Mini Kabibi Habibi
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" data-content_root="../">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<meta property="og:title" content="annotationlib — Functionality for introspecting annotations" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://docs.python.org/3/library/annotationlib.html" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Python documentation" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Source code: Lib/annotationlib.py The annotationlib module provides tools for introspecting annotations on modules, classes, and functions. Annotations are lazily evaluated and often contain forwar..." />
<meta property="og:image" content="_static/og-image.png" />
<meta property="og:image:alt" content="Python documentation" />
<meta name="description" content="Source code: Lib/annotationlib.py The annotationlib module provides tools for introspecting annotations on modules, classes, and functions. Annotations are lazily evaluated and often contain forwar..." />
<meta name="theme-color" content="#3776ab">
<meta property="og:image:width" content="200">
<meta property="og:image:height" content="200">
<title>annotationlib — Functionality for introspecting annotations — Python 3.14.0 documentation</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments.css?v=b86133f3" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/classic.css?v=234b1a7c" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pydoctheme.css?v=8cd84f99" />
<link id="pygments_dark_css" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments_dark.css?v=5349f25f" />
<script src="../_static/documentation_options.js?v=e4f4b189"></script>
<script src="../_static/doctools.js?v=9bcbadda"></script>
<script src="../_static/sphinx_highlight.js?v=dc90522c"></script>
<script src="../_static/sidebar.js"></script>
<link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
title="Search within Python 3.14.0 documentation"
href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/>
<link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" />
<link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex.html" />
<link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search.html" />
<link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" />
<link rel="next" title="site — Site-specific configuration hook" href="site.html" />
<link rel="prev" title="inspect — Inspect live objects" href="inspect.html" />
<link rel="canonical" href="https://docs.python.org/3/library/annotationlib.html">
<style>
@media only screen {
table.full-width-table {
width: 100%;
}
}
</style>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pydoctheme_dark.css" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" id="pydoctheme_dark_css">
<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="../_static/py.svg">
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/copybutton.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/menu.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/search-focus.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/themetoggle.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/rtd_switcher.js"></script>
<meta name="readthedocs-addons-api-version" content="1">
</head>
<body>
<div class="mobile-nav">
<input type="checkbox" id="menuToggler" class="toggler__input" aria-controls="navigation"
aria-pressed="false" aria-expanded="false" role="button" aria-label="Menu">
<nav class="nav-content" role="navigation">
<label for="menuToggler" class="toggler__label">
<span></span>
</label>
<span class="nav-items-wrapper">
<a href="https://www.python.org/" class="nav-logo">
<img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Python logo">
</a>
<span class="version_switcher_placeholder"></span>
<form role="search" class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" class="search-icon">
<path fill-rule="nonzero" fill="currentColor" d="M15.5 14h-.79l-.28-.27a6.5 6.5 0 001.48-5.34c-.47-2.78-2.79-5-5.59-5.34a6.505 6.505 0 00-7.27 7.27c.34 2.8 2.56 5.12 5.34 5.59a6.5 6.5 0 005.34-1.48l.27.28v.79l4.25 4.25c.41.41 1.08.41 1.49 0 .41-.41.41-1.08 0-1.49L15.5 14zm-6 0C7.01 14 5 11.99 5 9.5S7.01 5 9.5 5 14 7.01 14 9.5 11.99 14 9.5 14z"></path>
</svg>
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="search" name="q">
<input type="submit" value="Go">
</form>
</span>
</nav>
<div class="menu-wrapper">
<nav class="menu" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<label class="theme-selector-label">
Theme
<select class="theme-selector" oninput="activateTheme(this.value)">
<option value="auto" selected>Auto</option>
<option value="light">Light</option>
<option value="dark">Dark</option>
</select>
</label>
<div>
<h3><a href="../contents.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> — Functionality for introspecting annotations</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#annotation-semantics">Annotation semantics</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#classes">Classes</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#functions">Functions</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#recipes">Recipes</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-annotations-in-a-metaclass">Using annotations in a metaclass</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#limitations-of-the-string-format">Limitations of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code> format</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#limitations-of-the-forwardref-format">Limitations of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code> format</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#security-implications-of-introspecting-annotations">Security implications of introspecting annotations</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="inspect.html"
title="previous chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">inspect</span></code> — Inspect live objects</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="site.html"
title="next chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> — Site-specific configuration hook</a></p>
</div>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a bug</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Doc/library/annotationlib.rst?plain=1"
rel="nofollow">Show source
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
</div>
</div>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="Related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
accesskey="I">index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="site.html" title="site — Site-specific configuration hook"
accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="inspect.html" title="inspect — Inspect live objects"
accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
<li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"></li>
<li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> »</li>
<li class="switchers">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
</li>
<li>
</li>
<li id="cpython-language-and-version">
<a href="../index.html">3.14.0 Documentation</a> »
</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-2"><a href="python.html" accesskey="U">Python Runtime Services</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href=""><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> — Functionality for introspecting annotations</a></li>
<li class="right">
<div class="inline-search" role="search">
<form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="search" name="q" id="search-box">
<input type="submit" value="Go">
</form>
</div>
|
</li>
<li class="right">
<label class="theme-selector-label">
Theme
<select class="theme-selector" oninput="activateTheme(this.value)">
<option value="auto" selected>Auto</option>
<option value="light">Light</option>
<option value="dark">Dark</option>
</select>
</label> |</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="document">
<div class="documentwrapper">
<div class="bodywrapper">
<div class="body" role="main">
<section id="module-annotationlib">
<span id="annotationlib-functionality-for-introspecting-annotations"></span><h1><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> — Functionality for introspecting annotations<a class="headerlink" href="#module-annotationlib" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
<p><strong>Source code:</strong> <a class="extlink-source reference external" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/tree/3.14/Lib/annotationlib.py">Lib/annotationlib.py</a></p>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>The <code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> module provides tools for introspecting
<a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-annotation"><span class="xref std std-term">annotations</span></a> on modules, classes, and functions.</p>
<p>Annotations are <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/executionmodel.html#lazy-evaluation"><span class="std std-ref">lazily evaluated</span></a> and often contain
forward references to objects that are not yet defined when the annotation
is created. This module provides a set of low-level tools that can be used to retrieve annotations in a reliable way, even
in the presence of forward references and other edge cases.</p>
<p>This module supports retrieving annotations in three main formats
(see <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format" title="annotationlib.Format"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format</span></code></a>), each of which works best for different use cases:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="annotationlib.Format.VALUE"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">VALUE</span></code></a> evaluates the annotations and returns their value.
