Four claims in shipped agent-facing docs did not match verified behaviour.
These are read as ground truth by agents in other repos, so each was
reproduced against vale 3.15.2 before rewriting:
- CONTEXT.md and `vale-config/SKILL.md` said both `>` and `|` block scalars
break the description scope. `|` does not — it lints normally and fires every
alert, while `>` yields zero. An agent following the old text would rewrite a
working `|` description into a plain multi-line scalar, which genuinely does
break, inverting the intended remediation. Both now name the forms that do
break and state that `|` does not.
- CONTEXT.md and ADR-0013 described the size hook as failing only above 500
lines, omitting the 2900-word gate it also enforces. Both now describe the
pair and state that `validate.sh` checks the same two.
- ADR-0014 recorded an accepted residual — a wholesale `assets/` deletion going
unflagged — that commit 14c2c91 closed. Left as the point-in-time record and
amended with an update describing the union-with-tag-manifest mechanism,
following the amendment precedent in ADR-0005.
- `vale-config/SKILL.md` asserted a fresh `.vale.ini` fails until `vale sync`
runs, contradicting its own note that built-in styles need no download. The
claim is now scoped to package styles; this repo's two configs declare no
packages and lint clean with zero syncs.
Also repoints AGENTS.md at the seven `gitea:*` skills — the `bin:gitea` route
it named no longer exists.
Refs: #85
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63 lines
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---
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name: vale-config
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description: >
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Use when installing or configuring Vale, the cross-platform prose/style linter — setting up
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.vale.ini, choosing a StylesPath, adding built-in, third-party, or custom styles, and activating
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them per file glob via BasedOnStyles. Covers the setup side of Vale only: getting a project from
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"no Vale config" to "vale sync runs clean and BasedOnStyles is wired up correctly". Use even if the
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user doesn't say "Vale" explicitly — "set up prose linting", "lint our docs for style", "enforce a
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vocabulary/terminology list in markdown" all apply. Do not use when the user wants to actually run
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Vale and interpret its output on existing config — use vale-run for that.
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metadata:
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category: lint
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version: "0.1.0"
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source_keys:
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- context7-websites-vale-sh
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---
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## Gotchas
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- Installing the `vale` binary installs no styles, but only *package* styles need fetching. A fresh `.vale.ini` naming a style in `BasedOnStyles` that is declared in `Packages` will fail or find nothing until `vale sync` downloads it. A built-in style (`Vale`) or a style whose YAML rule files are already committed under `StylesPath` lints immediately, with no `Packages` entry and no sync.
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- `.vale.ini` is order-sensitive: global (core) settings first, then the optional `[formats]` section, then glob sections (`[*]`, `[*.md]`, …). Settings in a glob section only apply to files matching that glob.
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- `Packages` (top-level, fetched by `vale sync`) and `BasedOnStyles` (per-glob, activates) are separate keys — a style only lints files once it's in both. This is the step people forget.
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- A rule scoped to `text.frontmatter.<key>` (e.g. `text.frontmatter.description`) matches reliably when that field's value is a single physical line, and breaks on most — not all — multi-line forms. Confirmed against Vale 3.15.2 with a deliberately-bad fixture: a `>` folded block scalar, plain (unquoted) continuation lines, and single- or double-quoted multi-line scalars each yield 0 findings and exit 0, silently and with no error; a `|` literal block scalar spanning the same 2+ lines lints normally and exits 1. Do not assume `|` and `>` behave alike — reproduce both against your own config before trusting a frontmatter-scoped rule in production. If the field is commonly authored in one of the broken forms, flatten it to one physical line ahead of the `vale` call rather than relying on the scope alone.
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## Setup workflow
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- [ ] **Install** the `vale` binary: `brew install vale` (macOS), `snap install vale` (Linux), `choco install vale` (Windows), or `docker pull jdkato/vale`.
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- [ ] **Pick a `StylesPath`** (conventionally `styles`) and create it. This is where all styles, dictionaries, and vocab live.
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- [ ] **Write `.vale.ini`** at the project root with at minimum:
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```ini
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StylesPath = styles
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MinAlertLevel = suggestion
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[*.md]
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BasedOnStyles = Vale
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```
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`Vale` here is the built-in style (`Vale.Spelling`, `Vale.Terms`, `Vale.Avoid`, `Vale.Repetition`) — no download needed, it always works.
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- [ ] **Add third-party styles** (optional) by declaring them in `Packages`, then activating them in the same or another glob's `BasedOnStyles`:
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```ini
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Packages = Google, write-good
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[*.md]
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BasedOnStyles = Vale, Google, write-good
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```
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- [ ] **Sync**: run `vale sync` to download everything listed in `Packages` into `StylesPath`.
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- [ ] **Verify activation**: confirm every style named in `Packages` also appears in at least one glob's `BasedOnStyles` — an unreferenced package downloads but never lints anything.
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For the full `.vale.ini` field reference (formats mapping, vocab, local overrides, custom rule header fields), read `references/configuration-reference.md`.
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## Custom styles
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A custom style is just a new subdirectory under `StylesPath`, holding one YAML file per rule:
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```
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styles/
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└── MyStyle/
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└── NoJargon.yml
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```
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Each rule file needs `extends` (the check it implements, e.g. `existence`) and `message` at minimum. Activate the style the same way as any other: add `MyStyle` to `BasedOnStyles` for the relevant glob. See `references/configuration-reference.md` for the full rule header field table.
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