Working with Rules
Note: This page covers the most recent rule format for ESLint >= 3.0.0. There is also a deprecated rule format.
Each rule in ESLint has three files named with its identifier (for example, no-extra-semi
).
- in the
lib/rules
directory: a source file (for example,no-extra-semi.js
) - in the
tests/lib/rules
directory: a test file (for example,no-extra-semi.js
) - in the
docs/src/rules
directory: a Markdown documentation file (for example,no-extra-semi
)
Important: If you submit a core rule to the ESLint repository, you must follow some conventions explained below.
Here is the basic format of the source file for a rule:
/**
* @fileoverview Rule to disallow unnecessary semicolons
* @author Nicholas C. Zakas
*/
"use strict";
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Rule Definition
//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/** @type {import('eslint').Rule.RuleModule} */
module.exports = {
meta: {
type: "suggestion",
docs: {
description: "disallow unnecessary semicolons",
category: "Possible Errors",
recommended: true,
url: "https://eslint.org/docs/rules/no-extra-semi"
},
fixable: "code",
schema: [] // no options
},
create: function(context) {
return {
// callback functions
};
}
};
Rule Basics
The source file for a rule exports an object with the following properties.
meta
(object) contains metadata for the rule:
type
(string) indicates the type of rule, which is one of"problem"
,"suggestion"
, or"layout"
:"problem"
means the rule is identifying code that either will cause an error or may cause a confusing behavior. Developers should consider this a high priority to resolve."suggestion"
means the rule is identifying something that could be done in a better way but no errors will occur if the code isn't changed."layout"
means the rule cares primarily about whitespace, semicolons, commas, and parentheses, all the parts of the program that determine how the code looks rather than how it executes. These rules work on parts of the code that aren't specified in the AST.
docs
(object) is required for core rules of ESLint:description
(string) provides the short description of the rule in the rules indexcategory
(string) specifies the heading under which the rule is listed in the rules indexrecommended
(boolean) is whether the"extends": "eslint:recommended"
property in a configuration file enables the ruleurl
(string) specifies the URL at which the full documentation can be accessed (enabling code editors to provide a helpful link on highlighted rule violations)
In a custom rule or plugin, you can omit
docs
or include any properties that you need in it.fixable
(string) is either"code"
or"whitespace"
if the--fix
option on the command line automatically fixes problems reported by the ruleImportant: the
fixable
property is mandatory for fixable rules. If this property isn't specified, ESLint will throw an error whenever the rule attempts to produce a fix. Omit thefixable
property if the rule is not fixable.hasSuggestions
(boolean) specifies whether rules can return suggestions (defaults tofalse
if omitted)Important: the
hasSuggestions
property is mandatory for rules that provide suggestions. If this property isn't set totrue
, ESLint will throw an error whenever the rule attempts to produce a suggestion. Omit thehasSuggestions
property if the rule does not provide suggestions.schema
(array) specifies the options so ESLint can prevent invalid rule configurationsdeprecated
(boolean) indicates whether the rule has been deprecated. You may omit thedeprecated
property if the rule has not been deprecated.replacedBy
(array) in the case of a deprecated rule, specifies replacement rule(s)
create
(function) returns an object with methods that ESLint calls to "visit" nodes while traversing the abstract syntax tree (AST as defined by ESTree) of JavaScript code:
- if a key is a node type or a selector, ESLint calls that visitor function while going down the tree
- if a key is a node type or a selector plus
:exit
, ESLint calls that visitor function while going up the tree - if a key is an event name, ESLint calls that handler function for code path analysis
A rule can use the current node and its surrounding tree to report or fix problems.
Here are methods for the array-callback-return rule:
function checkLastSegment (node) {
// report problem for function if last code path segment is reachable
}
module.exports = {
meta: { ... },
create: function(context) {
// declare the state of the rule
return {
ReturnStatement: function(node) {
// at a ReturnStatement node while going down
},
// at a function expression node while going up:
"FunctionExpression:exit": checkLastSegment,
"ArrowFunctionExpression:exit": checkLastSegment,
onCodePathStart: function (codePath, node) {
// at the start of analyzing a code path
},
onCodePathEnd: function(codePath, node) {
// at the end of analyzing a code path
}
};
}
};
The Context Object
The context
object contains additional functionality that is helpful for rules to do their jobs. As the name implies, the context
object contains information that is relevant to the context of the rule. The context
object has the following properties:
parserOptions
- the parser options configured for this run (more details here).id
- the rule ID.options
- an array of the configured options for this rule. This array does not include the rule severity. For more information, see here.settings
- the shared settings from configuration.parserPath
- the name of theparser
from configuration.parserServices
- an object containing parser-provided services for rules. The default parser does not provide any services. However, if a rule is intended to be used with a custom parser, it could useparserServices
to access anything provided by that parser. (For example, a TypeScript parser could provide the ability to get the computed type of a given node.)
