A Node.js style checker and lint tool for Markdown/CommonMark files.
npm install markdownlint --save-dev
The Markdown markup language is designed to be easy to read, write, and understand. It succeeds - and its flexibility is both a benefit and a drawback. Many styles are possible, so formatting can be inconsistent; some constructs don't work well in all parsers and should be avoided.
markdownlint is a static analysis tool for
Node.js with a library of rules to enforce standards and consistency
for Markdown files. It was inspired by - and heavily influenced by - Mark
Harrison's markdownlint for Ruby. The initial rules, rule
documentation, and test cases came from that project.
markdownlint uses the micromark parser and honors the
CommonMark specification for Markdown. It additionally supports
popular GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) syntax like autolinks and tables
as well as directives, footnotes, and math syntax - all implemented by
micromark extensions. (Note that inline directives are
not supported to avoid confusion due to over-matching.)
The following specifications are considered authoritative in cases of ambiguity:
markdownlint demo, an interactive, in-browser
playground for learning and exploring.
See Rules.md for more details.
In addition to built-in rules, custom rules can be used to address
project-specific requirements. To find community-developed rules use
keyword markdownlint-rule on npm.
To implement your own rules, refer to CustomRules.md.
Tags group related rules and can be used to enable/disable multiple rules at once.
accessibility - MD045, MD059atx - MD018, MD019atx_closed - MD020, MD021blank_lines - MD012, MD022, MD031, MD032, MD047blockquote - MD027, MD028bullet - MD004, MD005, MD007, MD032code - MD014, MD031, MD038, MD040, MD046, MD048emphasis - MD036, MD037, MD049, MD050hard_tab - MD010headings - MD001, MD003, MD018, MD019, MD020, MD021,
MD022, MD023, MD024, MD025, MD026, MD036, MD041, MD043hr - MD035html - MD033images - MD045, MD052, MD053, MD054indentation - MD005, MD007, MD027language - MD040line_length - MD013links - MD011, MD034, MD039, MD042, MD051, MD052, MD053,
MD054, MD059ol - MD029, MD030, MD032spaces - MD018, MD019, MD020, MD021, MD023spelling - MD044table - MD055, MD056, MD058, MD060ul - MD004, MD005, MD007, MD030, MD032url - MD034whitespace - MD009, MD010, MD012, MD027, MD028, MD030,
MD037, MD038, MD039Text passed to markdownlint is parsed as Markdown, analyzed, and any
issues reported. Two kinds of text are ignored by most rules:
options.frontMatter below)All rules are enabled by default. Rules can be enabled, disabled, and configured
for each call to the lint API by passing an options.config object (described
below). To enable or disable rules within a file, use one of the following HTML
comments (which are not rendered):
<!-- markdownlint-disable --><!-- markdownlint-enable --><!-- markdownlint-disable-line --><!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line --><!-- markdownlint-disable MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-enable MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-disable-line MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-capture --><!-- markdownlint-restore -->For example:
<!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line no-space-in-emphasis -->
space * in * emphasis
Or:
space * in * emphasis <!-- markdownlint-disable-line no-space-in-emphasis -->
Or:
<!-- markdownlint-disable no-space-in-emphasis -->
space * in * emphasis
<!-- markdownlint-enable no-space-in-emphasis -->
To temporarily disable rule(s), then restore the former configuration:
<!-- markdownlint-capture -->
<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
any violations you want
<!-- markdownlint-restore -->
The initial configuration is captured by default (as if every document
began with <!-- markdownlint-capture -->), so the pattern above can
be expressed more simply:
<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
any violations you want
<!-- markdownlint-restore -->
Changes take effect starting with the line a comment is on, so the following has no effect:
space * in * emphasis <!-- markdownlint-disable --> <!-- markdownlint-enable -->
To apply changes to an entire file regardless of where the comment is located, the following syntax is supported:
<!-- markdownlint-disable-file --><!-- markdownlint-enable-file --><!-- markdownlint-disable-file MD001 --><!-- markdownlint-enable-file MD001 -->This can be used to "hide" markdownlint comments at the bottom of a file.
In cases where it is desirable to change the configuration of one or more rules for a file, the following more advanced syntax is supported:
<!-- markdownlint-configure-file { options.config JSON } -->For example:
<!-- markdownlint-configure-file { "hr-style": { "style": "---" } } -->
or
<!-- markdownlint-configure-file
{
"hr-style": {
"style": "---"
},
"no-trailing-spaces": false
}
-->
These changes apply to the entire file regardless of where the comment is
located. Multiple such comments (if present) are applied top-to-bottom. By
default, content of markdownlint-configure-file is assumed to be JSON, but
options.configParsers can be used to support
alternate formats.
Asynchronous API via import { lint } from "markdownlint/async":
/**
* Lint specified Markdown files.
*
* @param {Options | null} options Configuration options.
* @param {LintCallback} callback Callback (err, result) function.
* @returns {void}
*/
function lint(options, callback) { ... }
Synchronous API via import { lint } from "markdownlint/sync":
/**
* Lint specified Markdown files.
