/rap-py-check — RAP Compliance Audit

/rap-py-check — RAP Compliance Audit

User Input

$ARGUMENTS

Instructions

You are auditing the current Python project against the UK Government Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAP) maturity levels. There are three cumulative levels: Baseline (5 checks), Silver (9 checks, requires all Baseline), and Gold (4 checks, requires all Silver).

1. Detect Python project

First, check whether the current directory is a Python project:

• Look for .py files, pyproject.toml, setup.py, or setup.cfg.
• If none are found, display:

This directory does not appear to be a Python project.

Run `/rap-py-init` to scaffold a new RAP-compliant Python project, or navigate
to an existing Python project directory.

Then stop — do not proceed with checks.

2. Determine project name

• If pyproject.toml exists, extract name from [project] section.
• If setup.py or setup.cfg exists, extract the name from there.
• Otherwise, use the current directory name.

3. Run Baseline checks (B1–B5)

Run each check using the tools available to you (Read, Grep, Glob, Bash). Record the result as PASS, FAIL, or PARTIAL with a brief detail.

ID	Requirement	How to Check
B1	Code in open-source language	Use Glob to find **/*.py files. PASS if at least one found.
B2	Version controlled with Git	Check if .git/ directory exists.
B3	README with reproduction steps	Check README.md exists. Grep for headings containing "run", "getting started", "reproduce", "steps", "install", or "how to". PASS if file exists and contains at least one such heading. PARTIAL if file exists but lacks reproduction steps.
B4	Code has been peer reviewed	Run git log --oneline --merges and check for merge commits. Alternatively check for CONTRIBUTING.md. PASS if either found. PARTIAL if repo is new with no history.
B5	Code is published openly	Run git remote -v and check for a remote pointing to github.com, gitlab.com, or similar public host.

4. Run Silver checks (S1–S9)

Only evaluate Silver if the user requests it or if all Baseline checks pass.

ID	Requirement	How to Check
S1	Minimal manual intervention	Look for Makefile, dvc.yaml, a run_pipeline.py or run_all.py script, or a __main__.py. PARTIAL if only numbered scripts exist (e.g. 01_*.py, 02_*.py).
S2	Comprehensive documentation	Grep for docstrings (""" or ''') in Python files under src/. Check README length (> 50 lines). PASS if both present.
S3	Standard directory structure	Check for src/ directory containing .py files, or a package directory with __init__.py.
S4	Reusable functions	Grep for def in Python files under src/ (or project package). PASS if 3 or more function definitions found.
S5	Coding standards	Check for ruff configuration: [tool.ruff] in pyproject.toml, or a ruff.toml/.ruff.toml file. Alternatively check for [tool.flake8], [tool.pylint], .flake8, or setup.cfg with [flake8].
S6	Testing framework	Check for tests/ directory with at least one test_*.py or *_test.py file. Alternatively check for pytest or unittest in configuration.
S7	Dependency management	Check for uv.lock, requirements.txt with pinned versions (containing ==), poetry.lock, or Pipfile.lock. PARTIAL if pyproject.toml has dependencies but no lockfile.
S8	Automatic logging	Grep across Python files for logging.getLogger, logging.info, logging.warning, logging.error, logger.info, logger.warning, or loguru. PASS if found in at least 2 files.
S9	Tidy data format	Grep across Python files for import pandas, from pandas, import polars, or from polars. PASS if found.

5. Run Gold checks (G1–G4)

Only evaluate Gold if all Silver checks pass.

ID	Requirement	How to Check
G1	Fully packaged	Check that pyproject.toml has a [build-system] section AND an __init__.py exists in the package directory.
G2	CI/CD automation	Check for .github/workflows/*.yml files, or .gitlab-ci.yml.
G3	Event/schedule triggers	Read CI config files and check for trigger definitions (on: push, on: schedule, on: pull_request).
G4	Changelog & versioning	Check for CHANGELOG.md or NEWS.md. Check that pyproject.toml has a version field.

6. Calculate achieved level

The levels are cumulative:

• Baseline: All B1–B5 must PASS
• Silver: Baseline achieved AND all S1–S9 must PASS
• Gold: Silver achieved AND all G1–G4 must PASS

A PARTIAL counts as not achieved for level calculation but should be noted.

7. Format and display the report

Use this format:

## RAP Compliance Report

**Project**: <project-name>
**Current Level**: BASELINE ✓/✗ | SILVER ✓/✗ | GOLD ✓/✗

### Baseline (<pass-count>/5)
- ✓/✗ B1: <requirement> (<detail>)
- ✓/✗ B2: <requirement> (<detail>)
- ✓/✗ B3: <requirement> (<detail>)
- ✓/✗ B4: <requirement> (<detail>)
- ✓/✗ B5: <requirement> (<detail>)

### Silver (<pass-count>/9)
- ✓/✗ S1: <requirement> (<detail>)
...

### Gold (<pass-count>/4)   [or "not evaluated — complete Silver first"]
- ✓/✗ G1: <requirement> (<detail>)
...

### Next Steps
<numbered list of actionable steps to reach the next level>

8. Provide actionable guidance

For each FAIL or PARTIAL check, include specific remediation:

Check	Remediation
B2	Run git init to initialise version control
B3	Add reproduction steps under a "How to Run" heading in README.md
B4	Open a pull request and have a colleague review your code
B5	Push to GitHub: git remote add origin <url> then git push
S1	Run /rap-py-pipeline to configure build automation
S5	Add ruff configuration to pyproject.toml: [tool.ruff] section with select = ["E", "F", "W", "I"]
S6	Run /rap-py-test to set up pytest framework
S7	Run uv lock to create uv.lock from pyproject.toml, or pip freeze > requirements.txt
S8	Add import logging and use logger = logging.getLogger(__name__) in your pipeline modules
G1	Add [build-system] to pyproject.toml and ensure your package has __init__.py
G2	Add a GitHub Actions workflow: create .github/workflows/ci.yml
G4	Create CHANGELOG.md and ensure version is set in pyproject.toml

9. Edge Case Handling

Handle these situations gracefully:

• No src/ directory: If src/ does not exist but .py files exist at the root, still run checks but note in S3 that the standard directory structure is not followed.

• Git not initialised: If .git/ does not exist, B2 FAILS. Guidance: "Run git init or /rap-py-init to initialise version control."

• requirements.txt without pinning: If requirements.txt exists but packages are not pinned (no ==), mark S7 as PARTIAL: "Dependencies listed but not pinned — use uv lock or pip freeze to pin exact versions."

• setup.py instead of pyproject.toml: Note this is legacy packaging and suggest migrating: "Consider migrating to pyproject.toml — see https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/guides/writing-pyproject-toml/"

• Non-standard test directory: If tests/ exists but contains no test_*.py files, mark S6 as PARTIAL: "Test directory found but no test files detected."

• Large repositories: If src/ contains more than 50 files, summarise rather than listing every check detail.

10. RAP context

End your response with:

RAP Maturity Levels are defined by the NHS RAP Community of Practice based on the UK Government Analysis Function RAP strategy. Achieving higher levels improves reproducibility, transparency, and efficiency of official statistics production.

Learn more:

• NHS RAP Community of Practice — Python
• RAP Companion