Additionally, the context
object has the following methods:
getAncestors()
- returns an array of the ancestors of the currently-traversed node, starting at the root of the AST and continuing through the direct parent of the current node. This array does not include the currently-traversed node itself.getCwd()
- returns thecwd
passed to Linter. It is a path to a directory that should be considered as the current working directory.getDeclaredVariables(node)
- returns a list of variables declared by the given node. This information can be used to track references to variables.- If the node is a
VariableDeclaration
, all variables declared in the declaration are returned. - If the node is a
VariableDeclarator
, all variables declared in the declarator are returned. - If the node is a
FunctionDeclaration
orFunctionExpression
, the variable for the function name is returned, in addition to variables for the function parameters. - If the node is an
ArrowFunctionExpression
, variables for the parameters are returned. - If the node is a
ClassDeclaration
or aClassExpression
, the variable for the class name is returned. - If the node is a
CatchClause
, the variable for the exception is returned. - If the node is an
ImportDeclaration
, variables for all of its specifiers are returned. - If the node is an
ImportSpecifier
,ImportDefaultSpecifier
, orImportNamespaceSpecifier
, the declared variable is returned. - Otherwise, if the node does not declare any variables, an empty array is returned.
- If the node is a
getFilename()
- returns the filename associated with the source.getPhysicalFilename()
- when linting a file, it returns the full path of the file on disk without any code block information. When linting text, it returns the value passed to—stdin-filename
or<text>
if not specified.getScope()
- returns the scope of the currently-traversed node. This information can be used to track references to variables.getSourceCode()
- returns aSourceCode
object that you can use to work with the source that was passed to ESLint.markVariableAsUsed(name)
- marks a variable with the given name in the current scope as used. This affects the no-unused-vars rule. Returnstrue
if a variable with the given name was found and marked as used, otherwisefalse
.report(descriptor)
- reports a problem in the code (see the dedicated section).
Note: Earlier versions of ESLint supported additional methods on the context
object. Those methods were removed in the new format and should not be relied upon.
context.getScope()
This method returns the scope which has the following types:
AST Node Type | Scope Type |
---|---|
Program | global |
FunctionDeclaration | function |
FunctionExpression | function |
ArrowFunctionExpression | function |
ClassDeclaration | class |
ClassExpression | class |
BlockStatement ※1 | block |
SwitchStatement ※1 | switch |
ForStatement ※2 | for |
ForInStatement ※2 | for |
ForOfStatement ※2 | for |
WithStatement | with |
CatchClause | catch |
others | ※3 |
※1 Only if the configured parser provided the block-scope feature. The default parser provides the block-scope feature if parserOptions.ecmaVersion
is not less than 6
.
※2 Only if the for
statement defines the iteration variable as a block-scoped variable (E.g., for (let i = 0;;) {}
).
※3 The scope of the closest ancestor node which has own scope. If the closest ancestor node has multiple scopes then it chooses the innermost scope (E.g., the Program
node has a global
scope and a module
scope if Program#sourceType
is "module"
. The innermost scope is the module
scope.).
The returned value is a Scope
object defined by the eslint-scope
package. The Variable
objects of global variables have some additional properties.
variable.writeable
(boolean | undefined
) ... Iftrue
, this global variable can be assigned arbitrary value. Iffalse
, this global variable is read-only.variable.eslintExplicitGlobal
(boolean | undefined
) ... Iftrue
, this global variable was defined by a/* globals */
directive comment in the source code file.variable.eslintExplicitGlobalComments
(Comment[] | undefined
) ... The array of/* globals */
directive comments which defined this global variable in the source code file. This property isundefined
if there are no/* globals */
directive comments.variable.eslintImplicitGlobalSetting
("readonly" | "writable" | undefined
) ... The configured value in config files. This can be different fromvariable.writeable
if there are/* globals */
directive comments.
