Bug description

The documentation for glob.glob() and glob.iglob() describes the include_hidden parameter as:

If include_hidden is true, "**" pattern will match hidden directories.

This is inaccurate in two ways:

1. The flag affects all wildcard patterns (*, ?, [...], **), not just **.
   For example, glob.glob('*',include_hidden=True) matches dotfiles in the current directory.
2. "hidden directories" is misleading, since it refers to any path component whose name begins with a dot, not Windows FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN.

This was raised on Python Discourse in September 2022 (https://discuss.python.org/t/new-glob-documentation-could-be-improved/19054) where @eryksun suggested the fix and @gvanrossum asked for an issue and PR.

The correct description (matching the wording already used in glob.translate() on line 164 of the same file) would be:

If include_hidden is true, patterns that do not begin with a dot may also match path components that begin with a dot.

CPython versions tested on:

3.11, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14

Operating systems tested on:

Any

Linked PRs

• gh-148765: Fix description of include_hidden parameter in glob docs #148768
• [3.13] gh-148765: Fix description of *include_hidden* parameter in glob.glob() docs (GH-148768) #153172
• [3.15] gh-148765: Fix description of *include_hidden* parameter in glob.glob() docs (GH-148768) #153173
• [3.14] gh-148765: Fix description of *include_hidden* parameter in glob.glob() docs (GH-148768) #153174