Auto-fixing¶

Robocop can automatically fix certain linting issues detected in your Robot Framework files. This feature helps maintain code quality by applying corrections directly to your code.

To enable auto-fixing, use the --fix flag:

robocop check --fix

This will automatically apply safe fixes to your files. Safe fixes are corrections that are guaranteed to preserve the intended behaviour of your code.

Get the list of rules with fixes available with list rules:

robocop check list rules --with-fix

Fix Applicability Levels¶

Robocop categorizes fixes into three levels based on their risk:

Safe Fixes¶

Safe fixes can be automatically applied without any risk of changing the intended behaviour of your code. These fixes include:

Correcting spacing and indentation
Fixing deprecated syntax with direct replacements
Normalizing formatting issues

Safe fixes are always applied when using --fix.

Unsafe Fixes¶

Unsafe fixes are transformations that might change the behavior of your code or require careful review. These fixes are not applied by default but can be enabled with the --unsafe-fixes flag:

robocop check --fix --unsafe-fixes

Review unsafe fixes

Always review the changes made by unsafe fixes before committing them. While these fixes follow best practices, they may not be appropriate for all contexts.

Manual Fixes¶

Manual fixes are suggestions that require human intervention and cannot be automatically applied. These are displayed in the output but never applied automatically, even with --unsafe-fixes.

Preview what would be fixed without modifying files FIXME¶

Use the --diff mode to see what would change:

robocop check --diff

Select fixes¶

Use --fixable and --unfixable options if you wish to select which fixes should apply.

robocop check --fix --fixable fix-only-me --fixable and-me

robocop check --fix --unfixable fix-all-except-me

Fix Statistics¶

After applying fixes, Robocop displays a summary showing:

Total number of fixes applied
Breakdown by file
Count per rule type

Example output:

Fixed 15 errors:
- tests/test_example.robot:
    3 x COM02 (missing-space-after-comment)
    2 x MISC06 (can-be-resource-file)

- tests/test_other.robot:
    10 x LEN08 (line-too-long)

Iterative Fixing¶

Robocop may run multiple passes when fixing issues, as some fixes can reveal new issues. The tool automatically re-runs checks up to 20 times or until no more fixes can be applied, whichever comes first.

Best Practices¶

Start with safe fixes: Run --fix without --unsafe-fixes first to apply low-risk corrections
Use version control: Always commit your code before running auto-fixes so you can review changes with git diff
Test after fixing: Run your tests after applying fixes to ensure functionality is preserved
Review unsafe fixes: When using --unsafe-fixes, carefully review all changes
Combine with formatting: Consider running the formatter after auto-fixing for consistent code style:

robocop check --fix tests/
robocop format tests/

Limitations¶

Manual fixes are never applied automatically
Some complex refactoring scenarios require manual intervention
Auto-fixing may not be available for all rules

To check which rules support auto-fixing, use:

robocop list rules

Rules that support fixes will indicate the fix applicability level in their documentation.