This is most straightforward to work with, but it may raise errors,
for example if the annotations contain references to undefined names.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a> returns <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> objects
for annotations that cannot be resolved, allowing you to inspect the
annotations without evaluating them. This is useful when you need to
work with annotations that may contain unresolved forward references.</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> returns the annotations as a string, similar
to how it would appear in the source file. This is useful for documentation
generators that want to display annotations in a readable way.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotations" title="annotationlib.get_annotations"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code></a> function is the main entry point for
retrieving annotations. Given a function, class, or module, it returns
an annotations dictionary in the requested format. This module also provides
functionality for working directly with the <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-annotate-function"><span class="xref std std-term">annotate function</span></a>
that is used to evaluate annotations, such as <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotate_from_class_namespace" title="annotationlib.get_annotate_from_class_namespace"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotate_from_class_namespace()</span></code></a>
and <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.call_annotate_function" title="annotationlib.call_annotate_function"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">call_annotate_function()</span></code></a>, as well as the
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.call_evaluate_function" title="annotationlib.call_evaluate_function"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">call_evaluate_function()</span></code></a> function for working with
<a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-evaluate-function"><span class="xref std std-term">evaluate functions</span></a>.</p>
<div class="admonition caution">
<p class="admonition-title">Caution</p>
<p>Most functionality in this module can execute arbitrary code; see
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib-security"><span class="std std-ref">the security section</span></a> for more information.</p>
</div>
<div class="admonition seealso">
<p class="admonition-title">See also</p>
<p><span class="target" id="index-0"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0649/"><strong>PEP 649</strong></a> proposed the current model for how annotations work in Python.</p>
<p><span class="target" id="index-1"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0749/"><strong>PEP 749</strong></a> expanded on various aspects of <span class="target" id="index-2"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0649/"><strong>PEP 649</strong></a> and introduced the
<code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> module.</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="../howto/annotations.html#annotations-howto"><span class="std std-ref">Annotations Best Practices</span></a> provides best practices for working with
annotations.</p>
<p><a class="extlink-pypi reference external" href="https://pypi.org/project/typing-extensions/">typing-extensions</a> provides a backport of <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotations" title="annotationlib.get_annotations"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code></a>
that works on earlier versions of Python.</p>
</div>
<section id="annotation-semantics">
<h2>Annotation semantics<a class="headerlink" href="#annotation-semantics" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The way annotations are evaluated has changed over the history of Python 3,
and currently still depends on a <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/simple_stmts.html#future"><span class="std std-ref">future import</span></a>.
There have been execution models for annotations:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><em>Stock semantics</em> (default in Python 3.0 through 3.13; see <span class="target" id="index-3"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-3107/"><strong>PEP 3107</strong></a>
and <span class="target" id="index-4"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0526/"><strong>PEP 526</strong></a>): Annotations are evaluated eagerly, as they are
encountered in the source code.</p></li>
<li><p><em>Stringified annotations</em> (used with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">annotations</span></code>
in Python 3.7 and newer; see <span class="target" id="index-5"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0563/"><strong>PEP 563</strong></a>): Annotations are stored as
strings only.</p></li>
<li><p><em>Deferred evaluation</em> (default in Python 3.14 and newer; see <span class="target" id="index-6"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0649/"><strong>PEP 649</strong></a> and
<span class="target" id="index-7"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0749/"><strong>PEP 749</strong></a>): Annotations are evaluated lazily, only when they are accessed.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>As an example, consider the following program:</p>
<div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">func</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">a</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">Cls</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-></span> <span class="kc">None</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">a</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">class</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">Cls</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="k">pass</span>
<span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">func</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="vm">__annotations__</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>This will behave as follows:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>Under stock semantics (Python 3.13 and earlier), it will throw a
<a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#NameError" title="NameError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NameError</span></code></a> at the line where <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">func</span></code> is defined,
because <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Cls</span></code> is an undefined name at that point.</p></li>
<li><p>Under stringified annotations (if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">annotations</span></code>
is used), it will print <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">{'a':</span> <span class="pre">'Cls',</span> <span class="pre">'return':</span> <span class="pre">'None'}</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p>Under deferred evaluation (Python 3.14 and later), it will print
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">{'a':</span> <span class="pre"><class</span> <span class="pre">'Cls'>,</span> <span class="pre">'return':</span> <span class="pre">None}</span></code>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Stock semantics were used when function annotations were first introduced
in Python 3.0 (by <span class="target" id="index-8"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-3107/"><strong>PEP 3107</strong></a>) because this was the simplest, most obvious
way to implement annotations. The same execution model was used when variable
annotations were introduced in Python 3.6 (by <span class="target" id="index-9"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0526/"><strong>PEP 526</strong></a>). However,
stock semantics caused problems when using annotations as type hints,
such as a need to refer to names that are not yet defined when the
annotation is encountered. In addition, there were performance problems
with executing annotations at module import time. Therefore, in Python 3.7,
<span class="target" id="index-10"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0563/"><strong>PEP 563</strong></a> introduced the ability to store annotations as strings using the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">annotations</span></code> syntax. The plan at the time was to
eventually make this behavior the default, but a problem appeared:
stringified annotations are more difficult to process for those who
introspect annotations at runtime. An alternative proposal, <span class="target" id="index-11"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0649/"><strong>PEP 649</strong></a>,
introduced the third execution model, deferred evaluation, and was implemented
in Python 3.14. Stringified annotations are still used if
