vulture-dead-code

# Vulture and deadcode - Dead Code Detection

Tools for finding unused Python code including functions, classes, variables, imports, and attributes.

## Overview

**Vulture** (mature, confidence-based) and **deadcode** (newer, AST-based) both detect unused code but with different approaches:

| Feature | Vulture | deadcode |
|---------|---------|----------|
| **Approach** | Static analysis + confidence scores | AST-based detection |
| **Accuracy** | Confidence scores (60-100%) | High accuracy, fewer false positives |
| **Speed** | Fast | Very fast |
| **Configuration** | Whitelist files | TOML configuration |
| **Maturity** | Mature (2012) | Newer (2023+) |
| **Best For** | Large codebases, gradual cleanup | New projects, strict enforcement |

## Installation

```bash
# Install vulture
uv add --dev vulture

# Install deadcode (newer alternative)
uv add --dev deadcode

# Install both for comparison
uv add --dev vulture deadcode
```

## Vulture - Confidence-Based Detection

### Basic Usage

```bash
# Check entire project
vulture .

# Check specific files/directories
vulture src/ tests/

# Minimum confidence threshold (60-100%)
vulture --min-confidence 80 .

# Exclude patterns
vulture . --exclude "**/migrations/*,**/tests/*"

# Sort by confidence
vulture --sort-by-size .

# Generate whitelist of current issues
vulture . --make-whitelist > vulture_whitelist.py
```

### Configuration

#### pyproject.toml Configuration

```toml
[tool.vulture]
# Minimum confidence to report (60-100%)
min_confidence = 80

# Paths to scan
paths = ["src", "tests"]

# Exclude patterns (glob)
exclude = [
    "**/migrations/*",
    "**/__pycache__/*",
    "**/node_modules/*",
    ".venv/*"
]

# Ignore decorators (marks functions as used)
ignore_decorators = [
    "@app.route",
    "@pytest.fixture",
    "@property",
    "@staticmethod",
    "@classmethod"
]

# Ignore names matching patterns
ignore_names = [
    "test_*",      # Test functions
    "setUp*",      # Test setup
    "tearDown*",   #