License Header Check

0.2.1 verified Mon Apr 27 auth: no python

A Python tool to check that source files have a license header. It scans files for a given regex pattern and reports files missing the header. Current version 0.2.1, released irregularly.

pip install license-header-check

Common errors

error TypeError: 'str' object is not callable ↓

cause Trying to call the string instead of the checker object, e.g., `checker = LicenseHeaderCheck(...)` then `checker('...')`.

fix

Use checker.check(headers=...) instead of checker(...).

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'license-header-check' ↓

cause Trying to import with hyphens, but Python modules use underscores.

fix

Use import license_header_check or from license_header_check import ....

Warnings

gotcha The `check` method returns a list of file paths missing the header, not a boolean. Do not use `if checker.check(...):` expecting True/False. ↓

fix Use `if len(missing) > 0:` or `if missing:`.

gotcha The `headers` parameter must be a list of strings. Passing a single string will iterate over characters. ↓

fix Wrap in list: `headers=['# License ...']`.

Imports

LicenseHeaderCheck

wrong

from license-header-check import LicenseHeaderCheck

correct

from license_header_check import LicenseHeaderCheck

Hyphen in package name becomes underscore in module.

Quickstart

Create a checker instance, run check on current directory for Python files, ensuring they contain the SPDX MIT header.

from license_header_check import LicenseHeaderCheck
checker = LicenseHeaderCheck('.', patterns=['\.py$'], comment='#')
missing = checker.check(headers=['# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT'])
print('Missing headers in:', missing)