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">annotations</span></code> is present, but this behavior will
eventually be removed.</p>
</section>
<section id="classes">
<h2>Classes<a class="headerlink" href="#classes" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<dl class="py class">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.Format">
<em class="property"><span class="k"><span class="pre">class</span></span><span class="w"> </span></em><span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">Format</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.Format" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>An <a class="reference internal" href="enum.html#enum.IntEnum" title="enum.IntEnum"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IntEnum</span></code></a> describing the formats in which annotations
can be returned. Members of the enum, or their equivalent integer values,
can be passed to <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotations" title="annotationlib.get_annotations"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code></a> and other functions in this
module, as well as to <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#object.__annotate__" title="object.__annotate__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotate__</span></code></a> functions.</p>
<dl class="py attribute">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.Format.VALUE">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">VALUE</span></span><em class="property"><span class="w"> </span><span class="p"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="w"> </span><span class="pre">1</span></em><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Values are the result of evaluating the annotation expressions.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py attribute">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.Format.VALUE_WITH_FAKE_GLOBALS">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">VALUE_WITH_FAKE_GLOBALS</span></span><em class="property"><span class="w"> </span><span class="p"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="w"> </span><span class="pre">2</span></em><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE_WITH_FAKE_GLOBALS" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Special value used to signal that an annotate function is being
evaluated in a special environment with fake globals. When passed this
value, annotate functions should either return the same value as for
the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="annotationlib.Format.VALUE"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format.VALUE</span></code></a> format, or raise <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#NotImplementedError" title="NotImplementedError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NotImplementedError</span></code></a>
to signal that they do not support execution in this environment.
This format is only used internally and should not be passed to
the functions in this module.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py attribute">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></span><em class="property"><span class="w"> </span><span class="p"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="w"> </span><span class="pre">3</span></em><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Values are real annotation values (as per <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="annotationlib.Format.VALUE"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format.VALUE</span></code></a> format)
for defined values, and <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> proxies for undefined
values. Real objects may contain references to <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a>
proxy objects.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py attribute">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.Format.STRING">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">STRING</span></span><em class="property"><span class="w"> </span><span class="p"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="w"> </span><span class="pre">4</span></em><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Values are the text string of the annotation as it appears in the
source code, up to modifications including, but not restricted to,
whitespace normalizations and constant values optimizations.</p>
<p>The exact values of these strings may change in future versions of Python.</p>
</dd></dl>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py class">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.ForwardRef">
<em class="property"><span class="k"><span class="pre">class</span></span><span class="w"> </span></em><span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>A proxy object for forward references in annotations.</p>
<p>Instances of this class are returned when the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a>
format is used and annotations contain a name that cannot be resolved.
This can happen when a forward reference is used in an annotation, such as
when a class is referenced before it is defined.</p>
<dl class="py attribute">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.ForwardRef.__forward_arg__">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">__forward_arg__</span></span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef.__forward_arg__" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>A string containing the code that was evaluated to produce the
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a>. The string may not be exactly equivalent
to the original source.</p>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py method">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.ForwardRef.evaluate">
<span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">evaluate</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">owner</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">globals</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">locals</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">type_params</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">format</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">Format.VALUE</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef.evaluate" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Evaluate the forward reference, returning its value.</p>
<p>If the <em>format</em> argument is <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="annotationlib.Format.VALUE"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">VALUE</span></code></a> (the default),
this method may throw an exception, such as <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#NameError" title="NameError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">NameError</span></code></a>, if the forward
reference refers to a name that cannot be resolved. The arguments to this
method can be used to provide bindings for names that would otherwise
be undefined. If the <em>format</em> argument is <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a>,
the method will never throw an exception, but may return a <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a>
instance. For example, if the forward reference object contains the code
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list[undefined]</span></code>, where <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">undefined</span></code> is a name that is not defined,
evaluating it with the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a> format will return
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">list[ForwardRef('undefined')]</span></code>. If the <em>format</em> argument is
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a>, the method will return <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef.__forward_arg__" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef.__forward_arg__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__forward_arg__</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>The <em>owner</em> parameter provides the preferred mechanism for passing scope
information to this method. The owner of a <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> is the
object that contains the annotation from which the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a>
derives, such as a module object, type object, or function object.</p>
<p>The <em>globals</em>, <em>locals</em>, and <em>type_params</em> parameters provide a more precise
mechanism for influencing the names that are available when the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a>
is evaluated. <em>globals</em> and <em>locals</em> are passed to <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a>, representing
the global and local namespaces in which the name is evaluated.
