# Using _Black_ with other tools

## Black compatible configurations

All of Black’s changes are harmless (or at least, they should be), but a few do conflict against other tools. It is not uncommon to be using other tools alongside _Black_ like linters and type checkers. Some of them need a bit of tweaking to resolve the conflicts. Listed below are _Black_ compatible configurations in various formats for the common tools out there.

Please note that _Black_ only supports the TOML file format for its configuration (e.g. pyproject.toml). The provided examples are to only configure their corresponding tools, using their supported file formats.

Compatible configuration files can be [found here](https://github.com/psf/black/blob/main/docs/compatible_configs/).

### isort

[isort](https://pypi.org/p/isort/) helps to sort and format imports in your Python code. _Black_ also formats imports, but in a different way from isort’s defaults which leads to conflicting changes.

#### Profile

Since version 5.0.0, isort supports [profiles](https://pycqa.github.io/isort/docs/configuration/profiles.html) to allow easy interoperability with common code styles. You can set the black profile in any of the [config files](https://pycqa.github.io/isort/docs/configuration/config_files.html) supported by isort. Below, an example for pyproject.toml:

``toml [tool.isort] profile = "black" ``

#### Custom Configuration

If you’re using an isort version that is older than 5.0.0 or you have some custom configuration for _Black_, you can tweak your isort configuration to make it compatible with _Black_. Below, an example for .isort.cfg:

`` multi_line_output = 3 include_trailing_comma = True force_grid_wrap = 0 use_parentheses = True ensure_newline_before_comments = True line_length = 88 ``

#### Why those options above?

_Black_ wraps imports that surpass line-length by moving identifiers onto separate lines and by adding a trailing comma after each. A more detailed explanation of this behaviour can be [found here](../the_black_code_style/current_style.md#how-black-wraps-lines).

isort’s default mode of wrapping imports that extend past the line_length limit is “Grid”.

```py3 from third_party import (lib1, lib2, lib3,

> lib4, lib5, …)

```

This style is incompatible with _Black_, but isort can be configured to use a different wrapping mode called “Vertical Hanging Indent” which looks like this:

```py3 from third_party import (

> lib1, lib2, lib3, lib4,

# )

This style is _Black_ compatible and can be achieved by multi-line-output = 3. Also, as mentioned above, when wrapping long imports _Black_ puts a trailing comma and uses parentheses. isort should follow the same behaviour and passing the options include_trailing_comma = True and use_parentheses = True configures that.

The option force_grid_wrap = 0 is just to tell isort to only wrap imports that surpass the line_length limit.

Finally, isort should be told to wrap imports when they surpass _Black_’s default limit of 88 characters via line_length = 88 as well as ensure_newline_before_comments = True to ensure spacing import sections with comments works the same as with _Black_.

Please note ensure_newline_before_comments = True only works since isort >= 5 but does not break older versions so you can keep it if you are running previous versions.

#### Formats

<details> <summary>.isort.cfg</summary>

``ini [settings] profile = black ``

</details>

<details> <summary>setup.cfg</summary>

``ini [isort] profile = black ``

</details>

<details> <summary>pyproject.toml</summary>

``toml [tool.isort] profile = 'black' ``

</details>

<details> <summary>.editorconfig</summary>

``ini [*.py] profile = black ``

</details>

### pycodestyle

[pycodestyle](https://pycodestyle.pycqa.org/) is a code linter. It warns you of syntax errors, possible bugs, stylistic errors, etc. For the most part, pycodestyle follows [PEP 8](https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/) when warning about stylistic errors. There are a few deviations that cause incompatibilities with _Black_.

#### Configuration

`` max-line-length = 88 ignore = E203,E701 ``

(labels/why-pycodestyle-warnings)=

#### Why those options above?

##### max-line-length

As with isort, pycodestyle should be configured to allow lines up to the length limit of 88, _Black_’s default.

##### E203

In some cases, as determined by PEP 8, _Black_ will enforce an equal amount of whitespace around slice operators. Due to this, pycodestyle will raise E203 whitespace before ‘:’ warnings. Since this warning is not PEP 8 compliant, it should be disabled.

##### E701 / E704

_Black_ will collapse implementations of classes and functions consisting solely of .. to a single line. This matches how such examples are formatted in PEP 8. It remains true that in all other cases Black will prevent multiple statements on the same line, in accordance with PEP 8 generally discouraging this.

However, pycodestyle does not mirror this logic and may raise E701 multiple statements on one line (colon) in this situation. Its disabled-by-default E704 multiple statements on one line (def) rule may also raise warnings and should not be enabled.

##### W503

When breaking a line, _Black_ will break it before a binary operator. This is compliant with PEP 8 as of [April 2016](https://github.com/python/peps/commit/c59c4376ad233a62ca4b3a6060c81368bd21e85b#diff-64ec08cc46db7540f18f2af46037f599). There’s a disabled-by-default warning in Flake8 which goes against this PEP 8 recommendation called W503 line break before binary operator. It should not be enabled in your configuration. You can use its counterpart W504 line break after binary operator instead.

#### Formats

<details> <summary>setup.cfg, .pycodestyle, tox.ini</summary>

``ini [pycodestyle] max-line-length = 88 ignore = E203,E701 ``

</details>

### Flake8

[Flake8](https://pypi.org/p/flake8/) is a wrapper around multiple linters, including pycodestyle. As such, it has many of the same issues.

#### Bugbear

It’s recommended to use [the Bugbear plugin](https://github.com/PyCQA/flake8-bugbear) and enable [its B950 check](https://github.com/PyCQA/flake8-bugbear#opinionated-warnings#:~:text=you%20expect%20it.-,B950,-%3A%20Line%20too%20long) instead of using Flake8’s E501, because it aligns with [Black’s 10% rule](labels/line-length).

Install Bugbear and use the following config:

`` [flake8] max-line-length = 80 extend-select = B950 extend-ignore = E203,E501,E701 ``

#### Minimal Configuration

In cases where you can’t or don’t want to install Bugbear, you can use this minimally compatible config:

`` [flake8] max-line-length = 88 extend-ignore = E203,E701 ``

#### Why those options above?

See [the pycodestyle section](labels/why-pycodestyle-warnings) above.

#### Formats

<details> <summary>.flake8, setup.cfg, tox.ini</summary>

``ini [flake8] max-line-length = 88 extend-ignore = E203,E701 ``

</details>

### Pylint

[Pylint](https://pypi.org/p/pylint/) is also a code linter like Flake8. It has many of the same checks as Flake8 and more. It particularly has more formatting checks regarding style conventions like variable naming.

#### Configuration

`` max-line-length = 88 ``

#### Why those options above?

Pylint should be configured to only complain about lines that surpass 88 characters via max-line-length = 88.

If using pylint<2.6.0, also disable C0326 and C0330 as these are incompatible with _Black_ formatting and have since been removed.

#### Formats

<details> <summary>pylintrc</summary>

``ini [format] max-line-length = 88 ``

</details>

<details> <summary>setup.cfg</summary>

``cfg [pylint] max-line-length = 88 ``

</details>

<details> <summary>pyproject.toml</summary>

``toml [tool.pylint.format] max-line-length = "88" ``

</details>