*
* @param {Options | null} options Configuration options.
* @returns {LintResults} Results object.
*/
function lint(options) { ... }
Promise API via import { lint } from "markdownlint/promise":
/**
* Lint specified Markdown files.
*
* @param {Options | null} options Configuration options.
* @returns {Promise<LintResults>} Results object.
*/
function lint(options) { ... }
Type: Object
Configures the function. All properties are optional, but at least one
of files or strings should be set to provide input.
Type: Object mapping String to Boolean | "error" | "warning" | Object
Configures the rules to use.
Object keys are rule names/aliases; object values are the rule's configuration.
The value false disables a rule. The values true or "error" enable a rule
in its default configuration and report violations as errors. The value
"warning" enables a rule in its default configuration and reports violations
as warnings. Passing an object enables and customizes the rule; the properties
severity ("error" | "warning") and enabled (false | true) can be used in
this context. The special default rule assigns the default for all rules.
Using a tag name (e.g., whitespace) and a setting of false, true,
"error", or "warning" applies that setting to all rules with that tag. When
no configuration object is passed or the optional default setting is not
present, all rules are enabled.
The following syntax disables the specified rule, tag, or default:
{
"rule_tag_or_default": false
}
The following syntax enables the specified rule, tag, or default to report
violations as errors:
{
"rule_tag_or_default": true
// OR
"rule_tag_or_default": "error"
}
The following syntax enables the specified rule, tag, or default to report
violations as warnings:
{
"rule_tag_or_default": "warning"
}
The following syntax enables and configures the specified rule to report violations as errors:
{
"rule": {
"severity": "error"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"severity": "error",
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
}
The following syntax enables and configures the specified rule to report violations as warnings:
{
"rule": {
"severity": "warning"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"severity": "warning",
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
}
Note that values
"error"and"warning"and the propertyseverityare not supported by library versions earlier than0.39.0. However, the examples above behave the same there, with warnings being reported as errors.
The following syntax disables and configures the specified rule:
{
"rule": {
"enabled": false,
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"enabled": false,
"severity": "warning",
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
}
Note that this example behaves differently with library versions earlier than
0.39.0because the propertyenabledis not supported: it enables the rule instead of disabling it. As such, this syntax is discouraged when interoperability is important.
To evaluate a configuration object, the default setting is applied first, then
keys are processed in order from top to bottom. If multiple values apply to a
rule (because of tag names or duplication), later values override earlier ones.
Keys (including rule names, aliases, tags, or default) are not case-sensitive.
Example using default, rule names, and tag names together:
{
"default": true,
"MD003": { "style": "atx_closed" },
"MD007": { "indent": 4 },
"no-hard-tabs": false,
"whitespace": false
}
See .markdownlint.jsonc and/or .markdownlint.yaml for an example configuration object with all properties set to the default value.
Sets of rules (known as a "style") can be stored separately and loaded as JSON.
Example of referencing a built-in style from JavaScript:
const options = {
"files": [ "..." ],
"config": require("style/relaxed.json")
};
Example doing so from .markdownlint.json via extends (more on this below):
{
"extends": "markdownlint/style/relaxed"
}
See the style directory for more samples.
See markdownlint-config-schema.json
for the JSON Schema of the options.config
object.
See ValidatingConfiguration.md for ways to use the JSON Schema to validate configuration.
For more advanced scenarios, styles can reference and build upon other styles
via the extends keyword and a file path or (installed) package name. The
readConfig function can be used to read such aggregate styles from code.
For example, assuming a base.json configuration file:
{
"default": true
}
And a custom.json configuration file:
{
"extends": "base.json",
"line-length": false
}
Then code like the following:
const options = {
"config": markdownlint.readConfigSync("./custom.json")
};
Merges custom.json and base.json and is equivalent to:
const options = {
"config": {
"default": true,
"line-length": false
}
};
Type: Optional Array of Function taking (String) and returning Object
Array of functions to parse the content of markdownlint-configure-file blocks.
As shown in the Configuration section, inline comments can be
used to customize the configuration object for a document. By
default, the JSON.parse built-in is used, but custom parsers can be specified.
Content is passed to each parser function until one returns a value (vs.
throwing an exception). As such, strict parsers should come before flexible
ones.
For example:
[ JSON.parse, require("toml").parse, require("js-yaml").load ]
Type: Array of Object
List of custom rules to include with the default rule set for linting.
Each array element should define a rule. Rules are typically exported by another package, but can be defined locally.
Example:
const extraRules = require("extraRules");
const options = {
"customRules": [ extraRules.one, extraRules.two ]
};
See CustomRules.md for details about authoring custom rules.
Type: Array of String
List of files to lint.
Each array element should be a single file (via relative or absolute path); globbing is the caller's responsibility.
Example: [ "one.md", "dir/two.md" ]
Type: RegExp
Matches any front matter found at the beginning of a file.
Some Markdown content begins with metadata; the default RegExp for
this option ignores common forms of "front matter". To match differently,
specify a custom RegExp or use the value null to disable the feature.
