How are protected access level methods declared and used in Python?

Python does not have strict access levels like some other languages, but there are conventions for indicating protected methods and attributes.

To denote protected members, a single underscore is used at the beginning of the name, for example:

class MyClass:
    def _protected_method(self):
        print("This is a protected method")

This does not prevent access from outside, but signals to other developers that this method is intended for internal use within the class and its subclasses.

Thus, protected in Python is more of an agreement than a language mechanism.