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Add new unused_footnote_definition rustdoc lint - #137858

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GuillaumeGomez:unused_footnote_def
Aug 13, 2026
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Add new unused_footnote_definition rustdoc lint#137858
rust-bors[bot] merged 10 commits into
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GuillaumeGomez:unused_footnote_def

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@GuillaumeGomez GuillaumeGomez commented Mar 1, 2025

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Follow-up of #137803 (where the two first commits come from).

It adds a new lint which checks for unused footnote definitions.

r? @notriddle

@rustbot rustbot added S-waiting-on-review Status: Awaiting review from the assignee but also interested parties. T-rustdoc Relevant to the rustdoc team, which will review and decide on the PR/issue. labels Mar 1, 2025
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Fixed tidy.

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GuillaumeGomez force-pushed the unused_footnote_def branch 2 times, most recently from 40b5fa2 to 27c7ec4 Compare March 11, 2025 14:14
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Updated to use new footnote lint code instead.

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bors commented May 7, 2025

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☔ The latest upstream changes (presumably #140726) made this pull request unmergeable. Please resolve the merge conflicts.

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One main issue (possibly parsing footnotes as code blocks) and a bunch of small nits.

let mut footnote_definitions = FxHashMap::default();

let options = Options::ENABLE_FOOTNOTES;
let mut parser = Parser::new_ext(dox, options).into_offset_iter().peekable();

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Should we be making sure the lint is enabled before invoking the parser? I know the other lints don't do this, but maybe they should?

Comment thread src/librustdoc/passes/lint/footnotes.rs Outdated
Comment on lines +35 to +44
Event::Text(text)
if &*text == "["
&& let Some((Event::Text(text), _)) = parser.peek()
&& text.trim_start().starts_with('^')
&& parser.next().is_some()
&& let Some((Event::Text(text), end_span)) = parser.peek()
&& &**text == "]" =>
{
missing_footnote_references.insert(Range { start: span.start, end: end_span.end });
}

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It is quite odd that pulldown_cmark isn't emmitting some form of FootnoteReference here despite the docs saying they might not map to an actual definition.

In any case, I don't think this implementation is correct, since Text events are emitted for the bodies of all blocks. Crucially, this includes code blocks, which certainly should not be parsed for footnotes. An integration test should be added to show that we are not wrongfully parsing footnotes within code blocks.

One way to handle this is to track the type of the last Start event and make sure it isn't CodeBlock. luckily other blocks can't appear within code blocks so we don't have to track the full stack of tags. We might want to clear that variable whenever we reach an End event, but I'm not sure if the text after a code block will always get its own separate Paragraph event or not. An integration test with an unused footnote directly after a code block should clear this up.

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The docs are outdated. FootnoteReference is only emitted if the footnote definition exists.

pulldown-cmark/pulldown-cmark#1038

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glad to see the docs getting fixed, but i still believe this code handles code blocks incorrectly.

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This could be easily answered by some tests that exercise the case of broken markdown inside a code block, as well as a footnote definition outside the code block referenced by markdown inside the block, and the other way around.

Comment thread tests/rustdoc-ui/lints/unused-footnote.rs Outdated
Comment thread tests/rustdoc-ui/lints/unused-footnote.rs Outdated
Comment thread src/librustdoc/lint.rs Outdated
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@rustbot rustbot added S-waiting-on-author Status: This is awaiting some action (such as code changes or more information) from the author. and removed S-waiting-on-review Status: Awaiting review from the assignee but also interested parties. labels Aug 21, 2025
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notriddle commented Aug 21, 2025

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This PR is still based on #137803, which I thought was a bad idea because of the false positives.

The unused_footnote_definition lint shouldn't have any false positives, so it's fine, but this PR needs rebased to remove the other, rejected lint.

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Sorry for the delay, finally applied suggestions.

Comment thread src/librustdoc/passes/lint/footnotes.rs Outdated
Comment thread src/librustdoc/passes/lint/footnotes.rs Outdated
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@rustbot rustbot added the has-merge-commits PR has merge commits, merge with caution. label Feb 25, 2026
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@rustbot rustbot removed has-merge-commits PR has merge commits, merge with caution. S-waiting-on-author Status: This is awaiting some action (such as code changes or more information) from the author. labels Feb 25, 2026
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@rustbot ready

@rustbot rustbot added the S-waiting-on-review Status: Awaiting review from the assignee but also interested parties. label Feb 25, 2026
Comment thread src/librustdoc/passes/lint/footnotes.rs Outdated
Comment on lines +24 to +29
if &*text == "["
&& let Some((Event::Text(text), _)) = parser.peek()
&& text.trim_start().starts_with('^')
&& parser.next().is_some()
&& let Some((Event::Text(text), end_span)) = parser.peek()
&& &**text == "]" =>

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This parsing logic doesn't fully account for backslashes or special characters. This test case fails (it's a false positive, because it produces a warning when it shouldn't):

/// Backslash escaped footnotes should not be recognized:
///
/// [\^4]
///
/// [^5\]
pub struct BackslashEscape;

And so does this one (it's a false negative, since it's supposed to produce a warning, but it doesn't):

/// Footnotes can contain asterisks, underscores, and other specials:
///
/// [^*]
//~^ ERROR: no footnote definition matching this footnote
///
/// [^_]
//~^ ERROR: no footnote definition matching this footnote
///
/// [^<inside></inside>]
//~^ ERROR: no footnote definition matching this footnote
pub struct Specials;

To do this correctly, you need to parse the source text, not the returned event stream. Mostly copy scan_link_label, but strip out everything unrelated to footnotes.

