MDS036: max-section-length

Section length must not exceed per-level, per-heading, word, or paragraph limits.

A section spans from its heading line up to (but not including) the next heading line of any level, or the end of file. Nested subsections are measured separately from their parent, so the limit applies to the content written directly under each heading.

# Settings

Lookup order for the line limit: per-heading (first matching regex wins), then per-level, then max. A resolved limit of zero disables the check for that heading. The word and paragraph caps apply to every section uniformly; zero disables each one.

Word and paragraph counts cover paragraph nodes whose start line falls in the section’s line range. Sub-section paragraphs belong to the sub-section, not the parent.

# Config

Enable with a default limit:

rules:
  max-section-length:
    max: 100

Per-level and per-heading overrides:

rules:
  max-section-length:
    max: 100
    per-level:
      1: 200
      2: 80
    per-heading:
      - pattern: "^Changelog$"
        max: 500

Cap each section’s prose by word count, require a minimum, and limit paragraph counts:

rules:
  max-section-length:
    max-words: 200
    min-words: 20
    max-paragraphs: 5

Disable:

rules:
  max-section-length: false

# Examples

# Good

# Title

Short section within the limit.

## Subsection

Also short. Each section is bounded by the next heading of any level.

## Another

Stays under the limit.

# Bad

# Too Long

line a
line b
line c
line d

# Meta-Information

• ID: MDS036
• Name: max-section-length
• Status: ready
• Default: disabled
• Fixable: no
• Implementation: source
• Category: heading