Rule - MD030#

Property	Value
Aliases	`md030`, `list-marker-space`
Autofix Available	Yes
Enabled By Default	Yes

Summary#

Ensure consistent spacing after list markers.

Reasoning#

Consistency#

Consistent spacing after list markers improves visual alignment and readability for human readers, and helps ensure predictable rendering across parsers and screen readers.

Examples#

Failure Scenarios#

This rule triggers when a list marker is followed by more than the configured number of spaces before the text begins, with the default being 1 space.

1.  first item

Explanation: This ordered list item has two spaces after the 1. marker. By default, ol_single is set to 1, so only one space is expected. The extra space violates the rule.

Unlike the previous example, this case uses an unordered list marker with multiple trailing spaces.

+  first item

Explanation: This unordered list item has two spaces after the + marker. By default, ul_single is set to 1, so only one space is expected. The extra space violates the rule.

Unlike the previous single-line examples, this case demonstrates a multi-paragraph unordered list item where the indentation of the continuation paragraph exceeds the configured ul_multi value (configured to 2 in this example).

+ first item

   second paragraph

Explanation: In a multi-paragraph list item, the continuation line must be indented according to the ul_multi setting. In this example, ul_multi is configured to 2, but the continuation paragraph is indented with three spaces, exceeding the configured value. This violates the rule.

Unlike the previous unordered multi-paragraph example, this case uses an ordered list marker where both the single-line spacing (ol_single) and the multi-paragraph continuation spacing (ol_multi) are violated.

1.  First
1.  Second - 1

    Second - 2
1.  Third

Explanation: All three 1. markers are followed by two spaces instead of the configured ol_single value of 1, violating the single-line spacing rule on lines 1, 2, and 5. Additionally, the continuation paragraph on line 4 is indented with four spaces (two for the list structure + two for the continuation indent) instead of the configured ol_multi value of 1 (which would be two spaces total: two for structure + one for continuation). This violates the multi-paragraph spacing rule.

Unlike the previous unordered nested example, this case shows a nested ordered list where every level's 1. marker is followed by more spaces than the configured ol_single value.

1.  First
    1.  Second
1.  Third

Explanation: All three 1. markers — the two outer items on lines 1 and 3, and the nested item on line 2 — are followed by two spaces instead of the configured ol_single value of 1. The rule applies to every list marker at every nesting level, so all three violate the rule.

Unlike the previous + marker example, this case uses the hyphen/minus sign (-), which is the most commonly used unordered list marker in practice.

-  first item
-  second item

Explanation: The rule is marker-agnostic — it applies equally to -, *, and + markers. Both - markers here are followed by two spaces instead of the configured ul_single value of 1. The extra space after each marker violates the rule.

Unlike the previous standalone list examples, this case shows a list nested inside a blockquote, where the list marker spacing is still checked by this rule.

>  *  Heading 1
>  *  Heading 2

Explanation: The rule applies to list markers at any nesting level, including those inside blockquotes. Both * markers are followed by two spaces instead of the configured ul_single value of 1. The blockquote's > prefix and its spacing are governed by a different rule (MD027), but the space after the list marker itself is still validated by this rule.

Unlike the previous examples, this case shows a nested unordered list where the inner list marker is followed by more spaces than the configured ul_single value.

+ first item
  +  inner item

Explanation: The outer + marker is followed by exactly one space (correct for ul_single = 1), but the nested + marker is followed by two spaces. Because ul_single is 1, the nested marker is also expected to have one space before its text. The extra space after the nested marker violates the rule, even though the outer list item itself is formatted correctly.

Correct Scenarios#

This rule does not trigger when all list items have the configured number of spaces after the marker, with the default being 1 space.

1. first item

Explanation: This ordered list item has exactly one space after the 1. marker, matching the default ol_single value of 1. The rule is satisfied.

Unlike the previous example, this case uses an unordered list marker with the correct spacing.

+ first item

Explanation: This unordered list item has exactly one space after the + marker, matching the default ul_single value of 1. The rule is satisfied.

Unlike the previous simple examples, this scenario demonstrates a nested unordered list with mixed single-line and multi-line items, where the configuration values ul_single and ul_multi control the expected spacing differently. In this example, the user has set ul_multi to 2.

+ first item
+ second item
  +  inner item

     inner item

Explanation: This nested list uses ul_single set to 1 for single-line items (e.g., "first item", "second item"). The nested "inner item" spans a blank line, making it a multi-paragraph item subject to ul_multi, which the user has set to 2 for this example. Each line respects the configured spacing for its item type, so the rule is not triggered.

Fix Description#

When fixed, the number of spaces between a list marker and the following text is set to the configured amount of spacing. By default, this means ordered and unordered list markers will be set to have 1 space after the text.

Configuration#

Prefixes
`plugins.md030.`
`plugins.list-marker-space.`

Value Name	Type	Default	Description
`enabled`	`boolean`	`True`	Whether the Rule Plugin is enabled.
`ul_single`	`integer`	`1`	Spaces after an Unordered List Item and any following text for a single line item.
`ol_single`	`integer`	`1`	Spaces after an Ordered List Item and any following text for a single line item.
`ul_multi`	`integer`	`1`	Spaces after an Unordered List Item and any following text for a multiple line item.
`ol_multi`	`integer`	`1`	Spaces after an Ordered List Item and any following text for a multiple line item.

Origination of Rule#

This rule is largely inspired by the MarkdownLint rule MD030.