all Python 3Exceptionsexception

IndentationError

built-in exceptions

Incorrect indentation (a subclass of SyntaxError).

Syntax

raise IndentationError

Because it subclasses SyntaxError, this is raised while the file is being compiled, before a single line runs. So you cannot wrap your own badly indented code in try/except — the handler only fires where code is compiled at runtime (exec, compile, importing another module). A common special case is TabError, a subclass of IndentationError for mixed tabs and spaces; setting your editor to four spaces makes it go away.

Examples

try:
    exec(' x = 1')
except IndentationError as e:
    print(type(e).__name__)   # → IndentationError

See also

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