The default value:
/((^---[^\S\r\n\u2028\u2029]*$[\s\S]+?^---\s*)|(^\+\+\+[^\S\r\n\u2028\u2029]*$[\s\S]+?^(\+\+\+|\.\.\.)\s*)|(^\{[^\S\r\n\u2028\u2029]*$[\s\S]+?^\}\s*))(\r\n|\r|\n|$)/m
Ignores YAML, TOML, and JSON front matter such as:
---
layout: post
title: Title
---
Note: Matches must occur at the start of the file.
Type: Object implementing the file system API
In advanced scenarios, it may be desirable to bypass the default file system
API. If a custom file system implementation is provided, markdownlint will use
that instead of using node:fs.
Note: The only methods called are readFile and readFileSync.
Type: Boolean
Catches exceptions thrown during rule processing and reports the problem as a rule violation.
By default, exceptions thrown by rules (or the library itself) are unhandled
and bubble up the stack to the caller in the conventional manner. By setting
handleRuleFailures to true, exceptions thrown by failing rules will
be handled by the library and the exception message logged as a rule violation.
This setting can be useful in the presence of (custom) rules that encounter
unexpected syntax and fail. By enabling this option, the linting process
is allowed to continue and report any violations that were found.
Type: Function returning an instance of a markdown-it parser
Provides a factory function for creating instances of the markdown-it parser.
Previous versions of the markdownlint library declared markdown-it as a
direct dependency. This function makes it possible to avoid that dependency
entirely. In cases where markdown-it is needed, the caller is responsible for
declaring the dependency and returning an instance from this factory. If any
markdown-it plugins are needed, they should be used by
the caller before returning the markdown-it instance.
For compatibility with previous versions of markdownlint, this function should
be similar to:
import markdownIt from "markdown-it";
const markdownItFactory = () => markdownIt({ "html": true });
When an asynchronous implementation of lint is being invoked (e.g., via
markdownlint/async or markdownlint/promise), this function can return a
Promise in order to defer the import of markdown-it:
const markdownItFactory = () => import("markdown-it").then((module) => module.default({ "html": true }));
Note that this function is only invoked when a
markdown-itparser is needed. None of the built-in rules use themarkdown-itparser, so it is only invoked when one or more custom rules are present that use themarkdown-itparser.
Type: Boolean
Disables the use of HTML comments like <!-- markdownlint-enable --> to toggle
rules within the body of Markdown content.
By default, properly-formatted inline comments can be used to create exceptions
for parts of a document. Setting noInlineConfig to true ignores all such
comments.
Type: Object mapping String to String
Map of identifiers to strings for linting.
When Markdown content is not available as files, it can be passed as
strings. The keys of the strings object are used to identify each
input value in the result summary.
Example:
{
"readme": "# README\n...",
"changelog": "# CHANGELOG\n..."
}
Type: Function taking (Error, Object)
Standard completion callback.
Type: Object
Map of input file names and string identifiers to issues within.
See the Usage section for an example of the structure of this object.
The options.config configuration object is simple and can be stored in a file
for readability and easy reuse. The readConfig function loads configuration
settings and supports the extends keyword for referencing files or packages
(see above).
By default, configuration files are parsed as JSON (and named
.markdownlint.json). Custom parsers can be provided to handle other formats
like JSONC, YAML, and TOML.
Asynchronous API via import { readConfig } from "markdownlint/async":
/**
* Read specified configuration file.
*
* @param {string} file Configuration file name.
* @param {ConfigurationParser[] | ReadConfigCallback} [parsers] Parsing function(s).
* @param {Object} [fs] File system implementation.
* @param {ReadConfigCallback} [callback] Callback (err, result) function.
* @returns {void}
*/
function readConfig(file, parsers, fs, callback) { ... }
Synchronous API via import { readConfig } from "markdownlint/sync":
/**
* Read specified configuration file.
*
* @param {string} file Configuration file name.
* @param {ConfigurationParser[]} [parsers] Parsing function(s).
* @param {Object} [fs] File system implementation.
* @returns {Configuration} Configuration object.
*/
function readConfig(file, parsers, fs) { ... }
Promise API via import { readConfig } from "markdownlint/promise":
/**
* Read specified configuration file.
*
* @param {string} file Configuration file name.
* @param {ConfigurationParser[]} [parsers] Parsing function(s).
* @param {Object} [fs] File system implementation.
* @returns {Promise<Configuration>} Configuration object.
*/
function readConfig(file, parsers, fs) { ... }
Type: String
Location of configuration file to read.
The file is resolved relative to the current working directory. If an
extends key is present once read, its value will be resolved as a path
relative to file and loaded recursively. Settings from a file referenced by
extends are applied first, then those of file are applied on top (overriding
any of the same keys appearing in the referenced file). If either the file or
extends path begins with the ~ directory, it will act as a placeholder for
the home directory.
Type: Optional Array of Function taking (String) and returning Object
Array of functions to parse configuration files.
