MD009 - Trailing spaces

Tags: whitespace

Aliases: no-trailing-spaces

Parameters: br_spaces (number; default: 0)

This rule is triggered on any lines that end with whitespace. To fix this, find the line that is triggered and remove any trailing spaces from the end.

The brspaces parameter allows an exception to this rule for a specific amount of trailing spaces used to insert an explicit line break/br element. For example, set brspaces to 2 to allow exactly 2 spaces at the end of a line.

Note: you have to set brspaces to 2 or higher for this exception to take effect - you can't insert a br element with just a single trailing space, so if you set brspaces to 1, the exception will be disabled, just as if it was set to the default of 0.

MD031 - Fenced code blocks should be surrounded by blank lines

Tags: code, blank_lines

Aliases: blanks-around-fences

This rule is triggered when fenced code blocks are either not preceded or not followed by a blank line:

Some text
```
Code block
```

```
Another code block
```
Some more text

To fix this, ensure that all fenced code blocks have a blank line both before and after (except where the block is at the beginning or end of the document):

Some text

```
Code block
```

```
Another code block
```

Some more text

Rationale: Aside from aesthetic reasons, some parsers, including kramdown, will not parse fenced code blocks that don't have blank lines before and after them.

MD018 - No space after hash on atx style header

Tags: headers, atx, spaces

Aliases: no-missing-space-atx

This rule is triggered when spaces are missing after the hash characters in an atx style header:

#Header 1

##Header 2

To fix this, separate the header text from the hash character by a single space:

# Header 1

## Header 2

MD003 - Header style

Tags: headers

Aliases: header-style

Parameters: style ("consistent", "atx", "atxclosed", "setext", "setextwith_atx"; default "consistent")

This rule is triggered when different header styles (atx, setext, and 'closed' atx) are used in the same document:

# ATX style H1

## Closed ATX style H2 ##

Setext style H1
===============

Be consistent with the style of header used in a document:

# ATX style H1

## ATX style H2

The setextwithatx doc style allows atx-style headers of level 3 or more in documents with setext style headers:

Setext style H1
===============

Setext style H2
---------------

### ATX style H3

Note: the configured header style can be a specific style to use (atx, atxclosed, setext, setextwith_atx), or simply require that the usage be consistent within the document.

MD003 - Header style

Tags: headers

Aliases: header-style

Parameters: style ("consistent", "atx", "atxclosed", "setext", "setextwith_atx"; default "consistent")

This rule is triggered when different header styles (atx, setext, and 'closed' atx) are used in the same document:

# ATX style H1

## Closed ATX style H2 ##

Setext style H1
===============

Be consistent with the style of header used in a document:

# ATX style H1

## ATX style H2

The setextwithatx doc style allows atx-style headers of level 3 or more in documents with setext style headers:

Setext style H1
===============

Setext style H2
---------------

### ATX style H3

Note: the configured header style can be a specific style to use (atx, atxclosed, setext, setextwith_atx), or simply require that the usage be consistent within the document.

MD009 - Trailing spaces

Tags: whitespace

Aliases: no-trailing-spaces

Parameters: br_spaces (number; default: 0)

This rule is triggered on any lines that end with whitespace. To fix this, find the line that is triggered and remove any trailing spaces from the end.

The brspaces parameter allows an exception to this rule for a specific amount of trailing spaces used to insert an explicit line break/br element. For example, set brspaces to 2 to allow exactly 2 spaces at the end of a line.

Note: you have to set brspaces to 2 or higher for this exception to take effect - you can't insert a br element with just a single trailing space, so if you set brspaces to 1, the exception will be disabled, just as if it was set to the default of 0.

MD018 - No space after hash on atx style header

Tags: headers, atx, spaces

Aliases: no-missing-space-atx

This rule is triggered when spaces are missing after the hash characters in an atx style header:

#Header 1

##Header 2

To fix this, separate the header text from the hash character by a single space:

# Header 1

## Header 2

MD001 - Header levels should only increment by one level at a time

Tags: headers

Aliases: header-increment

This rule is triggered when you skip header levels in a markdown document, for example:

# Header 1

### Header 3

We skipped out a 2nd level header in this document

When using multiple header levels, nested headers should increase by only one level at a time:

# Header 1

## Header 2

### Header 3

#### Header 4

## Another Header 2

### Another Header 3

MD018 - No space after hash on atx style header

Tags: headers, atx, spaces

Aliases: no-missing-space-atx

This rule is triggered when spaces are missing after the hash characters in an atx style header:

#Header 1

##Header 2

To fix this, separate the header text from the hash character by a single space:

# Header 1

## Header 2

MD034 - Bare URL used

Tags: links, url

Aliases: no-bare-urls

This rule is triggered whenever a URL is given that isn't surrounded by angle brackets:

For more information, see http://www.example.com/.

To fix this, add angle brackets around the URL:

For more information, see <http:></http:>.

