Linting WoW Addons
Expert guidance for code quality and formatting in WoW addon development.
Related Commands
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c-lint - Lint and format workflow
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c-review - Full code review (includes lint step)
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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
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Luacheck Linting — Detect syntax errors, undefined globals, unused variables
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StyLua Formatting — Consistent code style across all files
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Error Resolution — Fix common linting issues systematically
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Security Analysis — Detect combat lockdown violations, secret leaks, taint risks
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Complexity Analysis — Find deep nesting, long functions, magic numbers
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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
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Run lint before commit — Catch issues early
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Format consistently — Use StyLua for all files
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Configure globals — Add addon-specific globals to .luacheckrc
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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.