gc

Control the current VM's tracing garbage collector.

Function	Behavior
`isenabled()`	Whether automatic collection is enabled.
`enable()`, `disable()`	Enable/disable automatic collection.
`collect()`	Run a full collection now and return the number of reclaimed objects.
`collect_hint()`	Collect if the allocation threshold calls for it; return the reclaimed count.
`setup_debug_callback(callback)`	Register collection diagnostics; pass `None` to remove the callback.
`is_tracked(obj)`, `track(obj)`, `untrack(obj)`	Inspect or change whether the collector traverses an object's references.

import gc

cycle = []
cycle.append(cycle)
del cycle
reclaimed = gc.collect()
assert type(reclaimed) is int
assert reclaimed >= 1

Disabling automatic collection does not stop allocation or prevent explicit collect()/collect_hint() calls. A frame-driven application can disable automatic collection, call collect_hint() at an appropriate frame boundary, and re-enable it when leaving that mode. Memory may grow between collections; measure the effect before adopting this policy.

untrack() is an advanced optimization for containers whose contents do not need tracing, such as a list containing only integer values. If an untracked container later contains GC-managed objects, its children can be reclaimed while still in use. Track it again before storing such values.

Native code must also keep references visible to the collector; see C API lifetimes. Full declarations: gc.pyi.