---
id: flake8-eradicate
version: "1.5.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: aging
---

# flake8-eradicate — Flake8 plugin to find commented out code

License: permissive · Maintenance: aging · Downloads: 764.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

flake8-eradicate is a linting plugin that integrates with flake8 to automatically find and flag commented-out code in Python files. It wraps the eradicate library and reports violations using the E800 error code, making dead code visible during normal linting workflows. The plugin supports configuration options to enable aggressive detection mode and customize whitelists for exceptions.

The package is designed for teams that want to enforce code cleanliness standards by preventing commented code from accumulating in repositories. It runs as part of your existing flake8 checks, requiring no separate tooling or workflow changes. Dependencies are minimal: flake8 itself, eradicate for the detection logic, and attrs for internal data structures.

Use it for:

- Enforce code review standards by catching commented-out code before merge in CI/CD pipelines.
- Maintain long-term code quality by preventing dead code accumulation in active projects.
- Integrate into wemake-python-styleguide or similar comprehensive linting configurations.
- Customize detection rules per project using whitelist options to avoid false positives on intentional comments.
- Audit existing codebases to identify and remove commented code during refactoring efforts.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

A flake8 plugin that detects commented-out code in Python files and reports it as a linting error, helping maintain code cleanliness by flagging dead code that should be removed.

Yes, if you use flake8 and want to enforce removal of commented-out code. The plugin is stable, has no security vulnerabilities, and integrates seamlessly into existing workflows. The aging maintenance status (last release May 2023) is not a blocker for a mature, focused tool, but monitor the repository if you need active feature development or rapid bug fixes.

## Install

pip install flake8-eradicate
uv add flake8-eradicate
poetry add flake8-eradicate

## Installing flake8-eradicate

Before you install: Low friction install with three straightforward runtime dependencies (flake8, eradicate, attrs). Maintenance status is aging—last release was 2023-05-31 and no commits since 2025-03-14—but the package is stable and production-ready with no known vulnerabilities.

License in practice: MIT license is permissive, allowing free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions. No licensing concerns for most projects.

Quickstart:

pip install flake8-eradicate

flake8 your_module.py

# Raises E800 error for commented-out code found

Requires flake8 to be installed and Python 3.8 or later.

Verify before relying:

- Whether aggressive mode (--eradicate-aggressive) false-positive rate is acceptable for your codebase.
- Performance impact when scanning large codebases with many files.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: aging
- Downloads: 764.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

flake8 commented code detection, dead code linter plugin, find commented out code, code quality linting, remove dead code automation, python code cleanup, flake8 extension, code-quality, linting-plugin, flake8-extension

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/flake8-eradicate) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/flake8-eradicate/)