#linter #rules #mdbook #markdown #ruleset

mdbook-lint-rulesets

Modular rulesets for mdbook-lint - standard and mdBook-specific linting rules

25 releases (6 breaking)

Uses new Rust 2024

new 0.14.3 Mar 4, 2026
0.13.7 Jan 25, 2026
0.13.6 Dec 23, 2025
0.11.6 Sep 2, 2025

#1593 in Text processing

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233 downloads per month
Used in 3 crates (2 directly)

MIT/Apache

1.5MB
43K SLoC

Modular rulesets for mdbook-lint

This crate provides comprehensive markdown linting rules for mdBook projects and general markdown files. Rules are organized into two main categories, each available as an optional feature.

Overview

The mdbook-lint-rulesets crate implements the actual linting rules used by mdbook-lint. It provides:

  • 59 standard markdown rules (MD001-MD059) based on the markdownlint specification
  • 7 mdBook-specific rules (MDBOOK001-MDBOOK007) for mdBook project validation
  • Automatic fix support for many rules to correct issues automatically
  • Configurable rules with sensible defaults

Features

  • standard (default): Standard markdown linting rules
  • mdbook (default): mdBook-specific linting rules
  • content: Content quality rules (CONTENT001-005) - optional, off by default

Rule Categories

Standard Markdown Rules (MD001-MD059)

These rules cover common markdown style and formatting issues:

  • Heading rules (MD001-MD003, MD018-MD025): Heading hierarchy, style, and formatting
  • List rules (MD004-MD007, MD029-MD032): List formatting, indentation, and consistency
  • Whitespace rules (MD009-MD012, MD027-MD028): Trailing spaces, blank lines, tabs
  • Link rules (MD034, MD039, MD042): URL formatting and link text
  • Code rules (MD038, MD040, MD046, MD048): Code block formatting and fencing
  • Emphasis rules (MD036-MD037, MD049-MD050): Bold and italic formatting

mdBook-Specific Rules (MDBOOK001-MDBOOK007)

These rules validate mdBook-specific requirements:

  • MDBOOK001: Code blocks should have language tags
  • MDBOOK002: SUMMARY.md should follow mdBook structure
  • MDBOOK003: Internal links should be valid
  • MDBOOK004: Part titles should be formatted correctly
  • MDBOOK005: Chapter paths should be relative
  • MDBOOK006: Draft chapters should have content or be marked
  • MDBOOK007: Separator syntax should be correct

Usage

Basic Setup

use mdbook_lint_rulesets::{StandardRuleProvider, MdBookRuleProvider};
use mdbook_lint_core::PluginRegistry;

let mut registry = PluginRegistry::new();

// Register standard markdown rules
registry.register_provider(Box::new(StandardRuleProvider))?;

// Register mdBook-specific rules
registry.register_provider(Box::new(MdBookRuleProvider))?;

Using with the Lint Engine

use mdbook_lint_core::{PluginRegistry, Document};
use mdbook_lint_rulesets::StandardRuleProvider;
use std::path::PathBuf;

// Create registry and register provider
let mut registry = PluginRegistry::new();
registry.register_provider(Box::new(StandardRuleProvider))?;

// Create engine with registered rules
let engine = registry.create_engine()?;

// Lint a document
let content = "# My Document\n\n## Section\n";
let doc = Document::new(content.to_string(), PathBuf::from("README.md"))?;
let violations = engine.lint_document(&doc)?;

Automatic Fixes

Many rules support automatic fixing of violations. Rules with fix support include:

  • MD009: Remove trailing spaces
  • MD010: Replace hard tabs with spaces
  • MD012: Remove multiple consecutive blank lines
  • MD018: Add space after hash in ATX headings
  • MD019: Fix multiple spaces after hash
  • MD020: Remove spaces inside closed ATX headings
  • MD021: Fix multiple spaces inside closed ATX headings
  • MD023: Remove indentation from headings
  • MD027: Fix multiple spaces after blockquote symbol
  • MD030: Fix spaces after list markers
  • MD034: Wrap bare URLs in angle brackets
  • MD047: Ensure files end with single newline

Configuration

Rules can be configured through the RuleConfig trait. Example configuration:

[rules.MD013]
line_length = 120
code_blocks = false

[rules.MD009]
br_spaces = 2
strict = false

Quick Start (Library Usage)

For the simplest usage, use create_default_engine to get a pre-configured linting engine with all default rules:

use mdbook_lint_rulesets::create_default_engine;

let engine = create_default_engine().expect("Failed to create engine");

// Lint some content
let violations = engine.lint_content("# Hello\n\n\n\nWorld", "test.md").unwrap();

// Apply automatic fixes
let (fixed, unfixed) = engine.apply_fixes("# Test\n\t", &violations);

Dependencies

~15–31MB
~493K SLoC