The contents of a configuration file are passed to each parser function until one of them returns a value (vs. throwing an exception). Consequently, strict parsers should come before flexible parsers.
For example:
[ JSON.parse, require("toml").parse, require("js-yaml").load ]
Type: Optional Object implementing the file system API
In advanced scenarios, it may be desirable to bypass the default file system
API. If a custom file system implementation is provided, markdownlint will use
that instead of invoking node:fs.
Note: The only methods called are readFile, readFileSync, access, and
accessSync.
Type: Function taking (Error, Object)
Standard completion callback.
Type: Object
Configuration object.
Rules that can be fixed automatically include a fixInfo property which is
outlined in the documentation for custom rules.
To apply fixes consistently, the applyFix/applyFixes methods may be used via
import { applyFix, applyFixes } from "markdownlint":
/**
* Applies the specified fix to a Markdown content line.
*
* @param {string} line Line of Markdown content.
* @param {RuleOnErrorFixInfo} fixInfo RuleOnErrorFixInfo instance.
* @param {string} [lineEnding] Line ending to use.
* @returns {string | null} Fixed content or null if deleted.
*/
function applyFix(line, fixInfo, lineEnding = "\n") { ... }
/**
* Applies as many of the specified fixes as possible to Markdown content.
*
* @param {string} input Lines of Markdown content.
* @param {RuleOnErrorInfo[]} errors RuleOnErrorInfo instances.
* @returns {string} Fixed content.
*/
function applyFixes(input, errors) { ... }
Invoking applyFixes with the results of a call to lint can be done like so:
import { applyFixes } from "markdownlint";
import { lint as lintSync } from "markdownlint/sync";
const results = lintSync({ "strings": { "content": original } });
const fixed = applyFixes(original, results.content);
To get the semantic version of the library, the getVersion method
can be used:
/**
* Gets the (semantic) version of the library.
*
* @returns {string} SemVer string.
*/
function getVersion() { ... }
Invoking getVersion is simple:
import { getVersion } from "markdownlint";
// Displays the library version
console.log(getVersion());
Invoke lint as an asynchronous call:
import { lint as lintAsync } from "markdownlint/async";
const options = {
"files": [ "good.md", "bad.md" ],
"strings": {
"good.string": "# good.string\n\nThis string passes all rules.",
"bad.string": "#bad.string\n\n#This string fails\tsome rules."
}
};
lintAsync(options, function callback(error, results) {
if (!error && results) {
console.dir(results, { "colors": true, "depth": null });
}
});
Or as a synchronous call:
import { lint as lintSync } from "markdownlint/sync";
const results = lintSync(options);
console.dir(results, { "colors": true, "depth": null });
Or as a Promise-based call:
import { lint as lintPromise } from "markdownlint/promise";
const results = await lintPromise(options);
console.dir(results, { "colors": true, "depth": null });
All of which return an object like:
{
"good.md": [],
"bad.md": [
{ "lineNumber": 3,
"ruleNames": [ "MD010", "no-hard-tabs" ],
"ruleDescription": "Hard tabs",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md010.md",
"errorDetail": "Column: 17",
"errorContext": null,
"errorRange": [ 17, 1 ],
"fixInfo": { "editColumn": 17, "deleteCount": 1, "insertText": " " },
"severity": "error" },
{ "lineNumber": 1,
"ruleNames": [ "MD018", "no-missing-space-atx" ],
"ruleDescription": "No space after hash on atx style heading",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md018.md",
"errorDetail": null,
"errorContext": "#bad.md",
"errorRange": [ 1, 2 ],
"fixInfo": { "editColumn": 2, "insertText": " " },
"severity": "error" },
{ "lineNumber": 3,
"ruleNames": [ "MD018", "no-missing-space-atx" ],
"ruleDescription": "No space after hash on atx style heading",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md018.md",
"errorDetail": null,
"errorContext": "#This file fails\tsome rules.",
"errorRange": [ 1, 2 ],
"fixInfo": { "editColumn": 2, "insertText": " " },
"severity": "error" },
{ "lineNumber": 1,
"ruleNames": [ "MD041", "first-line-heading", "first-line-h1" ],
"ruleDescription": "First line in a file should be a top-level heading",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md041.md",
"errorDetail": null,
"errorContext": "#bad.md",
"errorRange": null,
"fixInfo": null,
"severity": "error" }
]
}
markdownlint also works in the browser.
Generate normal and minified scripts with:
npm run build-demo
Then reference the markdownlint-browser script:
<script src="demo/markdownlint-browser.min.js"></script>
And call it like so:
const options = {
"strings": {
"content": "Some Markdown to lint."
}
};
const results = globalThis.markdownlint.lintSync(options);
For ideas how to integrate markdownlint into your workflow, refer to the
following projects or one of the tools in the Related section:
For more advanced integration scenarios:
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more information.
See ReleaseProcess.md for more information.
See CHANGELOG.md.
