eslint-plugin-markdown-preferences

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markdown-preferences/padding-line-between-blocks ​

require or disallow padding lines between blocks

  • ⚙️ This rule is included in plugin.configs.standard.
  • 🔧 The --fix option on the command line can automatically fix some of the problems reported by this rule.

📖 Rule Details ​

This rule enforces consistent padding lines between Markdown block elements.

md
<!-- eslint markdown-preferences/padding-line-between-blocks: ["error", {"prev": "*", "next": "*", "blankLine": "always"}] -->

<!-- ✓ GOOD -->

# Heading

Paragraph content.

## Another Heading

Another paragraph.

- List item

> Blockquote

<!-- ✗ BAD -->

# Heading


Paragraph content.


## Another Heading


Another paragraph.


- List item


> Blockquote

🔧 Options ​

This rule accepts an array of objects that define spacing rules between different block types.

json
{
  "markdown-preferences/padding-line-between-blocks": [
    "error",
    {
      "prev": "*",
      "next": "*",
      "blankLine": "always"
    },
    {
      "prev": "link-definition",
      "next": "link-definition",
      "blankLine": "never"
    },
    {
      "prev": "footnote-definition",
      "next": "footnote-definition",
      "blankLine": "never"
    },
    {
      "prev": "paragraph",
      "next": { "type": "list", "in": "list" },
      "blankLine": "never"
    }
  ]
}

Rule Configuration ​

Each rule object has the following properties:

  • prev: The type of the previous block element (string or object)
  • next: The type of the next block element (string or object)
  • blankLine: Spacing requirement between blocks

If multiple configurations match a block pair, the configuration that appears last in the array takes precedence.

Default configuration:

json
{
  "markdown-preferences/padding-line-between-blocks": [
    "error",
    { "prev": "*", "next": "*", "blankLine": "always" },
    {
      "prev": "link-definition",
      "next": "link-definition",
      "blankLine": "never"
    },
    {
      "prev": "footnote-definition",
      "next": "footnote-definition",
      "blankLine": "never"
    },
    {
      "prev": "paragraph",
      "next": { "type": "list", "in": "list" },
      "blankLine": "never"
    }
  ]
}

This configuration is designed with Prettier compatibility in mind, but it is not perfect.

Advanced Block Matching ​

For more specific matching, you can use object notation for prev and next:

json
{
  "prev": "paragraph",
  "next": { "type": "list", "in": "list" },
  "blankLine": "never"
}

Object notation supports the following properties:

  • type: The block type (same as string notation)
  • in: (string) The container context where the block is located
    • "list" - Block is inside a list item
    • "blockquote" - Block is inside a blockquote
    • "footnote-definition" - Block is inside a footnote definition

Block Types ​

You can specify block types in two ways:

String notation (simple matching):

  • "blockquote" - Blockquote elements

    e.g.

    md
    > Blockquote

  • "code" - Code blocks

    e.g.

    md
    ```json
"Code block"
```

  • "footnote-definition" - Footnote definitions

    e.g.

    md
    [^footnote]: Footnote content

  • "frontmatter" - Frontmatter sections (e.g., YAML frontmatter)

    e.g.

    md
    ---
title: Document Title
---

  • "heading" - Heading elements

    e.g.

    md
    # Heading

  • "html" - HTML elements

    e.g.

    md
    <div>HTML content</div>

  • "link-definition" - Link definitions

    e.g.

    md
    [link]: #link-definitions

  • "list" - List elements

    e.g.

    md
    - List item

  • "paragraph" - Paragraph elements

    e.g.

    md
    Paragraph text.

  • "table" - Table elements

    e.g.

    md
    | Header | Header |
| ------ | ------ |
| Cell   | Cell   |

  • "thematic-break" - Horizontal rules

    e.g.

    md
    ---

  • "*" - Wildcard matching any block type

Object notation (advanced matching):

  • { "type": "blockquote" } - Same as string notation
  • { "type": "list", "in": "list" } - List elements inside another list
  • { "type": "paragraph", "in": "blockquote" } - Paragraphs inside blockquotes
  • { "type": "*", "in": "footnote-definition" } - Any block inside footnote definitions

Spacing Values ​

  • "always" - Require a blank line
  • "never" - Disallow blank lines
  • "any" - No spacing restrictions

Special Cases for never ​

When using "never", this rule will preserve blank lines in cases where removing them would change the semantic meaning of the Markdown content. For example, with setext headings, a paragraph followed immediately by --- creates a setext heading, while a paragraph followed by a blank line and then --- creates separate paragraph and thematic break elements.

This careful handling ensures that the rule maintains semantic correctness while still enforcing consistent spacing preferences.

md
<!-- eslint markdown-preferences/padding-line-between-blocks: ["error", {"prev": "paragraph", "next": "thematic-break", "blankLine": "never"}] -->

<!-- ✓ GOOD - Setext-style heading -->

Here is some title.
---

<!-- ✓ GOOD - Paragraph and thematic break. A blank line is always required between them -->

Here is some text.

---

🚀 Version ​

This rule was introduced in eslint-plugin-markdown-preferences v0.16.0

🔍 Implementation ​