prefer-setup-uv-for-lightweight-python-tooling

What it flags

Flags jobs that:

use actions/setup-python
do not already use astral-sh/setup-uv
look like lightweight Python-based tooling jobs
are not visibly using uv already

This rule is intended for repository tooling such as lint, formatting, and docs checks, not for product tests or builds.

Why it matters

For lightweight tooling-only jobs, setup-uv can often reduce setup and command startup overhead compared with a plain setup-python plus pip, pipenv, or poetry path.

Current heuristic

The rule looks for:

visible lightweight tooling commands such as ruff, black, isort, flake8, pylint, bandit, yamllint, markdownlint, or sphinx-build
no visible heavier Python work such as test, typecheck, build, release, or deploy commands

The rule intentionally skips:

jobs already using setup-uv
jobs visibly using uv

When to ignore it

Ignore this finding when:

the job needs pip, pipenv, or poetry specific behavior
the job also does heavier work that the heuristic cannot see
the repository standard intentionally keeps all Python-based jobs on the same runtime setup

Suggested verification