The <em>type_params</em> parameter is relevant for objects created using the native
syntax for <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/compound_stmts.html#generic-classes"><span class="std std-ref">generic classes</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/compound_stmts.html#generic-functions"><span class="std std-ref">functions</span></a>.
It is a tuple of <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/compound_stmts.html#type-params"><span class="std std-ref">type parameters</span></a> that are in scope
while the forward reference is being evaluated. For example, if evaluating a
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> retrieved from an annotation found in the class namespace
of a generic class <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">C</span></code>, <em>type_params</em> should be set to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">C.__type_params__</span></code>.</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> instances returned by <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotations" title="annotationlib.get_annotations"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code></a>
retain references to information about the scope they originated from,
so calling this method with no further arguments may be sufficient to
evaluate such objects. <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> instances created by other
means may not have any information about their scope, so passing
arguments to this method may be necessary to evaluate them successfully.</p>
<p>If no <em>owner</em>, <em>globals</em>, <em>locals</em>, or <em>type_params</em> are provided and the
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> does not contain information about its origin,
empty globals and locals dictionaries are used.</p>
</dd></dl>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
</section>
<section id="functions">
<h2>Functions<a class="headerlink" href="#functions" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.annotations_to_string">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">annotations_to_string</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">annotations</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.annotations_to_string" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Convert an annotations dict containing runtime values to a
dict containing only strings. If the values are not already strings,
they are converted using <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.type_repr" title="annotationlib.type_repr"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type_repr()</span></code></a>.
This is meant as a helper for user-provided
annotate functions that support the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> format but
do not have access to the code creating the annotations.</p>
<p>For example, this is used to implement the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> for
<a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.TypedDict" title="typing.TypedDict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.TypedDict</span></code></a> classes created through the functional syntax:</p>
<div class="highlight-pycon notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="kn">from</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nn">typing</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">TypedDict</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">Movie</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">TypedDict</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"movie"</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="s2">"name"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"year"</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">})</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Movie</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">STRING</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">{'name': 'str', 'year': 'int'}</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.call_annotate_function">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">call_annotate_function</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">annotate</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">format</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">owner</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.call_annotate_function" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Call the <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-annotate-function"><span class="xref std std-term">annotate function</span></a> <em>annotate</em> with the given <em>format</em>,
a member of the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format" title="annotationlib.Format"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format</span></code></a> enum, and return the annotations
dictionary produced by the function.</p>
<p>This helper function is required because annotate functions generated by
the compiler for functions, classes, and modules only support
the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="annotationlib.Format.VALUE"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">VALUE</span></code></a> format when called directly.
To support other formats, this function calls the annotate function
in a special environment that allows it to produce annotations in the
other formats. This is a useful building block when implementing
functionality that needs to partially evaluate annotations while a class
is being constructed.</p>
<p><em>owner</em> is the object that owns the annotation function, usually
a function, class, or module. If provided, it is used in the
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a> format to produce a <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a>
object that carries more information.</p>
<div class="admonition seealso">
<p class="admonition-title">See also</p>
<p><span class="target" id="index-12"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://peps.python.org/pep-0649/#the-stringizer-and-the-fake-globals-environment"><strong>PEP 649</strong></a>
contains an explanation of the implementation technique used by this
function.</p>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.call_evaluate_function">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">call_evaluate_function</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">evaluate</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">format</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">owner</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.call_evaluate_function" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Call the <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-evaluate-function"><span class="xref std std-term">evaluate function</span></a> <em>evaluate</em> with the given <em>format</em>,
a member of the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format" title="annotationlib.Format"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format</span></code></a> enum, and return the value produced by
the function. This is similar to <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.call_annotate_function" title="annotationlib.call_annotate_function"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">call_annotate_function()</span></code></a>,
but the latter always returns a dictionary mapping strings to annotations,
while this function returns a single value.</p>
<p>This is intended for use with the evaluate functions generated for lazily
evaluated elements related to type aliases and type parameters:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.TypeAliasType.evaluate_value" title="typing.TypeAliasType.evaluate_value"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.TypeAliasType.evaluate_value()</span></code></a>, the value of type aliases</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.TypeVar.evaluate_bound" title="typing.TypeVar.evaluate_bound"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.TypeVar.evaluate_bound()</span></code></a>, the bound of type variables</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.TypeVar.evaluate_constraints" title="typing.TypeVar.evaluate_constraints"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.TypeVar.evaluate_constraints()</span></code></a>, the constraints of
type variables</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.TypeVar.evaluate_default" title="typing.TypeVar.evaluate_default"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.TypeVar.evaluate_default()</span></code></a>, the default value of
type variables</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.ParamSpec.evaluate_default" title="typing.ParamSpec.evaluate_default"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.ParamSpec.evaluate_default()</span></code></a>, the default value of
parameter specifications</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.TypeVarTuple.evaluate_default" title="typing.TypeVarTuple.evaluate_default"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.TypeVarTuple.evaluate_default()</span></code></a>, the default value of
type variable tuples</p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>owner</em> is the object that owns the evaluate function, such as the type
alias or type variable object.</p>
<p><em>format</em> can be used to control the format in which the value is returned:</p>
<div class="highlight-pycon notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nb">type</span> <span class="n">Alias</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">undefined</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">call_evaluate_function</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Alias</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">evaluate_value</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">VALUE</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gt">Traceback (most recent call last):</span>
<span class="c">...</span>
<span class="gr">NameError</span>: <span class="n">name 'undefined' is not defined</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">call_evaluate_function</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Alias</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">evaluate_value</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">FORWARDREF</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">ForwardRef('undefined')</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">call_evaluate_function</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">Alias</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">evaluate_value</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">STRING</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">'undefined'</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.get_annotate_from_class_namespace">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">get_annotate_from_class_namespace</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">namespace</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.get_annotate_from_class_namespace" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Retrieve the <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-annotate-function"><span class="xref std std-term">annotate function</span></a> from a class namespace dictionary <em>namespace</em>.