context.report()
The main method you'll use is context.report()
, which publishes a warning or error (depending on the configuration being used). This method accepts a single argument, which is an object containing the following properties:
message
- the problem message.node
- (optional) the AST node related to the problem. If present andloc
is not specified, then the starting location of the node is used as the location of the problem.loc
- (optional) an object specifying the location of the problem. If bothloc
andnode
are specified, then the location is used fromloc
instead ofnode
.start
- An object of the start location.line
- the 1-based line number at which the problem occurred.column
- the 0-based column number at which the problem occurred.
end
- An object of the end location.line
- the 1-based line number at which the problem occurred.column
- the 0-based column number at which the problem occurred.
data
- (optional) placeholder data formessage
.fix
- (optional) a function that applies a fix to resolve the problem.
Note that at least one of node
or loc
is required.
The simplest example is to use just node
and message
:
context.report({
node: node,
message: "Unexpected identifier"
});
The node contains all of the information necessary to figure out the line and column number of the offending text as well the source text representing the node.
Using message placeholders
You can also use placeholders in the message and provide data
:
context.report({
node: node,
message: "Unexpected identifier: {{ identifier }}",
data: {
identifier: node.name
}
});
Note that leading and trailing whitespace is optional in message parameters.
The node contains all of the information necessary to figure out the line and column number of the offending text as well the source text representing the node.
messageId
s
Instead of typing out messages in both the context.report()
call and your tests, you can use messageId
s instead.
This allows you to avoid retyping error messages. It also prevents errors reported in different sections of your rule from having out-of-date messages.
// in your rule
module.exports = {
meta: {
messages: {
avoidName: "Avoid using variables named '{{ name }}'"
}
},
create(context) {
return {
Identifier(node) {
if (node.name === "foo") {
context.report({
node,
messageId: "avoidName",
data: {
name: "foo",
}
});
}
}
};
}
};
// in the file to lint:
var foo = 2;
// ^ error: Avoid using variables named 'foo'
// In your tests:
var rule = require("../../../lib/rules/my-rule");
var RuleTester = require("eslint").RuleTester;
var ruleTester = new RuleTester();
ruleTester.run("my-rule", rule, {
valid: ["bar", "baz"],
invalid: [
{
code: "foo",
errors: [
{
messageId: "avoidName"
}
]
}
]
});
Applying Fixes
If you'd like ESLint to attempt to fix the problem you're reporting, you can do so by specifying the fix
function when using context.report()
. The fix
function receives a single argument, a fixer
object, that you can use to apply a fix. For example:
context.report({
node: node,
message: "Missing semicolon",
fix: function(fixer) {
return fixer.insertTextAfter(node, ";");
}
});
Here, the fix()
function is used to insert a semicolon after the node. Note that a fix is not immediately applied, and may not be applied at all if there are conflicts with other fixes. After applying fixes, ESLint will run all of the enabled rules again on the fixed code, potentially applying more fixes. This process will repeat up to 10 times, or until no more fixable problems are found. Afterwards, any remaining problems will be reported as usual.
Important: The meta.fixable
property is mandatory for fixable rules. ESLint will throw an error if a rule that implements fix
functions does not export the meta.fixable
property.
The fixer
object has the following methods:
insertTextAfter(nodeOrToken, text)
- inserts text after the given node or tokeninsertTextAfterRange(range, text)
- inserts text after the given rangeinsertTextBefore(nodeOrToken, text)
- inserts text before the given node or tokeninsertTextBeforeRange(range, text)
- inserts text before the given rangeremove(nodeOrToken)
- removes the given node or tokenremoveRange(range)
- removes text in the given rangereplaceText(nodeOrToken, text)
- replaces the text in the given node or tokenreplaceTextRange(range, text)
- replaces the text in the given range
A range is a two-item array containing character indices inside of the source code. The first item is the start of the range (inclusive) and the second item is the end of the range (exclusive). Every node and token has a range
property to identify the source code range they represent.
The above methods return a fixing
object. The fix()
function can return the following values:
- A
fixing
object. - An array which includes
fixing
objects. - An iterable object which enumerates
fixing
objects. Especially, thefix()
function can be a generator.
If you make a fix()
function which returns multiple fixing
objects, those fixing
objects must not be overlapped.
