flake8-polyfill
Polyfill package for Flake8 plugins
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
No, unless you are maintaining a legacy Flake8 plugin that must support both 2.x and 3.x. The package is abandoned (last release 2017-12-30) and was designed to solve a compatibility problem between those versions. If you are writing a new plugin, use Flake8 3.x APIs directly. If you must support both versions, accept that this package will not receive updates for any future Flake8 changes.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires flake8 to be installed; intended for use within Flake8 plugin development, not as a standalone tool.
- Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on flake8.
- However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2017-12-30.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive and poses no restrictions on use or redistribution.
last release 2017-12-30 (3149 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 894,296 downloads/mo, #4,793 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install flake8-polyfill
from flake8_polyfill import options
class MyFlake8Plugin(object):
@classmethod
def add_options(cls, parser):
options.register(parser, '--my-option',
parse_from_config=True,
default='...',
help='...')- Whether this package still works correctly with modern Flake8 versions beyond 3.x, given its abandoned status.
- Whether the monkey-patching approach for stdin handling remains compatible with current Python and Flake8 internals.
- How long the package has been without maintenance and whether Flake8 2.x support is still relevant.
What it is and what it does
flake8-polyfill is a compatibility layer for developers writing Flake8 plugins that need to work across both Flake8 2.x and 3.x. It abstracts away API differences between those versions so plugin code can use a single interface. The package provides three main helpers: an options registration wrapper that handles parameter differences in add_option across versions, a stdin monkey-patching utility that works around changes in how Flake8 handles standard input caching, and a version comparison utility that normalizes version strings into tuples for easy conditional logic.
The package depends only on flake8 and installs with low friction. However, it has been abandoned since 2017-12-30 and receives no maintenance. It was designed for a specific compatibility problem between Flake8 2.x and 3.x. Installing this package makes sense only if you are actively maintaining a legacy plugin that must support both versions simultaneously, and you accept the risk of no future updates.
Use it for
- Registering plugin options in a way that works identically on both Flake8 2.x and 3.x without conditional code branches.
- Ensuring stdin is properly cached and retrievable in plugins across Flake8 versions that handle it differently.
- Writing version-conditional logic in a plugin by comparing Flake8 version tuples instead of parsing version strings.
- Maintaining a legacy Flake8 plugin that must continue supporting older Flake8 2.x installations alongside newer 3.x ones.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
No, unless you are maintaining a legacy Flake8 plugin that must support both 2.x and 3.x.
The package is abandoned (last release 2017-12-30) and was designed to solve a compatibility problem between those versions. If you are writing a new plugin, use Flake8 3.x APIs directly. If you must support both versions, accept that this package will not receive updates for any future Flake8 changes.
Install
flake8-polyfill on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on flake8. However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2017-12-30. Only consider installing if you are maintaining a Flake8 plugin that must support both 2.x and 3.x, and you accept the risk of no future maintenance.
Requires flake8 to be installed; intended for use within Flake8 plugin development, not as a standalone tool.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive and poses no restrictions on use or redistribution.
Quickstart
pip install flake8-polyfill
from flake8_polyfill import options
class MyFlake8Plugin(object):
@classmethod
def add_options(cls, parser):
options.register(parser, '--my-option',
parse_from_config=True,
default='...',
help='...')Verify before relying
- Whether this package still works correctly with modern Flake8 versions beyond 3.x, given its abandoned status.
- Whether the monkey-patching approach for stdin handling remains compatible with current Python and Flake8 internals.
- How long the package has been without maintenance and whether Flake8 2.x support is still relevant.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageflake8 |
| Maintenance | Abandoned 3,149 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 894,296 / month, #4,793 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Environment :: ConsoleFramework :: Flake8Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 2Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Software Development :: Quality Assurance |
Evidence: flake8_polyfill-1.0.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl
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