Getting Started🔗

You renamed a function (or retired an argument) and now you need the old name to keep working, callers to see a clear deprecation notice, and a firm removal date you can enforce. pyDeprecate does all of that with a single decorator so you can focus on the new API instead of the plumbing.

Installation🔗

pyDeprecate requires Python 3.9 or later and has zero runtime dependencies.

Install from PyPI:

pip install pyDeprecate

To install directly from source (for pre-release or development versions):

pip install https://github.com/Borda/pyDeprecate/archive/main.zip

The audit extra adds packaging for version comparison, needed only by validate_deprecation_expiry. Install it when you want to enforce removal deadlines in CI:

pip install 'pyDeprecate[audit]'

Quick Start🔗

Here is the most common scenario: you renamed a function and need the old name to keep working during the transition. The decorator handles call forwarding automatically, so the deprecated wrapper needs no implementation.

from deprecate import deprecated


# NEW/FUTURE API — renamed to be more explicit about what it computes
def compute_sum(a: int = 0, b: int = 3) -> int:
    return a + b


# DEPRECATED API — `addition` was the original name before the rename
@deprecated(target=compute_sum, deprecated_in="1.0", remove_in="2.0")
def addition(a: int, b: int = 5) -> int:
    pass  # body is not needed — calls are forwarded to compute_sum


# Using the original name still works but emits a deprecation notice
print(addition(1, 2))

Output: print(addition(1, 2))

All calls to addition() are automatically forwarded to compute_sum() with a FutureWarning. The old function's body is never executed.

Customizing deprecation messages

To customize the message template or redirect deprecation output to a logger, see Customization.

API at a Glance🔗

Not sure which API to reach for? This table maps common scenarios to the right tool. For worked examples of each, see Use Cases.

Pick the right decorator:

Scenario	API to use
Renaming a function or method	`@deprecated(target=new_func)`
Renaming an argument within the same function	`@deprecated(target=True, args_mapping={"old": "new"})`
Notice only — original body still runs	`@deprecated(target=None)`
Deprecating a class, Enum, or dataclass name	`@deprecated_class(target=NewClass)`
Deprecating a module-level constant or object	`deprecated_instance(obj, ...)`

All @deprecated parameters:

Param	Default	Purpose
`target`	—	`Callable` to forward to · `True` to remap args in-place · `None` notice-only
`deprecated_in`	`""`	Version when deprecated (e.g. `"1.0"`)
`remove_in`	`""`	Version when removed (e.g. `"2.0"`)
`stream`	`deprecation_warning`	Output sink callable (set `None` to silence deprecation messages)
`num_warns`	`1`	`1` once · `-1` always · `N` exactly N times
`args_mapping`	`None`	`{"old": "new"}` rename · `{"old": None}` drop
`template_mgs`	`None`	Custom deprecation message template (`%`-style placeholders)
`args_extra`	`None`	Fixed kwargs injected into the target call
`skip_if`	`False`	`bool` or `Callable → bool`; skip deprecation when true
`update_docstring`	`False`	Append Sphinx `.. deprecated::` notice to docstring
`docstring_style`	`"auto"`	Style of the injected notice: `"auto"`, `"rst"`, `"mkdocs"`, `"markdown"`

@deprecated_class() shares target, deprecated_in, remove_in, num_warns, stream, args_mapping, update_docstring, and docstring_style. deprecated_instance() shares deprecated_in, remove_in, num_warns, and stream; it requires obj and adds name (display name) and read_only.

Next: Use Cases — thirteen real-world deprecation patterns with full code examples. See also: Customization · Audit Tools · Troubleshooting