Return <code class="xref py py-const docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code> if the namespace does not contain an annotate function.
This is primarily useful before the class has been fully created (e.g., in a metaclass);
after the class exists, the annotate function can be retrieved with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cls.__annotate__</span></code>.
See <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib-metaclass"><span class="std std-ref">below</span></a> for an example using this function in a metaclass.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.get_annotations">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">get_annotations</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">obj</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="keyword-only-separator o"><abbr title="Keyword-only parameters separator (PEP 3102)"><span class="pre">*</span></abbr></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">globals</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">locals</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">None</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">eval_str</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">False</span></span></em>, <em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">format</span></span><span class="o"><span class="pre">=</span></span><span class="default_value"><span class="pre">Format.VALUE</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.get_annotations" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Compute the annotations dict for an object.</p>
<p><em>obj</em> may be a callable, class, module, or other object with
<a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#object.__annotate__" title="object.__annotate__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotate__</span></code></a> or <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#object.__annotations__" title="object.__annotations__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotations__</span></code></a> attributes.
Passing any other object raises <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#TypeError" title="TypeError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">TypeError</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>The <em>format</em> parameter controls the format in which annotations are returned,
and must be a member of the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format" title="annotationlib.Format"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format</span></code></a> enum or its integer equivalent.
The different formats work as follows:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>VALUE: <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotations__</span></code> is tried first; if that does not exist,
the <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotate__</span></code> function is called if it exists.</p></li>
<li><p>FORWARDREF: If <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotations__</span></code> exists and can be evaluated successfully,
it is used; otherwise, the <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotate__</span></code> function is called. If it
does not exist either, <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotations__</span></code> is tried again and any error
from accessing it is re-raised.</p></li>
<li><p>STRING: If <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotate__</span></code> exists, it is called first;
otherwise, <code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">object.__annotations__</span></code> is used and stringified
using <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.annotations_to_string" title="annotationlib.annotations_to_string"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotations_to_string()</span></code></a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Returns a dict. <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code> returns a new dict every time
it’s called; calling it twice on the same object will return two
different but equivalent dicts.</p>
<p>This function handles several details for you:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>If <em>eval_str</em> is true, values of type <code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code> will
be un-stringized using <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a>. This is intended
for use with stringized annotations
(<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">annotations</span></code>). It is an error
to set <em>eval_str</em> to true with formats other than <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.VALUE" title="annotationlib.Format.VALUE"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Format.VALUE</span></code></a>.</p></li>
<li><p>If <em>obj</em> doesn’t have an annotations dict, returns an
empty dict. (Functions and methods always have an
annotations dict; classes, modules, and other types of
callables may not.)</p></li>
<li><p>Ignores inherited annotations on classes, as well as annotations
on metaclasses. If a class
doesn’t have its own annotations dict, returns an empty dict.</p></li>
<li><p>All accesses to object members and dict values are done
using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">getattr()</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">dict.get()</span></code> for safety.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>eval_str</em> controls whether or not values of type <code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code> are
replaced with the result of calling <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a> on those values:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>If eval_str is true, <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a> is called on values of type
<code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code>. (Note that <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code> doesn’t catch
exceptions; if <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a> raises an exception, it will unwind
the stack past the <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code> call.)</p></li>
<li><p>If <em>eval_str</em> is false (the default), values of type <code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">str</span></code> are
unchanged.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><em>globals</em> and <em>locals</em> are passed in to <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a>; see the documentation
for <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a> for more information. If <em>globals</em> or <em>locals</em>
is <code class="xref py py-const docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>, this function may replace that value with a
context-specific default, contingent on <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">type(obj)</span></code>:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>If <em>obj</em> is a module, <em>globals</em> defaults to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.__dict__</span></code>.</p></li>
<li><p>If <em>obj</em> is a class, <em>globals</em> defaults to
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.modules[obj.__module__].__dict__</span></code> and <em>locals</em> defaults
to the <em>obj</em> class namespace.</p></li>
<li><p>If <em>obj</em> is a callable, <em>globals</em> defaults to
<a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#function.__globals__" title="function.__globals__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">obj.__globals__</span></code></a>,
although if <em>obj</em> is a wrapped function (using
<a class="reference internal" href="functools.html#functools.update_wrapper" title="functools.update_wrapper"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">functools.update_wrapper()</span></code></a>) or a <a class="reference internal" href="functools.html#functools.partial" title="functools.partial"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">functools.partial</span></code></a> object,
it is unwrapped until a non-wrapped function is found.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Calling <code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code> is best practice for accessing the
annotations dict of any object. See <a class="reference internal" href="../howto/annotations.html#annotations-howto"><span class="std std-ref">Annotations Best Practices</span></a> for
more information on annotations best practices.</p>
<div class="highlight-pycon notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">f</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">a</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">int</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">b</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-></span> <span class="nb">float</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="gp">... </span> <span class="k">pass</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">f</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">{'a': <class 'int'>, 'b': <class 'str'>, 'return': <class 'float'>}</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="annotationlib.type_repr">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">annotationlib.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">type_repr</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">value</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#annotationlib.type_repr" title="Link to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Convert an arbitrary Python value to a format suitable for use by the
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> format. This calls <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#repr" title="repr"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">repr()</span></code></a> for most
objects, but has special handling for some objects, such as type objects.</p>
<p>This is meant as a helper for user-provided
annotate functions that support the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> format but
do not have access to the code creating the annotations. It can also
be used to provide a user-friendly string representation for other
objects that contain values that are commonly encountered in annotations.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.14.</span></p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