(top 30 of 57)
JavaScript
93.4%
TypeScript
6.6%
A Node.js style checker and lint tool for Markdown/CommonMark files.
npm install markdownlint --save-dev
The Markdown markup language is designed to be easy to read, write, and understand. It succeeds - and its flexibility is both a benefit and a drawback. Many styles are possible, so formatting can be inconsistent; some constructs don't work well in all parsers and should be avoided.
markdownlint is a static analysis tool for
Node.js with a library of rules to enforce standards and consistency
for Markdown files. It was inspired by - and heavily influenced by - Mark
Harrison's markdownlint for Ruby. The initial rules, rule
documentation, and test cases came from that project.
markdownlint uses the micromark parser and honors the
CommonMark specification for Markdown. It additionally supports
popular GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) syntax like autolinks and tables
as well as directives, footnotes, and math syntax - all implemented by
micromark extensions. (Note that inline directives are
not supported to avoid confusion due to over-matching.)
The following specifications are considered authoritative in cases of ambiguity:
markdownlint demo, an interactive, in-browser
playground for learning and exploring.
See Rules.md for more details.
In addition to built-in rules, custom rules can be used to address
project-specific requirements. To find community-developed rules use
keyword markdownlint-rule on npm.
To implement your own rules, refer to CustomRules.md.
Tags group related rules and can be used to enable/disable multiple rules at once.
accessibility - MD045, MD059atx - MD018, MD019atx_closed - MD020, MD021blank_lines - MD012, MD022, MD031, MD032, MD047blockquote - MD027, MD028bullet - MD004, MD005, MD007, MD032code - MD014, MD031, MD038, MD040, MD046, MD048emphasis - MD036, MD037, MD049, MD050hard_tab - MD010headings - MD001, MD003, MD018, MD019, MD020, MD021,
MD022, MD023, MD024, MD025, MD026, MD036, MD041, MD043hr - MD035html - MD033images - MD045, MD052, MD053, MD054indentation - MD005, MD007, MD027language - MD040line_length - MD013links - MD011, MD034, MD039, MD042, MD051, MD052, MD053,
MD054, MD059ol - MD029, MD030, MD032spaces - MD018, MD019, MD020, MD021, MD023spelling - MD044table - MD055, MD056, MD058, MD060ul - MD004, MD005, MD007, MD030, MD032url - MD034whitespace - MD009, MD010, MD012, MD027, MD028, MD030,
MD037, MD038, MD039Text passed to markdownlint is parsed as Markdown, analyzed, and any
issues reported. Two kinds of text are ignored by most rules:
options.frontMatter below)All rules are enabled by default. Rules can be enabled, disabled, and configured
for each call to the lint API by passing an options.config object (described
below). To enable or disable rules within a file, use one of the following HTML
comments (which are not rendered):
<!-- markdownlint-disable --><!-- markdownlint-enable --><!-- markdownlint-disable-line --><!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line --><!-- markdownlint-disable MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-enable MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-disable-line MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line MD001 MD005 --><!-- markdownlint-capture --><!-- markdownlint-restore -->For example:
<!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line no-space-in-emphasis -->
space * in * emphasis
Or:
space * in * emphasis <!-- markdownlint-disable-line no-space-in-emphasis -->
Or:
<!-- markdownlint-disable no-space-in-emphasis -->
space * in * emphasis
<!-- markdownlint-enable no-space-in-emphasis -->
To temporarily disable rule(s), then restore the former configuration:
<!-- markdownlint-capture -->
<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
any violations you want
<!-- markdownlint-restore -->
The initial configuration is captured by default (as if every document
began with <!-- markdownlint-capture -->), so the pattern above can
be expressed more simply:
<!-- markdownlint-disable -->
any violations you want
<!-- markdownlint-restore -->
Changes take effect starting with the line a comment is on, so the following has no effect:
space * in * emphasis <!-- markdownlint-disable --> <!-- markdownlint-enable -->
To apply changes to an entire file regardless of where the comment is located, the following syntax is supported:
<!-- markdownlint-disable-file --><!-- markdownlint-enable-file --><!-- markdownlint-disable-file MD001 --><!-- markdownlint-enable-file MD001 -->This can be used to "hide" markdownlint comments at the bottom of a file.
In cases where it is desirable to change the configuration of one or more rules for a file, the following more advanced syntax is supported:
<!-- markdownlint-configure-file { options.config JSON } -->For example:
<!-- markdownlint-configure-file { "hr-style": { "style": "---" } } -->
or
<!-- markdownlint-configure-file
{
"hr-style": {
"style": "---"
},
"no-trailing-spaces": false
}
-->
These changes apply to the entire file regardless of where the comment is
located. Multiple such comments (if present) are applied top-to-bottom. By
default, content of markdownlint-configure-file is assumed to be JSON, but
options.configParsers can be used to support
alternate formats.
Asynchronous API via import { lint } from "markdownlint/async":
/**
* Lint specified Markdown files.
*
* @param {Options | null} options Configuration options.
* @param {LintCallback} callback Callback (err, result) function.
* @returns {void}
*/
function lint(options, callback) { ... }
Synchronous API via import { lint } from "markdownlint/sync":
/**
* Lint specified Markdown files.
