# pydoc > inspect --- type: CommandReference command: inspect mode: pydoc section: source: pydoc3 --- ## Quick Reference - `inspect.ismodule(obj)` — check if object is a module - `inspect.isclass(obj)` — check if object is a class - `inspect.ismethod(obj)` — check if object is an instance method - `inspect.isfunction(obj)` — check if object is a user-defined function - `inspect.getmembers(obj)` — get sorted list of (name, value) pairs for object members - `inspect.getsource(obj)` — return source code text of an object - `inspect.getdoc(obj)` — get cleaned documentation string - `inspect.signature(obj)` — get a `Signature` object for a callable - `inspect.getfullargspec(func)` — get parameter names, defaults, annotations - `inspect.currentframe()` — return the frame of the caller - `inspect.stack()` — return list of records for the stack above caller - `inspect.trace()` — return list of records for the stack below current exception ## Name Get useful information from live Python objects. ## Synopsis python import inspect ## Functions ### Type Checking - `ismodule(object)` — true if object is a module (has `__cached__`, `__doc__`, `__file__`) - `isclass(object)` — true if object is a class (has `__doc__`, `__module__`) - `ismethod(object)` — true if object is an instance method (has `__doc__`, `__name__`, `__func__`, `__self__`) - `isfunction(object)` — true if user-defined function (has `__doc__`, `__name__`, `__code__`, `__defaults__`, `__globals__`, `__annotations__`, `__kwdefaults__`) - `isgeneratorfunction(object)` — true if user-defined generator function - `isgenerator(object)` — true if generator (has `__iter__`, `close`, `gi_code`, `gi_frame`, `gi_running`, `next`, `send`, `throw`) - `iscoroutinefunction(object)` — true if defined with `async def` - `iscoroutine(object)` — true if coroutine object - `isasyncgenfunction(object)` — true if async generator function (`async def` with `yield`) - `isasyncgen(object)` — true if async generator - `istraceback(object)` — true if traceback (has `tb_frame`, `tb_lasti`, `tb_lineno`, `tb_next`) - `isframe(object)` — true if frame (has `f_back`, `f_builtins`, `f_code`, `f_globals`, `f_lasti`, `f_lineno`, `f_locals`, `f_trace`) - `iscode(object)` — true if code object (has `co_argcount`, `co_code`, `co_cellvars`, `co_consts`, `co_filename`, `co_firstlineno`, `co_flags`, `co_freevars`, `co_posonlyargcount`, `co_kwonlyargcount`, `co_lnotab`, `co_name`, `co_names`, `co_nlocals`, `co_stacksize`, `co_varnames`) - `isbuiltin(object)` — true if built-in function or method (has `__doc__`, `__name__`, `__self__`) - `isroutine(object)` — true if any kind of function or method - `isabstract(object)` — true if abstract base class (ABC) - `ismethoddescriptor(object)` — true if method descriptor (not `ismethod`, `isclass`, `isfunction`; has `__get__` but not `__set__`) - `isdatadescriptor(object)` — true if data descriptor (has `__set__` or `__delete__`) - `isgetsetdescriptor(object)` — true if getset descriptor (extension modules) - `ismemberdescriptor(object)` — true if member descriptor (extension modules) - `isawaitable(object)` — true if can be passed to `await` ### Member and Attribute Access - `getmembers(object[, predicate])` — list of `(name, value)` pairs sorted by name; optionally filtered by predicate - `getattr_static(obj, attr)` — retrieve attribute without triggering descriptor protocol, `__getattr__`, or `__getattribute__` - `classify_class_attrs(cls)` — list of `(name, kind, defining_class, object)` tuples for each attribute in `dir(cls)`; kinds: `'class method'`, `'static method'`, `'property'`, `'method'`, `'data'` ### Source Code and File Location - `getfile(object)` — return source or compiled file where object was defined - `getabsfile(object)` — return absolute path to source or compiled file - `getsourcefile(object)` — return filename