</section>
<section id="recipes">
<h2>Recipes<a class="headerlink" href="#recipes" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<section id="using-annotations-in-a-metaclass">
<span id="annotationlib-metaclass"></span><h3>Using annotations in a metaclass<a class="headerlink" href="#using-annotations-in-a-metaclass" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3>
<p>A <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#metaclasses"><span class="std std-ref">metaclass</span></a> may want to inspect or even modify the annotations
in a class body during class creation. Doing so requires retrieving annotations
from the class namespace dictionary. For classes created with
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">from</span> <span class="pre">__future__</span> <span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">annotations</span></code>, the annotations will be in the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotations__</span></code>
key of the dictionary. For other classes with annotations,
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotate_from_class_namespace" title="annotationlib.get_annotate_from_class_namespace"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotate_from_class_namespace()</span></code></a> can be used to get the
annotate function, and <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.call_annotate_function" title="annotationlib.call_annotate_function"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">call_annotate_function()</span></code></a> can be used to call it and
retrieve the annotations. Using the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a> format will usually
be best, because this allows the annotations to refer to names that cannot yet be
resolved when the class is created.</p>
<p>To modify the annotations, it is best to create a wrapper annotate function
that calls the original annotate function, makes any necessary adjustments, and
returns the result.</p>
<p>Below is an example of a metaclass that filters out all <a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.ClassVar" title="typing.ClassVar"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.ClassVar</span></code></a>
annotations from the class and puts them in a separate attribute:</p>
<div class="highlight-python notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="kn">import</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nn">annotationlib</span>
<span class="kn">import</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nn">typing</span>
<span class="k">class</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nc">ClassVarSeparator</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">type</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="fm">__new__</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mcls</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">bases</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">ns</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="s2">"__annotations__"</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">ns</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="c1"># from __future__ import annotations</span>
<span class="n">annotations</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">ns</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s2">"__annotations__"</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">classvar_keys</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span>
<span class="n">key</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">key</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">value</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">annotations</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">items</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="c1"># Use string comparison for simplicity; a more robust solution</span>
<span class="c1"># could use annotationlib.ForwardRef.evaluate</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">value</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">startswith</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s2">"ClassVar"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="p">}</span>
<span class="n">classvars</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">annotations</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">key</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">classvar_keys</span><span class="p">}</span>
<span class="n">ns</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s2">"__annotations__"</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span>
<span class="n">key</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">value</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">key</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">value</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">annotations</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">items</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">key</span> <span class="ow">not</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">classvar_keys</span>
<span class="p">}</span>
<span class="n">wrapped_annotate</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="kc">None</span>
<span class="k">elif</span> <span class="n">annotate</span> <span class="o">:=</span> <span class="n">annotationlib</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get_annotate_from_class_namespace</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ns</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">annotations</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">annotationlib</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">call_annotate_function</span><span class="p">(</span>
<span class="n">annotate</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">annotationlib</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">FORWARDREF</span>
<span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">classvar_keys</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span>
<span class="n">key</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">key</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">value</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">annotations</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">items</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">typing</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get_origin</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">value</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="ow">is</span> <span class="n">typing</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ClassVar</span>
<span class="p">}</span>
<span class="n">classvars</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">annotations</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">key</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">classvar_keys</span><span class="p">}</span>
<span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">wrapped_annotate</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="nb">format</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">annos</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">annotationlib</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">call_annotate_function</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">annotate</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">owner</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">typ</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">return</span> <span class="p">{</span><span class="n">key</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">value</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">key</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">value</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">annos</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">items</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">key</span> <span class="ow">not</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">classvar_keys</span><span class="p">}</span>
<span class="k">else</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="c1"># no annotations</span>
<span class="n">classvars</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">{}</span>
<span class="n">wrapped_annotate</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="kc">None</span>
<span class="n">typ</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">super</span><span class="p">()</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="fm">__new__</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">mcls</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">name</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">bases</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">ns</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">wrapped_annotate</span> <span class="ow">is</span> <span class="ow">not</span> <span class="kc">None</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="c1"># Wrap the original __annotate__ with a wrapper that removes ClassVars</span>
<span class="n">typ</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">__annotate__</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">wrapped_annotate</span>
<span class="n">typ</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">classvars</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">classvars</span> <span class="c1"># Store the ClassVars in a separate attribute</span>
<span class="k">return</span> <span class="n">typ</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
</section>
<section id="limitations-of-the-string-format">
<h2>Limitations of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code> format<a class="headerlink" href="#limitations-of-the-string-format" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> format is meant to approximate the source code
of the annotation, but the implementation strategy used means that it is not
always possible to recover the exact source code.</p>
<p>First, the stringifier of course cannot recover any information that is not present in
the compiled code, including comments, whitespace, parenthesization, and operations that
get simplified by the compiler.</p>
<p>Second, the stringifier can intercept almost all operations that involve names looked
up in some scope, but it cannot intercept operations that operate fully on constants.
