holocron/plugins/lint/skills/vale-config/references/configuration-reference.md

topic, source_keys

topic	source_keys
configuration-reference	context7-websites-vale-sh house-vale-3-15-2-repro

Core Settings

Key	Type	Purpose
StylesPath	string	Path to all Vale-related resources (styles, dictionaries, vocab).
Packages	string[]	Packages to download and install via vale sync.
Vocab	string[]	Vocabularies to load.
MinAlertLevel	enum	Minimum severity to report: suggestion, warning, or error.
IgnoredScopes	enum	Inline-level HTML tags to ignore.
SkippedScopes	enum	Block-level HTML tags to ignore entirely.

Format Associations

Map an unrecognized extension onto a supported one so Vale lints it with the right parser — an extension-level substitution only, it does not add new file-type support:

[formats]
mdx = md

mdx is the case that matters, because Vale 3.15.2 has no built-in MDX support. The mapping above is not cosmetic: it is what lets .mdx files lint with nothing else installed. Leave it out and Vale takes the native MDX path, which shells out to an external mdx2vast binary — absent from PATH, the run dies with E100 [lintMDX] Runtime error / mdx2vast not found, exit 2, and every other file in the same invocation goes unlinted too. Install it with npm install -g mdx2vast or take the mapping.

The choice also decides the inline-suppression syntax, and it is inverted between the two: mapped to md, .mdx takes Markdown's <!-- vale off -->; native, it takes {/* vale off */}. vale-run's references/troubleshooting.md carries the verified matrix.

Vocabularies

Reference a named vocabulary (a folder of accept/reject word lists under StylesPath) via Vocab, then apply styles per glob:

StylesPath = styles

Vocab = Blog

[*]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, MyStyle

Local Overrides

A project can layer a local .vale.ini that overrides StylesPath, adds packages, and changes BasedOnStyles for a subset of files — local settings merge with or override the global ones:

StylesPath = localpath

Packages = write-good

[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = write-good

Rule Header Fields

Individual rule YAML files (under a style's directory) support these header fields:

Field	Required	Default	Purpose
extends	yes	—	Check this rule extends (e.g. existence).
message	yes	—	Message shown when triggered; supports %s formatting per check type.
level	no	suggestion	Severity: suggestion, warning, or error.
scope	no	text	Scope the rule applies to (e.g. heading).
link	no	—	URL with more info about the rule.
limit	no	—	Max number of triggers per file.
vocab	no	true	Set false to disable active vocabularies for this rule.

Checks

The underlying functions a rule's extends field can reference: existence, substitution, occurrence, repetition, consistency, conditional, capitalization, metric, spelling, sequence, script.

Style Resolution

Only package styles need fetching. A style whose YAML rule files are already committed under StylesPath lints immediately, with no Packages entry and no vale sync; the same is true of the built-in Vale style, which ships with the binary and contains four rules:

• Vale.Spelling — spell-checks against Hunspell-compatible dictionaries in <StylesPath>/config/dictionaries.
• Vale.Terms — enforces the project's accepted vocabulary terms.
• Vale.Avoid — enforces the project's rejected vocabulary terms.
• Vale.Repetition — flags repeated words (e.g. "the the").

Packages (top-level, what vale sync downloads) and BasedOnStyles (per-glob, what activates) are separate keys: a style lints a file only once it is in both. Every row below reproduced against Vale 3.15.2 (slug house-vale-3-15-2-repro):

Configuration	Result
BasedOnStyles names a style with no directory under StylesPath, not built-in	E100 [loadStyles] Runtime error — style 'X' does not exist on StylesPath, exit 2
StylesPath directory itself absent, even with only Vale active	E201 Invalid value — The path '...' does not exist, exit 2
vale sync with a name in BasedOnStyles but not Packages	SUCCESS Synced 0 package(s), exit 0, nothing downloaded — the next lint repeats the E100
vale sync with the name added to Packages	package lands under StylesPath, exit 0; lint then loads it
Style in Packages and synced, but in no glob's BasedOnStyles	0 findings, exit 0 — downloads, never lints, indistinguishable from a clean run
BasedOnStyles names an empty directory under StylesPath	0 findings, exit 0 — loads and lints nothing; vale sync never produces this state
Built-in Vale, or a style's YAML committed under StylesPath	lints immediately, no Packages entry, no sync
Core option (StylesPath, MinAlertLevel, Vocab, IgnoredScopes, SkippedScopes) below a [glob] header	E201 Invalid value — 'X' is a core option; it should be defined above any syntax-specific options ([...]), exit 2
Packages below a [glob] header	no error, exit unaffected — parsed as a per-glob rule toggle (SChecks: {"*.md": {"Packages": false}} in ls-config), so vale sync reports Synced 0 package(s) and downloads nothing

Frontmatter Scopes

House-verified behaviour, not documented on vale.sh — reproduced locally against Vale 3.15.2 (slug house-vale-3-15-2-repro).

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. Multi-line forms spanning 2+ lines:

Frontmatter value form	Result
Single physical line (control)	Lints, exits 1
| literal block scalar	Lints, exits 1
> folded block scalar	0 findings, exits 0
Plain (unquoted) continuation lines	0 findings, exits 0
Single- or double-quoted multi-line scalar	0 findings, exits 0

The silent cases produce no error of any kind, so a passing run is indistinguishable from a clean one. Do not assume a literal block scalar and a folded one 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.