{"slug": "i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings", "title": "I scanned four popular Python libraries for missing docstrings", "summary": "A developer built Legacy Doc-AI, a command-line tool that scans Python codebases for missing docstrings and drafts fixes, and ran it against four well-known libraries to gauge how much of their code is undocumented. The tool counts every function and method, including private helpers and tests, so the developer cautions the raw figures reflect coverage gaps rather than project quality, and says draft accuracy has not yet been measured. A free repo audit is offered, with a planned price of £39 per repo per month.", "body_md": "Old Python projects rot in a quiet way. Functions get new parameters and the docstring above them stays frozen. I've been building a command-line tool, Legacy Doc-AI, that finds those gaps and drafts fixes. To see if the problem is real, I pointed its scanner at four well-known libraries.\n\nFunctions with no docstring at all:\n\nThese are raw counts. The scanner counts every function and method it finds, including private helpers and tests, and many of those are fine without docs. So read them as \"how much is uncovered\", not \"how badly these projects are run\".\n\nIt's early. I'm not claiming it writes perfect docs, and I haven't measured how accurate the drafts are. I want honest feedback from people who maintain older Python code.\n\nThere's a free audit: send me a public repo and I'll send back the coverage report. Sign-up is at [https://legacy-doc-ai.pages.dev](https://legacy-doc-ai.pages.dev).\n\nThe planned price is £39 per repo per month. Does that sound sensible? And what would make you trust generated docstrings in your repo?", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/jazzyjj0601/i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings-5c65", "published_at": "2026-09-30 20:31:33+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-30 20:46:39.254232+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "developer-tools", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Legacy Doc-AI", "Python"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/i-scanned-four-popular-python-libraries-for-missing-docstrings.jsonld"}}