that can locate object's source (or `None`) - `getmodulename(file)` — return module name from a file path (or `None`) - `getmodule(object)` — return module where object was defined (or `None`) - `getsource(object)` — return source code text as a single string; raises `OSError` if not found - `getsourcelines(object)` — return `(lines_list, starting_line_number)` - `findsource(object)` — return `(lines_list, starting_line_number)` for the entire source file - `getcomments(object)` — return lines of comments immediately preceding object's source (or `None`) - `getdoc(object)` — return cleaned documentation string (tabs expanded, uniform indentation removed) - `cleandoc(doc)` — clean up indentation from a docstring - `getblock(lines)` — extract the block of code at the top of a list of lines - `indentsize(line)` — return indent size in spaces at start of a line ### Function Signatures and Arguments - `signature(callable, *, follow_wrapped=True, globals=None, locals=None, eval_str=False)` — return a `Signature` object - `getfullargspec(func)` — return `FullArgSpec(args, varargs, varkw, defaults, kwonlyargs, kwonlydefaults, annotations)` - `getargspec(func)` — deprecated, use `getfullargspec`; returns `ArgSpec(args, varargs, keywords, defaults)` - `getargs(code)` — for a code object, return `(args, varargs, varkw)` - `getargvalues(frame)` — return `ArgInfo(args, varargs, keywords, locals)` - `getcallargs(func, *args, **kwds)` — return dict mapping argument names to bound values - `formatargspec(args, varargs, varkw, defaults, kwonlyargs, kwonlydefaults, annotations, ...)` — format an argument spec from `getfullargspec` values - `formatargvalues(args, varargs, varkw, locals, ...)` — format argument values from `getargvalues` - `formatannotation(annotation)` — format an annotation - `formatannotationrelativeto(annotation)` — format annotation relative to module ### Frame and Stack Inspection - `currentframe()` — return frame of the caller (or `None`) - `getframeinfo(frame_or_traceback, context=1)` — return `Traceback/FrameInfo` with filename, lineno, function, code_context, index - `getouterframes(frame, context=1)` — list of `FrameInfo` for frame and all higher (calling) frames - `getinnerframes(traceback, context=1)` — list of `FrameInfo` for traceback and all lower frames - `stack(context=1)` — list of `FrameInfo` for stack above caller's frame - `trace(context=1)` — list of `FrameInfo` for stack below current exception - `getlineno(frame)` — get line number from frame, allowing for optimization ### Generator and Coroutine State - `getgeneratorstate(generator)` — return `'GEN_CREATED'`, `'GEN_RUNNING'`, `'GEN_SUSPENDED'`, or `'GEN_CLOSED'` - `getgeneratorlocals(generator)` — dict of local variable names to current values - `getcoroutinestate(coroutine)` — return `'CORO_CREATED'`, `'CORO_RUNNING'`, `'CORO_SUSPENDED'`, or `'CORO_CLOSED'` - `getcoroutinelocals(coroutine)` — dict of local variable names to current values ### Closure Variables - `getclosurevars(func)` — return `ClosureVars(nonlocals, globals, builtins, unbound)` ### Annotations - `get_annotations(obj, *, globals=None, locals=None, eval_str=False)` — safely compute annotations dict; handles stringized annotations, inherited annotations, and unwrapping ### Class Hierarchy - `getclasstree(classes, unique=False)` — arrange list of classes into nested list hierarchy - `getmro(cls)` — return tuple of base classes in method resolution order - `walktree(tree)` — recursive helper for `getclasstree` ### Miscellaneous - `unwrap(func, *, stop=None)` — follow `__wrapped__` chain to the last object; `stop` callback can terminate early; raises `ValueError` on cycle ## Classes ### `ArgInfo(args, varargs, keywords, locals)` Named tuple with fields: `args`, `varargs`, `keywords`, `locals`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `ArgSpec(args, varargs, keywords, defaults)` Named