Best practices for fixes:
- Avoid any fixes that could change the runtime behavior of code and cause it to stop working.
- Make fixes as small as possible. Fixes that are unnecessarily large could conflict with other fixes, and prevent them from being applied.
- Only make one fix per message. This is enforced because you must return the result of the fixer operation from
fix()
. - Since all rules are run again after the initial round of fixes is applied, it's not necessary for a rule to check whether the code style of a fix will cause errors to be reported by another rule.
For example, suppose a fixer would like to surround an object key with quotes, but it's not sure whether the user would prefer single or double quotes.
({ foo : 1 }) // should get fixed to either ({ 'foo': 1 }) // or ({ "foo": 1 })
This fixer can just select a quote type arbitrarily. If it guesses wrong, the resulting code will be automatically reported and fixed by the
quotes
rule.
Note: Making fixes as small as possible is a best practice, but in some cases it may be correct to extend the range of the fix in order to intentionally prevent other rules from making fixes in a surrounding range in the same pass. For instance, if replacement text declares a new variable, it can be useful to prevent other changes in the scope of the variable as they might cause name collisions.
The following example replaces node
and also ensures that no other fixes will be applied in the range of node.parent
in the same pass:
context.report({
node,
message,
*fix(fixer) {
yield fixer.replaceText(node, replacementText);
// extend range of the fix to the range of `node.parent`
yield fixer.insertTextBefore(node.parent, "");
yield fixer.insertTextAfter(node.parent, "");
}
});
Providing Suggestions
In some cases fixes aren't appropriate to be automatically applied, for example, if a fix potentially changes functionality or if there are multiple valid ways to fix a rule depending on the implementation intent (see the best practices for applying fixes listed above). In these cases, there is an alternative suggest
option on context.report()
that allows other tools, such as editors, to expose helpers for users to manually apply a suggestion.
In order to provide suggestions, use the suggest
key in the report argument with an array of suggestion objects. The suggestion objects represent individual suggestions that could be applied and require either a desc
key string that describes what applying the suggestion would do or a messageId
key (see below), and a fix
key that is a function defining the suggestion result. This fix
function follows the same API as regular fixes (described above in applying fixes).
context.report({
node: node,
message: "Unnecessary escape character: \\{{character}}.",
data: { character },
suggest: [
{
desc: "Remove the `\\`. This maintains the current functionality.",
fix: function(fixer) {
return fixer.removeRange(range);
}
},
{
desc: "Replace the `\\` with `\\\\` to include the actual backslash character.",
fix: function(fixer) {
return fixer.insertTextBeforeRange(range, "\\");
}
}
]
});
Important: The meta.hasSuggestions
property is mandatory for rules that provide suggestions. ESLint will throw an error if a rule attempts to produce a suggestion but does not export this property.
Note: Suggestions will be applied as a stand-alone change, without triggering multipass fixes. Each suggestion should focus on a singular change in the code and should not try to conform to user defined styles. For example, if a suggestion is adding a new statement into the codebase, it should not try to match correct indentation, or conform to user preferences on presence/absence of semicolons. All of those things can be corrected by multipass autofix when the user triggers it.
Best practices for suggestions:
- Don't try to do too much and suggest large refactors that could introduce a lot of breaking changes.
- As noted above, don't try to conform to user-defined styles.
Suggestions are intended to provide fixes. ESLint will automatically remove the whole suggestion from the linting output if the suggestion's fix
function returned null
or an empty array/sequence.
Suggestion messageId
s
Instead of using a desc
key for suggestions a messageId
can be used instead. This works the same way as messageId
s for the overall error (see messageIds). Here is an example of how to use it in a rule:
module.exports = {
meta: {
messages: {
unnecessaryEscape: "Unnecessary escape character: \\{{character}}.",
removeEscape: "Remove the `\\`. This maintains the current functionality.",
escapeBackslash: "Replace the `\\` with `\\\\` to include the actual backslash character."
},
hasSuggestions: true
},
create: function(context) {
// ...
context.report({
node: node,
messageId: 'unnecessaryEscape',
data: { character },
suggest: [
{
messageId: "removeEscape",
fix: function(fixer) {
return fixer.removeRange(range);
}
},
{
messageId: "escapeBackslash",
fix: function(fixer) {
return fixer.insertTextBeforeRange(range, "\\");
}
}
]
});
}
};
Placeholders in suggestion messages
You can also use placeholders in the suggestion message. This works the same way as placeholders for the overall error (see using message placeholders).
