Markdown Authoring Standards

Apply these preferences when creating new markdown files. Do not modify existing markdown files for formatting unless explicitly asked.

Line Length

80 character max for natural language only.

Must Wrap (natural language)

• •Paragraphs
• •List item descriptions
• •Blockquotes

Never Wrap (structural/code)

• •Code blocks (``` fenced content)
• •Inline code spans
• •URLs and links
• •Tables
• •YAML frontmatter
• •HTML tags
• •Headings (keep on one line when possible)

Breaking Strategy

1. •Break at spaces between words
2. •Prefer breaks after punctuation (., ,, ;)
3. •Break before conjunctions (and, but, or)
4. •Keep markdown syntax intact (don't break inside [text](url))

Spacing

Headings

## Previous Section

Content here.

## Next Section

• •Blank line before headings
• •Blank line after headings

Code Fences

Some text.

```javascript
const x = 1;

More text.

- Blank line before opening fence
- Blank line after closing fence

### Lists

- No blank lines between simple list items
- Blank line before/after list blocks

## Frontmatter

### Format

```yaml
---
key: value with no quotes unless special characters
description: Plain text description
list: item1, item2, item3
---

Rules

• •No quotes around values unless they contain : or start with special YAML chars
• •Comma-separated for simple lists (not YAML arrays)
• •No trailing spaces

What NOT to Do

• •Don't add extra formatting beyond these rules
• •Don't reorganize content structure
• •Don't add comments or annotations
• •Don't "improve" existing files unless asked
• •Don't break lines that are already under 80 chars