tuple with fields: `args`, `varargs`, `keywords`, `defaults`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `Arguments(args, varargs, varkw)` Named tuple with fields: `args`, `varargs`, `varkw`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `Attribute(name, kind, defining_class, object)` Named tuple with fields: `name`, `kind`, `defining_class`, `object`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `BlockFinder` Provides `tokeneater()` method to detect end of a code block. Attributes: `__dict__`, `__weakref__`. ### `BoundArguments(signature, arguments)` Result of `Signature.bind()`. Attributes: `arguments` (dict), `signature` (Signature), `args` (tuple), `kwargs` (dict). Methods: `apply_defaults()` (sets missing arguments to their defaults). Properties: `args`, `kwargs`, `signature` (readonly). `__hash__` is `None`. ### `ClassFoundException` Exception class. Inherits `Exception`. ### `ClosureVars(nonlocals, globals, builtins, unbound)` Named tuple with fields: `nonlocals`, `globals`, `builtins`, `unbound`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `EndOfBlock` Exception class. Inherits `Exception`. ### `FrameInfo(frame, filename, lineno, function, code_context, index)` Named tuple with fields: `frame`, `filename`, `lineno`, `function`, `code_context`, `index`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `FullArgSpec(args, varargs, varkw, defaults, kwonlyargs, kwonlydefaults, annotations)` Named tuple with fields: `args`, `varargs`, `varkw`, `defaults`, `kwonlyargs`, `kwonlydefaults`, `annotations`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ### `Parameter(name, kind, *, default, annotation)` Represents a function parameter. Attributes: `name` (str), `default` (object or `Parameter.empty`), `annotation` (object or `Parameter.empty`), `kind` (one of `POSITIONAL_ONLY`, `POSITIONAL_OR_KEYWORD`, `VAR_POSITIONAL`, `KEYWORD_ONLY`, `VAR_KEYWORD`). Class attributes: `POSITIONAL_ONLY`, `POSITIONAL_OR_KEYWORD`, `VAR_POSITIONAL`, `KEYWORD_ONLY`, `VAR_KEYWORD`, `empty`. Methods: `replace(name=..., kind=..., annotation=..., default=...)` (creates copy). Properties: `name`, `kind`, `default`, `annotation` (readonly). Supports `__eq__`, `__hash__`, `__reduce__`, `__setstate__`, `__repr__`, `__str__`. ### `Signature(parameters=None, *, return_annotation)` Represents a function signature. Attributes: `parameters` (OrderedDict of `Parameter` objects), `return_annotation` (object or `Signature.empty`). Methods: `bind(*args, **kwargs)` -> `BoundArguments`, `bind_partial(*args, **kwargs)` -> `BoundArguments`, `replace(parameters=..., return_annotation=...)` (creates copy). Class methods: `from_callable(obj, *, follow_wrapped=True, globals=None, locals=None, eval_str=False)` (constructs Signature for any callable), `from_function(func)` (deprecated), `from_builtin(func)` (deprecated). Properties: `parameters`, `return_annotation` (readonly). Class attribute: `empty`. ### `Traceback(filename, lineno, function, code_context, index)` Named tuple with fields: `filename`, `lineno`, `function`, `code_context`, `index`. Methods: `_asdict()`, `_replace()`, `_make()`. ## Data - `CORO_CLOSED`, `CORO_CREATED`, `CORO_RUNNING`, `CORO_SUSPENDED` — coroutine state strings - `GEN_CLOSED`, `GEN_CREATED`, `GEN_RUNNING`, `GEN_SUSPENDED` — generator state strings - `CO_OPTIMIZED`, `CO_NEWLOCALS`, `CO_VARARGS`, `CO_VARKEYWORDS`, `CO_NESTED`, `CO_GENERATOR`, `CO_NOFREE`, `CO_COROUTINE`, `CO_ITERABLE_COROUTINE`, `CO_ASYNC_GENERATOR` — code object flag bitmasks - `TPFLAGS_IS_ABSTRACT` — type flag for abstract classes ## See Also - [Python documentation for inspect](https://docs.python.org/3.10/library/inspect.html) - `functools` — for `partial` and `wraps` utilities - `traceback` — for working with tracebacks - `types` — for type utilities