*
* @param {Options | null} options Configuration options.
* @returns {LintResults} Results object.
*/
function lint(options) { ... }
Promise API via import { lint } from "markdownlint/promise":
/**
* Lint specified Markdown files.
*
* @param {Options | null} options Configuration options.
* @returns {Promise<LintResults>} Results object.
*/
function lint(options) { ... }
Type: Object
Configures the function. All properties are optional, but at least one
of files or strings should be set to provide input.
Type: Object mapping String to Boolean | "error" | "warning" | Object
Configures the rules to use.
Object keys are rule names/aliases; object values are the rule's configuration.
The value false disables a rule. The values true or "error" enable a rule
in its default configuration and report violations as errors. The value
"warning" enables a rule in its default configuration and reports violations
as warnings. Passing an object enables and customizes the rule; the properties
severity ("error" | "warning") and enabled (false | true) can be used in
this context. The special default rule assigns the default for all rules.
Using a tag name (e.g., whitespace) and a setting of false, true,
"error", or "warning" applies that setting to all rules with that tag. When
no configuration object is passed or the optional default setting is not
present, all rules are enabled.
The following syntax disables the specified rule, tag, or default:
{
"rule_tag_or_default": false
}
The following syntax enables the specified rule, tag, or default to report
violations as errors:
{
"rule_tag_or_default": true
// OR
"rule_tag_or_default": "error"
}
The following syntax enables the specified rule, tag, or default to report
violations as warnings:
{
"rule_tag_or_default": "warning"
}
The following syntax enables and configures the specified rule to report violations as errors:
{
"rule": {
"severity": "error"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"severity": "error",
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
}
The following syntax enables and configures the specified rule to report violations as warnings:
{
"rule": {
"severity": "warning"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"severity": "warning",
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
}
Note that values
"error"and"warning"and the propertyseverityare not supported by library versions earlier than0.39.0. However, the examples above behave the same there, with warnings being reported as errors.
The following syntax disables and configures the specified rule:
{
"rule": {
"enabled": false,
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
// OR
"rule": {
"enabled": false,
"severity": "warning",
"rule_parameter": "value"
}
}
Note that this example behaves differently with library versions earlier than
0.39.0because the propertyenabledis not supported: it enables the rule instead of disabling it. As such, this syntax is discouraged when interoperability is important.
To evaluate a configuration object, the default setting is applied first, then
keys are processed in order from top to bottom. If multiple values apply to a
rule (because of tag names or duplication), later values override earlier ones.
Keys (including rule names, aliases, tags, or default) are not case-sensitive.
Example using default, rule names, and tag names together:
{
"default": true,
"MD003": { "style": "atx_closed" },
"MD007": { "indent": 4 },
"no-hard-tabs": false,
"whitespace": false
}
See .markdownlint.jsonc and/or .markdownlint.yaml for an example configuration object with all properties set to the default value.
Sets of rules (known as a "style") can be stored separately and loaded as JSON.
Example of referencing a built-in style from JavaScript:
const options = {
"files": [ "..." ],
"config": require("style/relaxed.json")
};
Example doing so from .markdownlint.json via extends (more on this below):
{
"extends": "markdownlint/style/relaxed"
}
See the style directory for more samples.
See markdownlint-config-schema.json
for the JSON Schema of the options.config
object.
See ValidatingConfiguration.md for ways to use the JSON Schema to validate configuration.
For more advanced scenarios, styles can reference and build upon other styles
via the extends keyword and a file path or (installed) package name. The
readConfig function can be used to read such aggregate styles from code.
For example, assuming a base.json configuration file:
{
"default": true
}
And a custom.json configuration file:
{
"extends": "base.json",
"line-length": false
}
Then code like the following:
const options = {
"config": markdownlint.readConfigSync("./custom.json")
};
Merges custom.json and base.json and is equivalent to:
const options = {
"config": {
"default": true,
"line-length": false
}
};
Type: Optional Array of Function taking (String) and returning Object
Array of functions to parse the content of markdownlint-configure-file blocks.
As shown in the Configuration section, inline comments can be
used to customize the configuration object for a document. By
default, the JSON.parse built-in is used, but custom parsers can be specified.
Content is passed to each parser function until one returns a value (vs.
throwing an exception). As such, strict parsers should come before flexible
ones.
For example:
[ JSON.parse, require("toml").parse, require("js-yaml").load ]
Type: Array of Object
List of custom rules to include with the default rule set for linting.
Each array element should define a rule. Rules are typically exported by another package, but can be defined locally.
Example:
const extraRules = require("extraRules");
const options = {
"customRules": [ extraRules.one, extraRules.two ]
};
See CustomRules.md for details about authoring custom rules.
Type: Array of String
List of files to lint.
Each array element should be a single file (via relative or absolute path); globbing is the caller's responsibility.
Example: [ "one.md", "dir/two.md" ]
Type: RegExp
Matches any front matter found at the beginning of a file.