Please note that you have to provide data
on the suggestion's object. Suggestion messages cannot use properties from the overall error's data
.
module.exports = {
meta: {
messages: {
unnecessaryEscape: "Unnecessary escape character: \\{{character}}.",
removeEscape: "Remove `\\` before {{character}}.",
},
hasSuggestions: true
},
create: function(context) {
// ...
context.report({
node: node,
messageId: "unnecessaryEscape",
data: { character }, // data for the unnecessaryEscape overall message
suggest: [
{
messageId: "removeEscape",
data: { character }, // data for the removeEscape suggestion message
fix: function(fixer) {
return fixer.removeRange(range);
}
}
]
});
}
};
context.options
Some rules require options in order to function correctly. These options appear in configuration (.eslintrc
, command line, or in comments). For example:
{
"quotes": ["error", "double"]
}
The quotes
rule in this example has one option, "double"
(the error
is the error level). You can retrieve the options for a rule by using context.options
, which is an array containing every configured option for the rule. In this case, context.options[0]
would contain "double"
:
module.exports = {
create: function(context) {
var isDouble = (context.options[0] === "double");
// ...
}
};
Since context.options
is just an array, you can use it to determine how many options have been passed as well as retrieving the actual options themselves. Keep in mind that the error level is not part of context.options
, as the error level cannot be known or modified from inside a rule.
When using options, make sure that your rule has some logical defaults in case the options are not provided.
context.getSourceCode()
The SourceCode
object is the main object for getting more information about the source code being linted. You can retrieve the SourceCode
object at any time by using the getSourceCode()
method:
module.exports = {
create: function(context) {
var sourceCode = context.getSourceCode();
// ...
}
};
Once you have an instance of SourceCode
, you can use the following methods on it to work with the code:
getText(node)
- returns the source code for the given node. Omitnode
to get the whole source.getAllComments()
- returns an array of all comments in the source.getCommentsBefore(nodeOrToken)
- returns an array of comment tokens that occur directly before the given node or token.getCommentsAfter(nodeOrToken)
- returns an array of comment tokens that occur directly after the given node or token.getCommentsInside(node)
- returns an array of all comment tokens inside a given node.isSpaceBetween(nodeOrToken, nodeOrToken)
- returns true if there is a whitespace character between the two tokens or, if given a node, the last token of the first node and the first token of the second node.getFirstToken(node, skipOptions)
- returns the first token representing the given node.getFirstTokens(node, countOptions)
- returns the firstcount
tokens representing the given node.getLastToken(node, skipOptions)
- returns the last token representing the given node.getLastTokens(node, countOptions)
- returns the lastcount
tokens representing the given node.getTokenAfter(nodeOrToken, skipOptions)
- returns the first token after the given node or token.getTokensAfter(nodeOrToken, countOptions)
- returnscount
tokens after the given node or token.getTokenBefore(nodeOrToken, skipOptions)
- returns the first token before the given node or token.getTokensBefore(nodeOrToken, countOptions)
- returnscount
tokens before the given node or token.getFirstTokenBetween(nodeOrToken1, nodeOrToken2, skipOptions)
- returns the first token between two nodes or tokens.getFirstTokensBetween(nodeOrToken1, nodeOrToken2, countOptions)
- returns the firstcount
tokens between two nodes or tokens.getLastTokenBetween(nodeOrToken1, nodeOrToken2, skipOptions)
- returns the last token between two nodes or tokens.getLastTokensBetween(nodeOrToken1, nodeOrToken2, countOptions)
- returns the lastcount
tokens between two nodes or tokens.getTokens(node)
- returns all tokens for the given node.getTokensBetween(nodeOrToken1, nodeOrToken2)
- returns all tokens between two nodes.getTokenByRangeStart(index, rangeOptions)
- returns the token whose range starts at the given index in the source.getNodeByRangeIndex(index)
- returns the deepest node in the AST containing the given source index.getLocFromIndex(index)
- returns an object withline
andcolumn
properties, corresponding to the location of the given source index.line
is 1-based andcolumn
is 0-based.getIndexFromLoc(loc)
- returns the index of a given location in the source code, whereloc
is an object with a 1-basedline
key and a 0-basedcolumn
key.commentsExistBetween(nodeOrToken1, nodeOrToken2)
- returnstrue
if comments exist between two nodes.
