From f3ec4fe23a72e356e06fd482271cf3b717956c1e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Max Jones <14077947+maxrjones@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2026 03:32:10 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] docs: say save/save_array/save_group write to a store, not
 the local file system

The three docstrings, inherited from Zarr 2, opened with "to the local
file system". The functions take a StoreLike and a storage_options
argument, and work with every store the library supports. The wording
was being read as a design limitation of the functions (see the
discussion in #3976), which it is not.
---
 changes/4520.doc.md          | 1 +
 src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py | 6 +++---
 src/zarr/api/synchronous.py  | 6 +++---
 3 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 changes/4520.doc.md

diff --git a/changes/4520.doc.md b/changes/4520.doc.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c3ad1a06d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/4520.doc.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Correct the docstrings of `zarr.save`, `zarr.save_array` and `zarr.save_group` to say the functions write to any store. Previously the docstrings stated the functions wrote to only the local file system, which was inaccurate.
diff --git a/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py b/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
index 5725b3d13a..39e7cdd9d4 100644
--- a/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
+++ b/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ async def save(
     storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: Any,  # TODO: type kwargs as valid args to save
 ) -> None:
-    """Convenience function to save an array or group of arrays to the local file system.
+    """Convenience function to save an array or group of arrays to a store.
 
     Parameters
     ----------
@@ -504,7 +504,7 @@ async def save_array(
     storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: Any,  # TODO: type kwargs as valid args to create
 ) -> None:
-    """Convenience function to save a NumPy array to the local file system, following a
+    """Convenience function to save a NumPy array to a store, following a
     similar API to the NumPy save() function.
 
     Parameters
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ async def save_group(
     storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: NDArrayLike,
 ) -> None:
-    """Convenience function to save several NumPy arrays to the local file system, following a
+    """Convenience function to save several NumPy arrays to a store, following a
     similar API to the NumPy savez()/savez_compressed() functions.
 
     Parameters
diff --git a/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py b/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
index 524f719742..b383085bda 100644
--- a/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
+++ b/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ def save(
     storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: Any,  # TODO: type kwargs as valid args to async_api.save
 ) -> None:
-    """Save an array or group of arrays to the local file system.
+    """Save an array or group of arrays to a store.
 
     Parameters
     ----------
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ def save_array(
     storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: Any,  # TODO: type kwargs as valid args to async_api.save_array
 ) -> None:
-    """Save a NumPy array to the local file system.
+    """Save a NumPy array to a store.
 
     Follows a similar API to the NumPy save() function.
 
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ def save_group(
     storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: NDArrayLike,
 ) -> None:
-    """Save several NumPy arrays to the local file system.
+    """Save several NumPy arrays to a store.
 
     Follows a similar API to the NumPy savez()/savez_compressed() functions.