vague

A deny rule by default: it refuses weight or consensus asserted with nothing named ("experts argue", "the stakes are high").

What it catches

Weight or consensus asserted with nothing named ("experts argue", "the stakes are high").

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

The reader cannot check a source that is not named. Zero hits over the docs pages, changelog fragments and merged pull requests.

Default decision

The code is PRF4008. 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": {"vague": "advise"},
  "paths": {"blog/**": {"vague": "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": "vague", "code": "PRF4008", "decision": "deny", "url": "https://eli.gladman.cc/magus/reference/proofread/vague/"}

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