skipOptions
is an object which has 3 properties; skip
, includeComments
, and filter
. Default is {skip: 0, includeComments: false, filter: null}
.
skip
is a positive integer, the number of skipping tokens. Iffilter
option is given at the same time, it doesn't count filtered tokens as skipped.includeComments
is a boolean value, the flag to include comment tokens into the result.filter
is a function which gets a token as the first argument, if the function returnsfalse
then the result excludes the token.
countOptions
is an object which has 3 properties; count
, includeComments
, and filter
. Default is {count: 0, includeComments: false, filter: null}
.
count
is a positive integer, the maximum number of returning tokens.includeComments
is a boolean value, the flag to include comment tokens into the result.filter
is a function which gets a token as the first argument, if the function returnsfalse
then the result excludes the token.
rangeOptions
is an object which has 1 property: includeComments
.
includeComments
is a boolean value, the flag to include comment tokens into the result.
There are also some properties you can access:
hasBOM
- the flag to indicate whether or not the source code has Unicode BOM.text
- the full text of the code being linted. Unicode BOM has been stripped from this text.ast
- theProgram
node of the AST for the code being linted.scopeManager
- the ScopeManager object of the code.visitorKeys
- the visitor keys to traverse this AST.lines
- an array of lines, split according to the specification's definition of line breaks.
You should use a SourceCode
object whenever you need to get more information about the code being linted.
Deprecated
Please note that the following methods have been deprecated and will be removed in a future version of ESLint:
getComments()
- replaced bygetCommentsBefore()
,getCommentsAfter()
, andgetCommentsInside()
getTokenOrCommentBefore()
- replaced bygetTokenBefore()
with the{ includeComments: true }
optiongetTokenOrCommentAfter()
- replaced bygetTokenAfter()
with the{ includeComments: true }
optionisSpaceBetweenTokens()
- replaced byisSpaceBetween()
getJSDocComment()
Options Schemas
Rules may export a schema
property, which is a JSON schema format description of a rule's options which will be used by ESLint to validate configuration options and prevent invalid or unexpected inputs before they are passed to the rule in context.options
.
There are two formats for a rule's exported schema
. The first is a full JSON Schema object describing all possible options the rule accepts, including the rule's error level as the first argument and any optional arguments thereafter.
However, to simplify schema creation, rules may also export an array of schemas for each optional positional argument, and ESLint will automatically validate the required error level first. For example, the yoda
rule accepts a primary mode argument, as well as an extra options object with named properties.
// "yoda": [2, "never", { "exceptRange": true }]
module.exports = {
meta: {
schema: [
{
"enum": ["always", "never"]
},
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"exceptRange": {
"type": "boolean"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}
]
},
};
In the preceding example, the error level is assumed to be the first argument. It is followed by the first optional argument, a string which may be either "always"
or "never"
. The final optional argument is an object, which may have a Boolean property named exceptRange
.
To learn more about JSON Schema, we recommend looking at some examples in website to start, and also reading Understanding JSON Schema (a free ebook).
Note: Currently you need to use full JSON Schema object rather than array in case your schema has references ($ref), because in case of array format ESLint transforms this array into a single schema without updating references that makes them incorrect (they are ignored).
Getting the Source
If your rule needs to get the actual JavaScript source to work with, then use the sourceCode.getText()
method. This method works as follows:
// get all source
var source = sourceCode.getText();
// get source for just this AST node
var nodeSource = sourceCode.getText(node);
// get source for AST node plus previous two characters
var nodeSourceWithPrev = sourceCode.getText(node, 2);
// get source for AST node plus following two characters
var nodeSourceWithFollowing = sourceCode.getText(node, 0, 2);
In this way, you can look for patterns in the JavaScript text itself when the AST isn't providing the appropriate data (such as location of commas, semicolons, parentheses, etc.).
Accessing Comments
While comments are not technically part of the AST, ESLint provides a few ways for rules to access them:
sourceCode.getAllComments()
This method returns an array of all the comments found in the program. This is useful for rules that need to check all comments regardless of location.
sourceCode.getCommentsBefore(), sourceCode.getCommentsAfter(), and sourceCode.getCommentsInside()
These methods return an array of comments that appear directly before, directly after, and inside nodes, respectively. They are useful for rules that need to check comments in relation to a given node or token.
