Linting WoW Addons

Expert guidance for code quality and formatting in WoW addon development.

Related Commands

•c-lint - Lint and format workflow
•c-review - Full code review (includes lint step)
•c-clean - Cleanup workflow (dead code, stale docs)

MCP Tools

Task	MCP Tool
Lint Addon	`addon.lint(addon="MyAddon")`
Format Addon	`addon.format(addon="MyAddon")`
Check Format Only	`addon.format(addon="MyAddon", check=true)`
Security Analysis	`addon.security(addon="MyAddon")`
Complexity Analysis	`addon.complexity(addon="MyAddon")`

Capabilities

•Luacheck Linting — Detect syntax errors, undefined globals, unused variables
•StyLua Formatting — Consistent code style across all files
•Error Resolution — Fix common linting issues systematically
•Security Analysis — Detect combat lockdown violations, secret leaks, taint risks
•Complexity Analysis — Find deep nesting, long functions, magic numbers
•Dead Code Detection — For unused function analysis, use addon.deadcode (see s-clean)

Common Luacheck Warnings

Code	Meaning	Fix
W111	Setting undefined global	Add to `.luacheckrc` globals or fix typo
W112	Mutating undefined global	Same as W111
W113	Accessing undefined global	Check if API exists, add to read_globals
W211	Unused local variable	Remove or prefix with `_`
W212	Unused argument	Prefix with `_` (e.g., `_event`)
W213	Unused loop variable	Prefix with `_`
W311	Value assigned but never used	Remove assignment or use the value
W431	Shadowing upvalue	Rename the local variable

.luacheckrc Configuration

Standard WoW addon configuration:

lua

std = "lua51"
max_line_length = false

globals = {
    -- Addon globals
    "MyAddon",
}

read_globals = {
    -- WoW API
    "C_Timer", "C_Spell", "CreateFrame",
    -- Ace3
    "LibStub",
}

StyLua Configuration

Standard .stylua.toml:

toml

column_width = 120
line_endings = "Unix"
indent_type = "Tabs"
indent_width = 4
quote_style = "AutoPreferDouble"
call_parentheses = "Always"

Quick Reference

Lint Then Format

bash

# Check for issues
addon.lint(addon="MyAddon")

# Auto-format
addon.format(addon="MyAddon")

# Verify clean
addon.lint(addon="MyAddon")

Best Practices

•Run lint before commit — Catch issues early
•Format consistently — Use StyLua for all files
•Configure globals — Add addon-specific globals to .luacheckrc
•Prefix unused — Use _ prefix for intentionally unused variables

Security Analysis

Beyond syntax linting, use addon.security to detect runtime safety issues:

Category	Description
`combat_violation`	Protected API calls without `InCombatLockdown()` guard
`secret_leak`	Logging/printing secret values (12.0+)
`taint_risk`	Unsafe global modifications (`_G` without namespace)
`unsafe_eval`	`loadstring`/`RunScript` with unsanitized input

Complexity Analysis

Use addon.complexity to identify maintainability issues:

Category	Threshold	Description
`deep_nesting`	> 5 levels	Excessive if/for/while nesting
`long_function`	> 100 lines	Functions that should be split
`long_file`	> 500 lines	Files that need restructuring
`magic_number`	pattern-based	Unexplained numeric literals

For comprehensive analysis, use c-audit.