scitex-introspect 0.1.6

IPython-style introspection (signatures, docstrings, members, source, call graphs, class hierarchy) for any Python package — standalone module from the SciTeX ecosystem

scitex-introspect

IPython-style introspection for any Python package — `q`, `qq`, `dir`, signatures, source.

Full Documentation · uv pip install scitex-introspect[all]

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Installation

pip install scitex-introspect
pip install "scitex-introspect[mcp]"   # + MCP server for AI agents

Architecture

scitex_introspect/
├── _core.py              ← q / qq IPython-style entrypoints
├── _signature.py         ← inspect.signature with type hints
├── _docstring.py         ← docstring extraction
├── _source.py            ← getsource with fallback
├── _list_api.py          ← recursive module API tree
├── _members.py           ← attribute / method enumeration
├── _imports.py           ← static import-graph extraction
├── _call_graph.py        ← AST-based caller / callee analysis
├── _class_hierarchy.py   ← MRO + base-class walk
├── _examples.py          ← scrape doctest / examples blocks
├── _resolve.py           ← dotted-path → object resolver
├── _type_hints.py        ← typing.get_type_hints helpers
├── _mcp/                 ← MCP server tools
└── _skills/              ← agent-facing skill pages

Pure-stdlib core — every module is a thin layer over inspect, importlib, ast, and typing. Zero runtime deps.

2 Interfaces

Python API

import scitex_introspect as ix

# IPython-style shortcuts
ix.q(my_func)        # Signature with type hints
ix.qq(my_func)       # Full source code
ix.dir(my_pkg)       # List attributes/methods
ix.list_api(my_pkg)  # Recursive module API tree

# Detailed inspection
ix.signature(my_func)
ix.docstring(my_func)
ix.source(my_func)
ix.members(my_pkg)

# Static analysis
ix.imports(file_path)
ix.call_graph(my_func)
ix.class_hierarchy(MyClass)
ix.examples(my_func)
ix.resolve("scitex.io.save")

MCP Server — for AI Agents

Install with pip install "scitex-introspect[mcp]" and the package exposes async handlers for IPython-style introspection over MCP — agents can ask "what's the signature of X?" or "show me the source of Y" without running Python themselves.

Demo

flowchart LR
    A["scitex_introspect.q(obj)"] --> B[".signature + type hints"]
    A2["scitex_introspect.qq(obj)"] --> C[".source"]
    A3["scitex_introspect.dir(pkg)"] --> D[".members + .list_api"]
    A4["scitex_introspect.resolve('a.b.c')"] --> E["dotted-path lookup"]
    B & C & D & E --> F["agent / REPL output"]

>>> import scitex_introspect as ix, json
>>> ix.q(json.loads)
json.loads(s, *, cls=None, object_hook=None, ...)
>>> ix.dir(json)[:3]
['JSONDecodeError', 'JSONDecoder', 'JSONEncoder']

Quick Start

import scitex_introspect as ix

ix.q(my_func)        # Signature with type hints (like `my_func?`)
ix.qq(my_func)       # Full source code (like `my_func??`)
ix.dir(my_pkg)       # List attributes/methods

Status

Standalone fork of scitex.introspect. Pure stdlib core — zero runtime deps. The umbrella package's scitex.introspect import path is preserved via a sys.modules-alias bridge.

Part of SciTeX

scitex-introspect is part of SciTeX. Install via the umbrella with pip install scitex[introspect] to use as scitex.introspect (Python) or scitex introspect ... (CLI).

Four Freedoms for Research

0. The freedom to run your research anywhere — your machine, your terms.
1. The freedom to study how every step works — from raw data to final manuscript.
2. The freedom to redistribute your workflows, not just your papers.
3. The freedom to modify any module and share improvements with the community.

AGPL-3.0 — because we believe research infrastructure deserves the same freedoms as the software it runs on.

License

AGPL-3.0-only (see LICENSE).

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