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Rules Reference

This page provides a comprehensive reference for all linting rules available in mdbook-lint.

Standard Markdown Rules (MD001-MD059)

mdbook-lint implements 59 standard markdown linting rules based on the widely-used markdownlint specification.

Heading Rules

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

Ensures proper heading hierarchy in your documents.

# Good
## Good

# Bad
### Bad (skips level 2)

MD003 - Heading style

Enforces consistent heading styles throughout your document.

MD018 - No space after hash on atx style heading

Requires a space after the hash in ATX-style headings.

MD019 - Multiple spaces after hash on atx style heading

Prevents multiple spaces after the hash in ATX-style headings.

List Rules

MD004 - Unordered list style

Enforces consistent marker style for unordered lists.

MD005 - Inconsistent indentation for list items at the same level

Ensures consistent indentation within lists.

MD007 - Unordered list indentation

Controls indentation levels for nested lists.

Line Rules

MD009 - Trailing whitespace

Removes unnecessary whitespace at the end of lines.

MD010 - Hard tabs

Prevents the use of hard tab characters.

MD012 - Multiple consecutive blank lines

Limits consecutive blank lines.

MD013 - Line length

Enforces maximum line length limits.

MD034 - Bare URL used

Requires proper link formatting for URLs.

MD039 - Spaces inside link text

Prevents spaces around link text.

mdBook-Specific Rules (MDBOOK001-004)

These rules are specifically designed for mdBook projects and check mdBook-specific syntax and conventions.

MDBOOK001 - SUMMARY.md structure

Validates the structure of your SUMMARY.md file according to mdBook conventions.

MDBOOK002 - Internal link validation

Checks that internal links reference valid files and sections within your book.

MDBOOK003 - Missing referenced files

Ensures all files referenced in SUMMARY.md actually exist.

MDBOOK004 - mdBook syntax validation

Validates mdBook-specific markdown syntax and features.

Rule Configuration

Many rules can be customized through configuration. See the Configuration Reference for details.

Example Rule Configuration

[rules.MD013]
line-length = 120
code-blocks = false

[rules.MD007]
indent = 2

Disabling Rules

Rules can be disabled globally or for specific files:

# Disable globally
disabled-rules = ["MD013", "MD033"]

<!-- mdbook-lint-disable MD013 -->
This line can be very long and won't trigger the line length rule.
<!-- mdbook-lint-enable MD013 -->

Getting Help

To see all available rules with descriptions:

mdbook-lint rules --detailed

To see only enabled rules:

mdbook-lint rules --enabled

Next Steps