As a corollary, this also means it is not safe to request the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code> format on
untrusted code: Python is powerful enough that it is possible to achieve arbitrary
code execution even with no access to any globals or builtins. For example:</p>
<div class="highlight-pycon notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">f</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="vm">__class__</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">__base__</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">__subclasses__</span><span class="p">()[</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="fm">__init__</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">__builtins__</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s2">"print"</span><span class="p">](</span><span class="s2">"Hello world"</span><span class="p">)):</span> <span class="k">pass</span>
<span class="gp">...</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">annotationlib</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">f</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">annotationlib</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">STRING</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">Hello world</span>
<span class="go">{'x': 'None'}</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="admonition note">
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
<p>This particular example works as of the time of writing, but it relies on
implementation details and is not guaranteed to work in the future.</p>
</div>
<p>Among the different kinds of expressions that exist in Python,
as represented by the <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#module-ast" title="ast: Abstract Syntax Tree classes and manipulation."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast</span></code></a> module, some expressions are supported,
meaning that the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code> format can generally recover the original source code;
others are unsupported, meaning that they may result in incorrect output or an error.</p>
<p>The following are supported (sometimes with caveats):</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.BinOp" title="ast.BinOp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.BinOp</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.UnaryOp" title="ast.UnaryOp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.UnaryOp</span></code></a></p>
<ul>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Invert" title="ast.Invert"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Invert</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">~</span></code>), <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.UAdd" title="ast.UAdd"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.UAdd</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">+</span></code>), and <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.USub" title="ast.USub"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.USub</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-</span></code>) are supported</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Not" title="ast.Not"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Not</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">not</span></code>) is not supported</p></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Dict" title="ast.Dict"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Dict</span></code></a> (except when using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">**</span></code> unpacking)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Set" title="ast.Set"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Set</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Compare" title="ast.Compare"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Compare</span></code></a></p>
<ul>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Eq" title="ast.Eq"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Eq</span></code></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.NotEq" title="ast.NotEq"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.NotEq</span></code></a> are supported</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Lt" title="ast.Lt"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Lt</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.LtE" title="ast.LtE"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.LtE</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Gt" title="ast.Gt"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Gt</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.GtE" title="ast.GtE"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.GtE</span></code></a> are supported, but the operand may be flipped</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Is" title="ast.Is"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Is</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.IsNot" title="ast.IsNot"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.IsNot</span></code></a>, <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.In" title="ast.In"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.In</span></code></a>, and <a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.NotIn" title="ast.NotIn"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.NotIn</span></code></a> are not supported</p></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Call" title="ast.Call"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Call</span></code></a> (except when using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">**</span></code> unpacking)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Constant" title="ast.Constant"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Constant</span></code></a> (though not the exact representation of the constant; for example, escape
sequences in strings are lost; hexadecimal numbers are converted to decimal)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Attribute" title="ast.Attribute"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Attribute</span></code></a> (assuming the value is not a constant)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Subscript" title="ast.Subscript"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Subscript</span></code></a> (assuming the value is not a constant)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Starred" title="ast.Starred"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Starred</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">*</span></code> unpacking)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Name" title="ast.Name"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Name</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.List" title="ast.List"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.List</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Tuple" title="ast.Tuple"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Tuple</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Slice" title="ast.Slice"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Slice</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>The following are unsupported, but throw an informative error when encountered by the
stringifier:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.FormattedValue" title="ast.FormattedValue"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.FormattedValue</span></code></a> (f-strings; error is not detected if conversion specifiers like <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">!r</span></code>
are used)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.JoinedStr" title="ast.JoinedStr"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.JoinedStr</span></code></a> (f-strings)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The following are unsupported and result in incorrect output:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.BoolOp" title="ast.BoolOp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.BoolOp</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">and</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">or</span></code>)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.IfExp" title="ast.IfExp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.IfExp</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Lambda" title="ast.Lambda"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Lambda</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.ListComp" title="ast.ListComp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.ListComp</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.SetComp" title="ast.SetComp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.SetComp</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.DictComp" title="ast.DictComp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.DictComp</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.GeneratorExp" title="ast.GeneratorExp"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.GeneratorExp</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>The following are disallowed in annotation scopes and therefore not relevant:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.NamedExpr" title="ast.NamedExpr"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.NamedExpr</span></code></a> (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">:=</span></code>)</p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Await" title="ast.Await"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Await</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.Yield" title="ast.Yield"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.Yield</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="ast.html#ast.YieldFrom" title="ast.YieldFrom"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ast.YieldFrom</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="limitations-of-the-forwardref-format">
