Configure style checks

Defaults

If a project has no .vale.ini, the checker uses the bundled configuration and Google rules. The rules are pinned to Google v0.7.1. Spelling is off, and the minimum alert level is warning.

The checker runs with --no-global, so another global Vale configuration cannot silently change the result.

Project configuration

A .vale.ini at the workspace root replaces the bundled configuration. This preserves a project's existing policy, including any rules turned off. A custom configuration can weaken or remove Google checks; include Google explicitly if that is your project's requirement.

For a manual Codex project installation, this configuration uses the installed rules:

StylesPath = .codex/vale/styles
MinAlertLevel = warning

[*.{md,rs,py,sh,pl}]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, Google
Vale.Spelling = NO

For a manual Claude Code installation, use .claude/vale/styles instead. For marketplace or user installations, use project-managed rules:

StylesPath = .vale/styles
MinAlertLevel = warning
Packages = Google

[*.{md,rs,py,sh,pl}]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, Google
Vale.Spelling = NO

Run vale sync from the project root to download that configuration's packages. Commit the configuration and add downloaded package directories to .gitignore. Vale does not run package synchronization during a hook.

The configuration filename is .vale.ini.

Tune the policy

Set MinAlertLevel = error if the project intentionally reports only errors. The original OxiDex setup used this threshold, which omits warning-level rules. Use warning for the default Vale policy.

Turn off a rule only when it conflicts with the project's writing requirements:

[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, Google
Vale.Spelling = NO
Google.We = NO

For a local exception in Markdown, use a Vale comment around the smallest necessary passage:

<!-- vale Google.Latin = NO -->
A verbatim quotation containing Latin abbreviations.
<!-- vale Google.Latin = YES -->

Prefer fixing the prose to suppressing a finding. Keep quotations, URLs, identifiers, and technical meaning intact.

Generated files

Keep generated output in an excluded directory or use Vale's file-specific configuration to turn off checks for the generated files. Vale does not guess whether a file is generated from arbitrary text in its header.

For example, a project configuration can turn off checks for a generated Markdown file:

[generated.md]
BasedOnStyles =

Review Vale configuration for pattern precedence and more detailed syntax settings.