hedge

An advisory by default: it explains, and blocks nothing, on a softener qualifying a claim ("might fix", "could potentially").

What it catches

A softener qualifying a claim ("might fix", "could potentially").

Dimension

evidence: a claim says more or less than what was shown. A finding is counted on the dimension of its rule, the cost it names to the reader.

Why

A hedge lets a claim stand with no evidence. A writer who is unsure scopes the claim instead: a sentence under a "Not verified" heading, or one opening with "Not measured" or "Untested", states a limit and is exempt. Measured 2026-10-11 over the adjudicated labeling round: 63.8% precision (30 of 47) before, 93.8% (30 of 32, lower bound 0.80) after, so it ships advise. "tries to" counts only with the change as its subject (code that tries names a mechanism), and words quoted or reported ("the plan argues") are left alone.

Default decision

The code is PRF3002. The decision depends on the kind of text judged:

Changing it

A decisions table sets this rule to deny, advise or off, for everything judged or for the files a glob matches. Proofread reads the table from the file its -decisions flag names:

{
  "rules": {"hedge": "deny"},
  "paths": {"blog/**": {"hedge": "off"}}
}

rules applies to every file. A glob in paths applies to the files it matches, and the last match wins. A rule set to off never reports.

Seeing it

A finding names the rule, its code and the decision that applies, and links here:

{"rule": "hedge", "code": "PRF3002", "decision": "advise", "url": "https://eli.gladman.cc/magus/reference/proofread/hedge/"}

proofread rules prints this entry with every other rule's.

See also

• All proofread rules - every rule, grouped by what it checks
• Writing rules - how the rules apply to this repository's pages and pull requests
• The findings contract - the fields every finding carries