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

1. Luacheck Linting — Detect syntax errors, undefined globals, unused variables
2. StyLua Formatting — Consistent code style across all files
3. Error Resolution — Fix common linting issues systematically
4. Security Analysis — Detect combat lockdown violations, secret leaks, taint risks
5. Complexity Analysis — Find deep nesting, long functions, magic numbers
6. 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:

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:

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

Quick Reference

Lint Then Format

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

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

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

Best Practices

1. Run lint before commit — Catch issues early
2. Format consistently — Use StyLua for all files
3. Configure globals — Add addon-specific globals to .luacheckrc
4. 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.