Setup Flake8 in Pycharm

Quick setup & configuration guide

To run Flake8 automatically in PyCharm, you can set it up as an external tool that will be triggered upon saving a file. Here’s how you can configure it:

1. Install Flake8:

   • Open an interactive shell and run the following command to install Flake8:

     python -m pip install flake8

   • Ensure that you install Flake8 on the correct version of Python that you’re using in PyCharm1.

2. Configure PyCharm:

   • In PyCharm, go to File -> Settings -> Tools -> External Tools.

   • Click on Add to create a new tool configuration.

   • Set the Name to Flake8.

   • In the Program field, enter the path to your Python interpreter followed by /python. It should look something like this:

     $PyInterpreterDirectory$/python

   • In the Arguments field, enter -m flake8.

   • In the Working directory field, enter the path to the project or file you want to lint.

3. Set Up File Watchers:

   • Go to File -> Settings -> Tools -> File Watchers.

   • Click the “+” and select <custom>.

   • Set the File type to “Python”.

   • Set the Scope to “Current File”.

   • For the Program, enter the path to the flake8 executable or your Python interpreter followed by -m flake8.

   • In the Arguments field, use $FilePathRelativeToProjectRoot$.

   • Set the Output paths to $ProjectFileDir$/flake8_report.txt to save the report.

4. Run Flake8:

   • After configuring, you can run Flake8 by selecting the tool from the Tools -> External Tools menu in PyCharm.

5. Enable Automatic Triggering:

   • In the Advanced Options of the File Watcher, ensure “Auto-save edited files to trigger the watcher” is checked.

Now, every time you save a Python file, Flake8 will run automatically and check for any style or logical errors in your code.

NOTE: Remember, if you want to use Flake8 with PyCharm’s Pylint plugin, you can install the flake8-for-pycharm package, which will allow Flake8 to emulate Pylint’s output.