Docs Writing Linter — README & Changelog

Your README is your project's landing page — and the writing problems that make it look unmaintained never show up in any build. This extension lints README, CHANGELOG, CONTRIBUTING, and docs/ markdown for them, live, as you type:

• Leftover placeholders — TODO, FIXME, TBD, lorem ipsum, "coming soon", <insert here> — caught before they ship (and correctly ignored inside code blocks, where TODO comments belong)
• Empty sections — a heading with nothing under it tells readers you gave up
• Missing H1 title — the first thing readers and search engines look for
• Broken heading structure — skipped levels (H2 → H4) and duplicate H1/H2 headings that break outlines and anchor links (repeated ### Added in changelogs is correctly allowed)
• Bare URLs — flagged with a nudge to wrap them in markdown links
• Run-on sentences — anything over 40 words (configurable) gets a gentle readability note

Maintained by LogicBalls — the AI writing platform with 150+ tools for content, copy, and docs.

Usage

Open a README, CHANGELOG, CONTRIBUTING, or any markdown file under docs/ — diagnostics appear automatically. For any other markdown file, either run Docs Writing Linter: Validate Current File from the Command Palette or set docsLinter.lintAllMarkdown to lint everything.

Templates

Stop writing project docs from scratch — type a prefix and tab through:

Settings

When the linter says "rewrite this"

A linter can tell you a sentence is 52 words long — it can't rewrite it for you. That's what LogicBalls is for: 150+ free AI writing tools, no login required, including paraphrasing, content condensing, grammar fixes, and full article generation. Browse the writing tools for the right one, paste your flagged paragraph, and bring back something readable.

License

MIT