Rationale: Without angle brackets, the URL isn't converted into a link in many markdown parsers.

Note: if you do want a bare URL without it being converted into a link, enclose it in a code block, otherwise in some markdown parsers it will be converted:

`http://www.example.com`

MD012 - Multiple consecutive blank lines

Tags: whitespace, blank_lines

Aliases: no-multiple-blanks

This rule is triggered when there are multiple consecutive blank lines in the document:

Some text here


Some more text here

To fix this, delete the offending lines:

Some text here

Some more text here

Note: this rule will not be triggered if there are multiple consecutive blank lines inside code blocks.

MD022 - Headers should be surrounded by blank lines

Tags: headers, blank_lines

Aliases: blanks-around-headers

This rule is triggered when headers (any style) are either not preceded or not followed by a blank line:

# Header 1
Some text

Some more text
## Header 2

To fix this, ensure that all headers have a blank line both before and after (except where the header is at the beginning or end of the document):

# Header 1

Some text

Some more text

## Header 2

Rationale: Aside from aesthetic reasons, some parsers, including kramdown, will not parse headers that don't have a blank line before, and will parse them as regular text.

MD022 - Headers should be surrounded by blank lines

Tags: headers, blank_lines

Aliases: blanks-around-headers

This rule is triggered when headers (any style) are either not preceded or not followed by a blank line:

# Header 1
Some text

Some more text
## Header 2

To fix this, ensure that all headers have a blank line both before and after (except where the header is at the beginning or end of the document):

# Header 1

Some text

Some more text

## Header 2

Rationale: Aside from aesthetic reasons, some parsers, including kramdown, will not parse headers that don't have a blank line before, and will parse them as regular text.

MD009 - Trailing spaces

Tags: whitespace

Aliases: no-trailing-spaces

Parameters: br_spaces (number; default: 0)

This rule is triggered on any lines that end with whitespace. To fix this, find the line that is triggered and remove any trailing spaces from the end.

The brspaces parameter allows an exception to this rule for a specific amount of trailing spaces used to insert an explicit line break/br element. For example, set brspaces to 2 to allow exactly 2 spaces at the end of a line.

Note: you have to set brspaces to 2 or higher for this exception to take effect - you can't insert a br element with just a single trailing space, so if you set brspaces to 1, the exception will be disabled, just as if it was set to the default of 0.

MD025 - Multiple top level headers in the same document

Tags: headers

Aliases: single-h1

Parameters: level (number; default 1)

This rule is triggered when a top level header is in use (the first line of the file is a h1 header), and more than one h1 header is in use in the document:

# Top level header

# Another top level header

To fix, structure your document so that there is a single h1 header that is the title for the document, and all later headers are h2 or lower level headers:

# Title

## Header

## Another header

Rationale: A top level header is a h1 on the first line of the file, and serves as the title for the document. If this convention is in use, then there can not be more than one title for the document, and the entire document should be contained within this header.

Note: The level parameter can be used to change the top level (ex: to h2) in cases where an h1 is added externally.

MD031 - Fenced code blocks should be surrounded by blank lines

Tags: code, blank_lines

Aliases: blanks-around-fences

This rule is triggered when fenced code blocks are either not preceded or not followed by a blank line:

Some text
```
Code block
```

```
Another code block
```
Some more text

To fix this, ensure that all fenced code blocks have a blank line both before and after (except where the block is at the beginning or end of the document):

Some text

```
Code block
```

```
Another code block
```

Some more text

Rationale: Aside from aesthetic reasons, some parsers, including kramdown, will not parse fenced code blocks that don't have blank lines before and after them.

MD013 - Line length

Tags: line_length

Aliases: line-length Parameters: linelength, codeblocks, tables (number; default 80, boolean; default true)

This rule is triggered when there are lines that are longer than the configured line length (default: 80 characters). To fix this, split the line up into multiple lines.

This rule has an exception where there is no whitespace beyond the configured line length. This allows you to still include items such as long URLs without being forced to break them in the middle.

You also have the option to exclude this rule for code blocks and tables. To do this, set the code_blocks and/or tables parameters to false.

Code blocks are included in this rule by default since it is often a requirement for document readability, and tentatively compatible with code rules. Still, some languages do not lend themselves to short lines.

MD003 - Header style

Tags: headers

Aliases: header-style

Parameters: style ("consistent", "atx", "atxclosed", "setext", "setextwith_atx"; default "consistent")

This rule is triggered when different header styles (atx, setext, and 'closed' atx) are used in the same document:

# ATX style H1

## Closed ATX style H2 ##

Setext style H1
===============

Be consistent with the style of header used in a document:

# ATX style H1

## ATX style H2

The setextwithatx doc style allows atx-style headers of level 3 or more in documents with setext style headers:

Setext style H1
===============

Setext style H2
---------------

### ATX style H3

Note: the configured header style can be a specific style to use (atx, atxclosed, setext, setextwith_atx), or simply require that the usage be consistent within the document.