Some Markdown content begins with metadata; the default RegExp for
this option ignores common forms of "front matter". To match differently,
specify a custom RegExp or use the value null to disable the feature.
The default value:
/((^---[^\S\r\n\u2028\u2029]*$[\s\S]+?^---\s*)|(^\+\+\+[^\S\r\n\u2028\u2029]*$[\s\S]+?^(\+\+\+|\.\.\.)\s*)|(^\{[^\S\r\n\u2028\u2029]*$[\s\S]+?^\}\s*))(\r\n|\r|\n|$)/m
Ignores YAML, TOML, and JSON front matter such as:
---
layout: post
title: Title
---
Note: Matches must occur at the start of the file.
Type: Object implementing the file system API
In advanced scenarios, it may be desirable to bypass the default file system
API. If a custom file system implementation is provided, markdownlint will use
that instead of using node:fs.
Note: The only methods called are readFile and readFileSync.
Type: Boolean
Catches exceptions thrown during rule processing and reports the problem as a rule violation.
By default, exceptions thrown by rules (or the library itself) are unhandled
and bubble up the stack to the caller in the conventional manner. By setting
handleRuleFailures to true, exceptions thrown by failing rules will
be handled by the library and the exception message logged as a rule violation.
This setting can be useful in the presence of (custom) rules that encounter
unexpected syntax and fail. By enabling this option, the linting process
is allowed to continue and report any violations that were found.
Type: Function returning an instance of a markdown-it parser
Provides a factory function for creating instances of the markdown-it parser.
Previous versions of the markdownlint library declared markdown-it as a
direct dependency. This function makes it possible to avoid that dependency
entirely. In cases where markdown-it is needed, the caller is responsible for
declaring the dependency and returning an instance from this factory. If any
markdown-it plugins are needed, they should be used by
the caller before returning the markdown-it instance.
For compatibility with previous versions of markdownlint, this function should
be similar to:
import markdownIt from "markdown-it";
const markdownItFactory = () => markdownIt({ "html": true });
When an asynchronous implementation of lint is being invoked (e.g., via
markdownlint/async or markdownlint/promise), this function can return a
Promise in order to defer the import of markdown-it:
const markdownItFactory = () => import("markdown-it").then((module) => module.default({ "html": true }));
Note that this function is only invoked when a
markdown-itparser is needed. None of the built-in rules use themarkdown-itparser, so it is only invoked when one or more custom rules are present that use themarkdown-itparser.
Type: Boolean
Disables the use of HTML comments like <!-- markdownlint-enable --> to toggle
rules within the body of Markdown content.
By default, properly-formatted inline comments can be used to create exceptions
for parts of a document. Setting noInlineConfig to true ignores all such
comments.
Type: Object mapping String to String
Map of identifiers to strings for linting.
When Markdown content is not available as files, it can be passed as
strings. The keys of the strings object are used to identify each
input value in the result summary.
Example:
{
"readme": "# README\n...",
"changelog": "# CHANGELOG\n..."
}
Type: Function taking (Error, Object)
Standard completion callback.
Type: Object
Map of input file names and string identifiers to issues within.
See the Usage section for an example of the structure of this object.
The options.config configuration object is simple and can be stored in a file
for readability and easy reuse. The readConfig function loads configuration
settings and supports the extends keyword for referencing files or packages
(see above).
By default, configuration files are parsed as JSON (and named
.markdownlint.json). Custom parsers can be provided to handle other formats
like JSONC, YAML, and TOML.
Asynchronous API via import { readConfig } from "markdownlint/async":
/**
* Read specified configuration file.
*
* @param {string} file Configuration file name.
* @param {ConfigurationParser[] | ReadConfigCallback} [parsers] Parsing function(s).
* @param {Object} [fs] File system implementation.
* @param {ReadConfigCallback} [callback] Callback (err, result) function.
* @returns {void}
*/
function readConfig(file, parsers, fs, callback) { ... }
Synchronous API via import { readConfig } from "markdownlint/sync":
/**
* Read specified configuration file.
*
* @param {string} file Configuration file name.
* @param {ConfigurationParser[]} [parsers] Parsing function(s).
* @param {Object} [fs] File system implementation.
* @returns {Configuration} Configuration object.
*/
function readConfig(file, parsers, fs) { ... }
Promise API via import { readConfig } from "markdownlint/promise":
/**
* Read specified configuration file.
*
* @param {string} file Configuration file name.
* @param {ConfigurationParser[]} [parsers] Parsing function(s).
* @param {Object} [fs] File system implementation.
* @returns {Promise<Configuration>} Configuration object.
*/
function readConfig(file, parsers, fs) { ... }
Type: String
Location of configuration file to read.
The file is resolved relative to the current working directory. If an
extends key is present once read, its value will be resolved as a path
relative to file and loaded recursively. Settings from a file referenced by
extends are applied first, then those of file are applied on top (overriding
any of the same keys appearing in the referenced file). If either the file or
extends path begins with the ~ directory, it will act as a placeholder for
the home directory.
Type: Optional Array of Function taking (String) and returning Object
Array of functions to parse configuration files.
