reorder-python-imports

Tool for automatically reordering python imports. Similar to isort but uses static analysis more.

Installation

pip install reorder-python-imports

Console scripts

Consult reorder-python-imports --help for the full set of options.

reorder-python-imports takes filenames as positional arguments

Common options:

--py##-plus: see below.
--add-import / --remove-import: see below.
--replace-import: see below.
--application-directories: by default, reorder-python-imports assumes your project is rooted at .. If this isn't true, tell it where your import roots live. For example, when using the popular ./src layout you'd use --application-directories=.:src (note: multiple paths are separated using a :).
--unclassifiable-application-module: (may be specified multiple times) modules names that are considered application modules. this setting is intended to be used for things like C modules which may not always appear on the filesystem.

As a pre-commit hook

See pre-commit for instructions

Sample .pre-commit-config.yaml

-   repo: https://github.com/asottile/reorder-python-imports
    rev: v3.19.0
    hooks:
    -   id: reorder-python-imports

What does it do?

Separates imports into three sections

import sys
import pyramid
import reorder_python_imports

becomes (stdlib, third party, first party)

import sys

import pyramid

import reorder_python_imports

`import` imports before `from` imports

from os import path
import sys

becomes

import sys
from os import path

Splits `from` imports

from os.path import abspath, exists

becomes

from os.path import abspath
from os.path import exists

Removes duplicate imports

import os
import os.path
import sys
import sys

becomes

import os.path
import sys

Using `# noreorder`

Lines containing and after lines which contain a # noreorder comment will be ignored. Additionally any imports that appear after non-whitespace non-comment lines will be ignored.

For instance, these will not be changed:

import sys

try:  # not import, not whitespace
    import foo
except ImportError:
    pass

from typing import TYPE_CHECKING

if TYPE_CHECKING:
    # all these imports are after non-whitspace non-comment lines
    # and will be ignored (i.e. they will remain out of order)
    from collections.abc import Sequence
    from collections.abc import Callable

import sys

import reorder_python_imports

import matplotlib  # noreorder
matplotlib.use('Agg')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

# noreorder
import sys
import pyramid
import reorder_python_imports

why this style?

The style chosen by reorder-python-imports has a single aim: reduce merge conflicts.

By having a single import per line, multiple contributors can add / remove imports from a single module without resulting in a conflict.

Consider the following example which causes a merge conflict:

# developer 1
-from typing import Dict, List
+from typing import Any, Dict, List

# developer 2
-from typing import Dict, List
+from typing import Dict, List, Tuple

no conflict with the style enforced by reorder-python-imports:

+from typing import Any
 from typing import Dict
 from typing import List
+from typing import Tuple

Adding / Removing Imports

Let's say I want to enforce absolute_import across my codebase. I can use: --add-import 'from __future__ import absolute_import'.

$ cat test.py
print('Hello world')
$ reorder-python-imports --add-import 'from __future__ import absolute_import' test.py
Reordering imports in test.py
$ cat test.py
from __future__ import absolute_import
print('Hello world')

Let's say I no longer care about supporting Python 2.5, I can remove from __future__ import with_statement with --remove-import 'from __future__ import with_statement'

$ cat test.py
from __future__ import with_statement
with open('foo.txt', 'w') as foo_f:
    foo_f.write('hello world')
$ reorder-python-imports --remove-import 'from __future__ import with_statement' test.py
Reordering imports in test.py
$ cat test.py
with open('foo.txt', 'w') as foo_f:
    foo_f.write('hello world')

Replacing imports

Imports can be replaced with others automatically (if they provide the same names). This can be useful for factoring out compatibility libraries such as six (see below for automated six rewriting).

This rewrite avoids NameErrors as such it only occurs when:

the imported symbol is the same before and after
the import is a from import

The argument is specified as orig.mod=new.mod or with an optional checked attribute orig.mod=new.mod:attr. The checked attribute is useful for renaming some imports from a module instead of a full module.

For example:

# full module move
--replace-import six.moves.queue=queue
# specific attribute move
--replace-import six.moves=io:StringIO

Removing obsolete `future` imports

The cli provides a few options to help "burn the bridges" with old python versions by removing __future__ imports automatically. Each option implies all older versions.

--py22-plus: nested_scopes
--py23-plus: generators
--py26-plus: with_statement
--py3-plus: division, absolute_import, print_function, unicode_literals
--py37-plus: generator_stop

Removing / rewriting obsolete `six` imports

With --py3-plus, reorder-python-imports will also remove / rewrite imports from six. Rewrites follow the same rules as replacing imports above.

For example:

+import queue
+from io import StringIO
+from urllib.parse import quote_plus
+
 import six.moves.urllib.parse
-from six.moves import queue
-from six.moves import range
-from six.moves import StringIO
-from six.moves.urllib.parse import quote_plus

Rewriting mock imports

With --py3-plus, reorder-python-imports will also rewrite various mock imports:

-from mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import patch

Rewriting `mypy_extensions` and `typing_extension` imports

With --py36-plus and higher, reorder-python-imports will also rewrite mypy_extensions and typing_extensions imports ported to typing.

-from mypy_extensions import TypedDict
+from typing import TypedDict

Rewriting pep 585 typing imports

With --py39-plus and higher, reorder-python-imports will replace imports which were moved out of the typing module in pep 585.

-from typing import Sequence
+from collections.abc import Sequence

Metadata

Release files for reorder-python-imports 3.19.0

For a detailed explanation of source distributions (sdists) and built distributions (wheels), please see the package formats documentation.

Source distribution (sdist)

Source distribution for reorder-python-imports 3.19.0
File	Size	Uploaded
reorder_python_imports-3.19.0.tar.gz	11.8 kB	Oct 12, 2026	Details

Built distribution (wheel)

Table of built distributions (wheels) for reorder-python-imports 3.19.0
File	Interpreter	ABI	Platform	Reset
reorder_python_imports-3.19.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl 12.1 kB Oct 12, 2026	Python 3, Python 2	none	any	Details

Total release size: 23.9 kB

Release files / reorder_python_imports-3.19.0.tar.gz

Download URL	reorder_python_imports-3.19.0.tar.gz
Size	11.8 kB
Tags	Source
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums	`457e65fc0adb50d724b633cae2825e484c119dc381f01353c4fe7693216451c0`
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Uploaded via	`twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.14.4`

Release files / reorder_python_imports-3.19.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl

Download URL	reorder_python_imports-3.19.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Size	12.1 kB
Tags	Python 2 Python 3
SHA-256 checksum How to use checksums	`a19fce94b6c04121a466212ce9988863a1eb03a88bbe96f4542d5076572ec725`
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Upload date	Oct 12, 2026
Uploaded using Trusted Publishing? What is trusted publishing?	No
Uploaded via	`twine/6.2.0 CPython/3.14.4`