Add docs to clarify project root heuristics (#4697)

crates/ruff/src/settings/options.rs

@@ -407,11 +407,15 @@ pub struct Options {
     /// (e.g., `src = ["src"]`), such that when resolving imports,
     /// `my_package.foo` is considered a first-party import.
     ///
+    /// When omitted, the `src` directory will typically default to the
+    /// directory containing the nearest `pyproject.toml`, `ruff.toml`, or
+    /// `.ruff.toml` file (the "project root"), unless a configuration file
+    /// is explicitly provided (e.g., via the `--config` command-line flag).
+    ///
     /// This field supports globs. For example, if you have a series of Python
     /// packages in a `python_modules` directory, `src = ["python_modules/*"]`
-    /// would expand to incorporate all of the
-    /// packages in that directory. User home directory and environment
-    /// variables will also be expanded.
+    /// would expand to incorporate all of the packages in that directory. User
+    /// home directory and environment variables will also be expanded.
     pub src: Option<Vec<String>>,
     #[option(
         default = r#"[]"#,

docs/faq.md

@@ -255,6 +255,52 @@ src = ["src", "tests"]
 known-first-party = ["my_module1", "my_module2"]
 ```
 
+## How does Ruff determine which of my imports are first-party, third-party, etc.?
+
+Ruff accepts a `src` option that in your `pyproject.toml`, `ruff.toml`, or `.ruff.toml` file, which
+specifies the directories that Ruff should consider when determining whether an import is
+first-party.
+
+For example, if you have a project with the following structure:
+
+```tree
+.
+├── pyproject.toml
+├── src
+│   ├── __init__.py
+│   ├── module1.py
+│   └── module2.py
+└── tests
+    ├── __init__.py
+    ├── test_module1.py
+    └── test_module2.py
+```
+
+When Ruff sees an import like `import module1`, it will then iterate over the `src` directories,
+looking for a corresponding Python module. You can configure Ruff to consider `src` and `tests` as
+first-party sources like so:
+
+```toml
+[tool.ruff]
+src = ["src", "tests"]
+```
+
+If the `src` field is omitted, Ruff will default to using the "project root" as the only
+first-party source. The "project root" is typically the directory containing your `pyproject.toml`,
+`ruff.toml`, or `.ruff.toml` file, unless a configuration file is provided on the command-line via
+the `--config` option, in which case, the current working directory is used as the project root.
+
+If your `pyproject.toml`, `ruff.toml`, or `.ruff.toml` extends another configuration file, Ruff
+will still use the "extended" configuration file's directory as the project root. For example, if
+you add a `ruff.toml` to the `tests` directory in the above example, you'll want to explicitly
+set the `src` option in the extended configuration file:
+
+```toml
+# tests/ruff.toml
+extend = "../pyproject.toml"
+src = ["../src", "../test"]
+```
+
 ## Does Ruff support Jupyter Notebooks?
 
 Ruff is integrated into [nbQA](https://github.com/nbQA-dev/nbQA), a tool for running linters and

ruff.schema.json

@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@
       ]
     },
     "src": {
-      "description": "The source code paths to consider, e.g., when resolving first- vs. third-party imports.\n\nAs an example: given a Python package structure like:\n\n```text my_package/ pyproject.toml src/ my_package/ __init__.py foo.py bar.py ```\n\nThe `src` directory should be included in the `src` option (e.g., `src = [\"src\"]`), such that when resolving imports, `my_package.foo` is considered a first-party import.\n\nThis field supports globs. For example, if you have a series of Python packages in a `python_modules` directory, `src = [\"python_modules/*\"]` would expand to incorporate all of the packages in that directory. User home directory and environment variables will also be expanded.",
+      "description": "The source code paths to consider, e.g., when resolving first- vs. third-party imports.\n\nAs an example: given a Python package structure like:\n\n```text my_package/ pyproject.toml src/ my_package/ __init__.py foo.py bar.py ```\n\nThe `src` directory should be included in the `src` option (e.g., `src = [\"src\"]`), such that when resolving imports, `my_package.foo` is considered a first-party import.\n\nWhen omitted, the `src` directory will typically default to the directory containing the nearest `pyproject.toml`, `ruff.toml`, or `.ruff.toml` file (the \"project root\"), unless a configuration file is explicitly provided (e.g., via the `--config` command-line flag).\n\nThis field supports globs. For example, if you have a series of Python packages in a `python_modules` directory, `src = [\"python_modules/*\"]` would expand to incorporate all of the packages in that directory. User home directory and environment variables will also be expanded.",
       "type": [
         "array",
         "null"