Keep in mind that the results of this method are calculated on demand.
Token traversal methods
Finally, comments can be accessed through many of sourceCode
's methods using the includeComments
option.
Accessing Shebangs
Shebangs are represented by tokens of type "Shebang"
. They are treated as comments and can be accessed by the methods outlined above.
Accessing Code Paths
ESLint analyzes code paths while traversing AST. You can access that code path objects with five events related to code paths.
Rule Unit Tests
Each bundled rule for ESLint core must have a set of unit tests submitted with it to be accepted. The test file is named the same as the source file but lives in tests/lib/
. For example, if the rule source file is lib/rules/foo.js
then the test file should be tests/lib/rules/foo.js
.
ESLint provides the RuleTester
utility to make it easy to write tests for rules.
Performance Testing
To keep the linting process efficient and unobtrusive, it is useful to verify the performance impact of new rules or modifications to existing rules.
Overall Performance
When developing in the ESLint core repository, the npm run perf
command gives a high-level overview of ESLint running time with all core rules enabled.
$ git checkout main
Switched to branch 'main'
$ npm run perf
CPU Speed is 2200 with multiplier 7500000
Performance Run #1: 1394.689313ms
Performance Run #2: 1423.295351ms
Performance Run #3: 1385.09515ms
Performance Run #4: 1382.406982ms
Performance Run #5: 1409.68566ms
Performance budget ok: 1394.689313ms (limit: 3409.090909090909ms)
$ git checkout my-rule-branch
Switched to branch 'my-rule-branch'
$ npm run perf
CPU Speed is 2200 with multiplier 7500000
Performance Run #1: 1443.736547ms
Performance Run #2: 1419.193291ms
Performance Run #3: 1436.018228ms
Performance Run #4: 1473.605485ms
Performance Run #5: 1457.455283ms
Performance budget ok: 1443.736547ms (limit: 3409.090909090909ms)
Per-rule Performance
ESLint has a built-in method to track performance of individual rules. Setting the TIMING
environment variable will trigger the display, upon linting completion, of the ten longest-running rules, along with their individual running time (rule creation + rule execution) and relative performance impact as a percentage of total rule processing time (rule creation + rule execution).
$ TIMING=1 eslint lib
Rule | Time (ms) | Relative
:-----------------------|----------:|--------:
no-multi-spaces | 52.472 | 6.1%
camelcase | 48.684 | 5.7%
no-irregular-whitespace | 43.847 | 5.1%
valid-jsdoc | 40.346 | 4.7%
handle-callback-err | 39.153 | 4.6%
space-infix-ops | 35.444 | 4.1%
no-undefined | 25.693 | 3.0%
no-shadow | 22.759 | 2.7%
no-empty-class | 21.976 | 2.6%
semi | 19.359 | 2.3%
To test one rule explicitly, combine the --no-eslintrc
, and --rule
options:
$ TIMING=1 eslint --no-eslintrc --rule "quotes: [2, 'double']" lib
Rule | Time (ms) | Relative
:------|----------:|--------:
quotes | 18.066 | 100.0%
To see a longer list of results (more than 10), set the environment variable to another value such as TIMING=50
or TIMING=all
.
Rule Naming Conventions
The rule naming conventions for ESLint are fairly simple:
- If your rule is disallowing something, prefix it with
no-
such asno-eval
for disallowingeval()
andno-debugger
for disallowingdebugger
. - If your rule is enforcing the inclusion of something, use a short name without a special prefix.
- Use dashes between words.
Runtime Rules
The thing that makes ESLint different from other linters is the ability to define custom rules at runtime. This is perfect for rules that are specific to your project or company and wouldn't make sense for ESLint to ship with. With runtime rules, you don't have to wait for the next version of ESLint or be disappointed that your rule isn't general enough to apply to the larger JavaScript community, just write your rules and include them at runtime.
Runtime rules are written in the same format as all other rules. Create your rule as you would any other and then follow these steps:
- Place all of your runtime rules in the same directory (e.g.,
eslint_rules
). - Create a configuration file and specify your rule ID error level under the
rules
key. Your rule will not run unless it has a value of"warn"
or"error"
in the configuration file. - Run the command line interface using the
--rulesdir
option to specify the location of your runtime rules.