<h2>Limitations of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code> format<a class="headerlink" href="#limitations-of-the-forwardref-format" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a> format aims to produce real values as much
as possible, with anything that cannot be resolved replaced with
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> objects. It is affected by broadly the same Limitations
as the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.STRING" title="annotationlib.Format.STRING"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code></a> format: annotations that perform operations on
literals or that use unsupported expression types may raise exceptions when
evaluated using the <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF" title="annotationlib.Format.FORWARDREF"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code></a> format.</p>
<p>Below are a few examples of the behavior with unsupported expressions:</p>
<div class="highlight-pycon notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="kn">from</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nn">annotationlib</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">Format</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">zerodiv</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mi">1</span> <span class="o">/</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="o">...</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">zerodiv</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">STRING</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gt">Traceback (most recent call last):</span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="c">...</span>
<span class="gr">ZeroDivisionError</span>: <span class="n">division by zero</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">zerodiv</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">FORWARDREF</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="gt">Traceback (most recent call last):</span>
<span class="w"> </span><span class="c">...</span>
<span class="gr">ZeroDivisionError</span>: <span class="n">division by zero</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="k">def</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="nf">ifexp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">x</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="mi">1</span> <span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">y</span> <span class="k">else</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">):</span> <span class="o">...</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">get_annotations</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">ifexp</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="nb">format</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">Format</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">STRING</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">{'x': '1'}</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="security-implications-of-introspecting-annotations">
<span id="annotationlib-security"></span><h2>Security implications of introspecting annotations<a class="headerlink" href="#security-implications-of-introspecting-annotations" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>Much of the functionality in this module involves executing code related to annotations,
which can then do arbitrary things. For example,
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.get_annotations" title="annotationlib.get_annotations"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">get_annotations()</span></code></a> may call an arbitrary <a class="reference internal" href="../glossary.html#term-annotate-function"><span class="xref std std-term">annotate function</span></a>, and
<a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef.evaluate" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef.evaluate"><code class="xref py py-meth docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef.evaluate()</span></code></a> may call <a class="reference internal" href="functions.html#eval" title="eval"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">eval()</span></code></a> on an arbitrary string. Code contained
in an annotation might make arbitrary system calls, enter an infinite loop, or perform any
other operation. This is also true for any access of the <a class="reference internal" href="../reference/datamodel.html#object.__annotations__" title="object.__annotations__"><code class="xref py py-attr docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotations__</span></code></a> attribute,
and for various functions in the <a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#module-typing" title="typing: Support for type hints (see :pep:`484`)."><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing</span></code></a> module that work with annotations, such as
<a class="reference internal" href="typing.html#typing.get_type_hints" title="typing.get_type_hints"><code class="xref py py-func docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">typing.get_type_hints()</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>Any security issue arising from this also applies immediately after importing
code that may contain untrusted annotations: importing code can always cause arbitrary operations
to be performed. However, it is unsafe to accept strings or other input from an untrusted source and
pass them to any of the APIs for introspecting annotations, for example by editing an
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__annotations__</span></code> dictionary or directly creating a <a class="reference internal" href="#annotationlib.ForwardRef" title="annotationlib.ForwardRef"><code class="xref py py-class docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">ForwardRef</span></code></a> object.</p>
</section>
</section>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="Main">
<div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
<div>
<h3><a href="../contents.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
<ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> — Functionality for introspecting annotations</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#annotation-semantics">Annotation semantics</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#classes">Classes</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#functions">Functions</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#recipes">Recipes</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-annotations-in-a-metaclass">Using annotations in a metaclass</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#limitations-of-the-string-format">Limitations of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">STRING</span></code> format</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#limitations-of-the-forwardref-format">Limitations of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">FORWARDREF</span></code> format</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#security-implications-of-introspecting-annotations">Security implications of introspecting annotations</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="inspect.html"
title="previous chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">inspect</span></code> — Inspect live objects</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="site.html"
title="next chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">site</span></code> — Site-specific configuration hook</a></p>
</div>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a bug</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/main/Doc/library/annotationlib.rst?plain=1"
rel="nofollow">Show source
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div id="sidebarbutton" title="Collapse sidebar">
<span>«</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="Related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
>index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="site.html" title="site — Site-specific configuration hook"
>next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="inspect.html" title="inspect — Inspect live objects"
>previous</a> |</li>
<li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"></li>
<li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> »</li>
<li class="switchers">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
</li>
<li>
</li>
<li id="cpython-language-and-version">
<a href="../index.html">3.14.0 Documentation</a> »
</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-2"><a href="python.html" >Python Runtime Services</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href=""><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">annotationlib</span></code> — Functionality for introspecting annotations</a></li>
<li class="right">
<div class="inline-search" role="search">
<form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="search" name="q" id="search-box">
<input type="submit" value="Go">
</form>
</div>
|
</li>
<li class="right">
<label class="theme-selector-label">
Theme
<select class="theme-selector" oninput="activateTheme(this.value)">
<option value="auto" selected>Auto</option>
<option value="light">Light</option>
<option value="dark">Dark</option>
</select>
</label> |</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="footer">
© <a href="../copyright.html">Copyright</a> 2001 Python Software Foundation.
<br>
This page is licensed under the Python Software Foundation License Version 2.
<br>
Examples, recipes, and other code in the documentation are additionally licensed under the Zero Clause BSD License.
<br>
See <a href="/license.html">History and License</a> for more information.<br>
<br>
The Python Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation.
<a href="https://www.python.org/psf/donations/">Please donate.</a>
<br>
<br>
Last updated on Oct 07, 2025 (10:02 UTC).
<a href="/bugs.html">Found a bug</a>?
<br>
Created using <a href="https://www.sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx</a> 8.2.3.
</div>
</body>
</html>