lsst::afw::image::detail contains 4 functions plus a few typedefs and such that are not relevant to python. SWIG wrapped those functions in namespace lsst.afw.image, which made them look like part of our API. This was likely done for convenience, since it is extra work to add another namespace for wrapped code.

Of the 4 functions, one is presently being used by jointcal (a usage which will be easier to eliminate once bbox is part of ExposureInfo), one is not used and 2 or 3 have unit tests.

For now we have emulated that in pybind11, e.g. in DM-7801. However, we should go back and improve this. My proposal is to emulate the C++ and expose the functions in lsst.afw.image.detail (in which case one would have to explicitly import that namespace to use it). This has the advantage of being easiest to explain to users while still trivially allowing the functions to be unit tested. Others have proposed hiding the symbols more deeply, e.g. by moving the wrappers to the test directory, so that the functions cannot be used anywhere else. Another option is to wrap using a leading underscore (with or without moving it down to the detail sub-namespace). This would make the symbol much harder to get to, since it would not be brought in by from imageLib import *. Again, though, I suggest we just emulate the C++. It's simple and clearly abuse has been quite limited even with no hints that the code is not part of the API.