Comment thread tests/rustdoc-ui/lints/broken-footnote.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
#![deny(rustdoc::broken_footnote)]

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A selection of many good corner cases to test this lint against can be found here: https://pulldown-cmark.github.io/pulldown-cmark/specs/footnotes.html

@rustbot rustbot removed the S-waiting-on-review Status: Awaiting review from the assignee but also interested parties. label Mar 10, 2026
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@bors try jobs=i686-gnu-nopt-1

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rust-bors Bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 12, 2026
Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint


try-job: i686-gnu-nopt-1
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@bors try-

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Unknown command "try-". Run @bors help or go to https://bors.rust-lang.org/help to see available commands.

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@bors try cancel

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Try build cancelled. Cancelled workflows:

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Hopefully this time it'll work out.

@bors try jobs=i686-gnu-nopt-1

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rust-bors Bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 12, 2026
Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint


try-job: i686-gnu-nopt-1
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☀️ Try build successful (CI)
Build commit: cd6c798 (cd6c798f92f2779a147129bee56a0d19d15e3337)
Base parent: 41fb9d4 (41fb9d458726b5effbd64c7c1beced947ea03242)

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Ah finally. \o/

@bors r=notriddle

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📌 Commit 116fdd1 has been approved by notriddle

It is now in the queue for this repository.

@rust-bors rust-bors Bot added S-waiting-on-bors Status: Waiting on bors to run and complete tests. Bors will change the label on completion. and removed S-waiting-on-author Status: This is awaiting some action (such as code changes or more information) from the author. labels Aug 12, 2026
rust-bors Bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 12, 2026
…uwer

Rollup of 4 pull requests

Successful merges:

 - #137803 (Add new rustdoc `broken_footnote` lint)
 - #160975 (Remove target argument from get_proc_macros)
 - #160861 (rustc_parse: suggest removing semicolon before `if` block)
 - #160990 (Remove old cfg parser which is now dead code)

Failed merges:

 - #137858 (Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint)
JonathanBrouwer added a commit to JonathanBrouwer/rust that referenced this pull request Aug 12, 2026
…, r=notriddle

Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint

Follow-up of rust-lang#137803 (where the two first commits come from).

It adds a new lint which checks for unused footnote definitions.

r? @notriddle
rust-bors Bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 12, 2026
…uwer

Rollup of 5 pull requests

Successful merges:

 - #160975 (Remove target argument from get_proc_macros)
 - #160985 (self-profile more of borrowck)
 - #137858 (Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint)
 - #160861 (rustc_parse: suggest removing semicolon before `if` block)
 - #160990 (Remove old cfg parser which is now dead code)
GuillaumeGomez added a commit to GuillaumeGomez/rust that referenced this pull request Aug 12, 2026
…, r=notriddle

Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint

Follow-up of rust-lang#137803 (where the two first commits come from).

It adds a new lint which checks for unused footnote definitions.

r? @notriddle
rust-bors Bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 13, 2026
Rollup of 13 pull requests

Successful merges:

 - #160976 (Ensure TLS accesses don't call the global allocator through panic (part 2))
 - #160438 ([rustdoc] Change table odd table rows background color to not make it the same as inline code)
 - #160985 (self-profile more of borrowck)
 - #137858 (Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint)
 - #159566 (Add support for generics in `offload`and remove `no_mangle` attribute)
 - #160676 (rustc_public: split `def`s out of `ty`)
 - #160861 (rustc_parse: suggest removing semicolon before `if` block)
 - #160958 (Remove unused `#[non_exhaustive]` in library)
 - #160978 (move resolve_path to Session inherent method)
 - #160990 (Remove old cfg parser which is now dead code)
 - #160991 (Add offload component on nightly)
 - #160999 (doc changes to expect messages in process.rs)
 - #161003 (Also warn if an invalid `doc` attribute is used on a macro invocation)
rust-bors Bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 13, 2026
Rollup of 13 pull requests

Successful merges:

 - #160976 (Ensure TLS accesses don't call the global allocator through panic (part 2))
 - #160438 ([rustdoc] Change table odd table rows background color to not make it the same as inline code)
 - #160985 (self-profile more of borrowck)
 - #137858 (Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint)
 - #159566 (Add support for generics in `offload`and remove `no_mangle` attribute)
 - #160676 (rustc_public: split `def`s out of `ty`)
 - #160861 (rustc_parse: suggest removing semicolon before `if` block)
 - #160958 (Remove unused `#[non_exhaustive]` in library)
 - #160978 (move resolve_path to Session inherent method)
 - #160990 (Remove old cfg parser which is now dead code)
 - #160991 (Add offload component on nightly)
 - #160999 (doc changes to expect messages in process.rs)
 - #161003 (Also warn if an invalid `doc` attribute is used on a macro invocation)
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rust-bors Bot merged commit 42ef497 into rust-lang:main Aug 13, 2026
14 checks passed
@rustbot rustbot added this to the 1.99.0 milestone Aug 13, 2026
rust-timer added a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 13, 2026
Rollup merge of #137858 - GuillaumeGomez:unused_footnote_def, r=notriddle

Add new `unused_footnote_definition` rustdoc lint

Follow-up of #137803 (where the two first commits come from).

It adds a new lint which checks for unused footnote definitions.

r? @notriddle
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