The contents of a configuration file are passed to each parser function until one of them returns a value (vs. throwing an exception). Consequently, strict parsers should come before flexible parsers.
For example:
[ JSON.parse, require("toml").parse, require("js-yaml").load ]
Type: Optional Object implementing the file system API
In advanced scenarios, it may be desirable to bypass the default file system
API. If a custom file system implementation is provided, markdownlint will use
that instead of invoking node:fs.
Note: The only methods called are readFile, readFileSync, access, and
accessSync.
Type: Function taking (Error, Object)
Standard completion callback.
Type: Object
Configuration object.
Rules that can be fixed automatically include a fixInfo property which is
outlined in the documentation for custom rules.
To apply fixes consistently, the applyFix/applyFixes methods may be used via
import { applyFix, applyFixes } from "markdownlint":
/**
* Applies the specified fix to a Markdown content line.
*
* @param {string} line Line of Markdown content.
* @param {RuleOnErrorFixInfo} fixInfo RuleOnErrorFixInfo instance.
* @param {string} [lineEnding] Line ending to use.
* @returns {string | null} Fixed content or null if deleted.
*/
function applyFix(line, fixInfo, lineEnding = "\n") { ... }
/**
* Applies as many of the specified fixes as possible to Markdown content.
*
* @param {string} input Lines of Markdown content.
* @param {RuleOnErrorInfo[]} errors RuleOnErrorInfo instances.
* @returns {string} Fixed content.
*/
function applyFixes(input, errors) { ... }
Invoking applyFixes with the results of a call to lint can be done like so:
import { applyFixes } from "markdownlint";
import { lint as lintSync } from "markdownlint/sync";
const results = lintSync({ "strings": { "content": original } });
const fixed = applyFixes(original, results.content);
To get the semantic version of the library, the getVersion method
can be used:
/**
* Gets the (semantic) version of the library.
*
* @returns {string} SemVer string.
*/
function getVersion() { ... }
Invoking getVersion is simple:
import { getVersion } from "markdownlint";
// Displays the library version
console.log(getVersion());
Invoke lint as an asynchronous call:
import { lint as lintAsync } from "markdownlint/async";
const options = {
"files": [ "good.md", "bad.md" ],
"strings": {
"good.string": "# good.string\n\nThis string passes all rules.",
"bad.string": "#bad.string\n\n#This string fails\tsome rules."
}
};
lintAsync(options, function callback(error, results) {
if (!error && results) {
console.dir(results, { "colors": true, "depth": null });
}
});
Or as a synchronous call:
import { lint as lintSync } from "markdownlint/sync";
const results = lintSync(options);
console.dir(results, { "colors": true, "depth": null });
Or as a Promise-based call:
import { lint as lintPromise } from "markdownlint/promise";
const results = await lintPromise(options);
console.dir(results, { "colors": true, "depth": null });
All of which return an object like:
{
"good.md": [],
"bad.md": [
{ "lineNumber": 3,
"ruleNames": [ "MD010", "no-hard-tabs" ],
"ruleDescription": "Hard tabs",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md010.md",
"errorDetail": "Column: 17",
"errorContext": null,
"errorRange": [ 17, 1 ],
"fixInfo": { "editColumn": 17, "deleteCount": 1, "insertText": " " },
"severity": "error" },
{ "lineNumber": 1,
"ruleNames": [ "MD018", "no-missing-space-atx" ],
"ruleDescription": "No space after hash on atx style heading",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md018.md",
"errorDetail": null,
"errorContext": "#bad.md",
"errorRange": [ 1, 2 ],
"fixInfo": { "editColumn": 2, "insertText": " " },
"severity": "error" },
{ "lineNumber": 3,
"ruleNames": [ "MD018", "no-missing-space-atx" ],
"ruleDescription": "No space after hash on atx style heading",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md018.md",
"errorDetail": null,
"errorContext": "#This file fails\tsome rules.",
"errorRange": [ 1, 2 ],
"fixInfo": { "editColumn": 2, "insertText": " " },
"severity": "error" },
{ "lineNumber": 1,
"ruleNames": [ "MD041", "first-line-heading", "first-line-h1" ],
"ruleDescription": "First line in a file should be a top-level heading",
"ruleInformation": "https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.41.1/doc/md041.md",
"errorDetail": null,
"errorContext": "#bad.md",
"errorRange": null,
"fixInfo": null,
"severity": "error" }
]
}
markdownlint also works in the browser.
Generate normal and minified scripts with:
npm run build-demo
Then reference the markdownlint-browser script:
<script src="demo/markdownlint-browser.min.js"></script>
And call it like so:
const options = {
"strings": {
"content": "Some Markdown to lint."
}
};
const results = globalThis.markdownlint.lintSync(options);
For ideas how to integrate markdownlint into your workflow, refer to the
following projects or one of the tools in the Related section:
For more advanced integration scenarios:
See CONTRIBUTING.md for more information.
See ReleaseProcess.md for more information.
See CHANGELOG.md.
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