characteristics when scanning large documentation trees.
What it is and what it does
doc8 is a command-line and programmatic style checker for reStructuredText documentation. It enforces a set of opinionated formatting rules including line length limits (default 79 characters), trailing whitespace removal, proper indentation without tabs, Unix newlines, and valid RST syntax. The tool can be run directly against documentation directories or integrated into Python projects via its API.
The package depends on docutils for RST parsing, restructuredtext-lint for linting checks, stevedore for plugin management, tomli for TOML configuration parsing, and Pygments for syntax highlighting. It supports configuration via command-line arguments or INI-style files (doc8.ini, setup.cfg, tox.ini, pyproject.toml) and allows selective error ignoring and path exclusion. Results are returned as structured error tuples or human-readable reports.
Use it for
- Enforce consistent RST formatting in Sphinx-based documentation projects as part of CI/CD pipelines.
- Validate documentation style in multi-contributor projects to catch formatting issues before merge.
- Check documentation compliance in automated quality gates alongside code linting tools.
- Scan existing documentation repositories for style violations and generate reports for remediation.
- Programmatically validate RST files in documentation generation workflows.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
doc8 is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with low friction, and is widely used (top 5000 PyPI packages). It fills a clear niche in RST documentation quality assurance. Install it if you maintain Sphinx or reStructuredText documentation and want automated style enforcement.
Install
doc8 on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained with recent commits and a stable production status across Python 3.10 through 3.14.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
Apache-2.0 permissive license allows use in most projects, including commercial, with minimal restrictions beyond attribution.
Quickstart
pip install doc8
from doc8 import doc8
result = doc8(max_line_length=99)
print(result.report())Verify before relying
- Whether the package handles Markdown or other markup formats beyond RST and plain text.
- Performance characteristics when scanning large documentation trees.
Package facts
| License | Apache-2.0 permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 5 packagesdocutilsrestructuredtext-lintstevedoretomliPygments |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 427 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 902,421 / month, #4,770 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyIntended Audience :: System AdministratorsOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: System :: Systems AdministrationTopic :: Utilities |
Evidence: doc8-2.0.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also sphinx-lint · rstcheck · docstrfmt · restructuredtext-lint · rstcheck-core · sphinx_mdinclude · flake8-rst-docstrings · autopep8 · collective.checkdocs · bashate