mdrefine

content/inline-code-spacing ​

Reports a code span with blank space at its start or end that renderers show as part of the code, as in ` npm test ` or ` npm test`. Readers see and copy that space with the code.

Problem rule, reported only. Presets: none. Dialects: all. Options: none.

Reported:

markdown
Run ` npm test` before you commit.

Not reported:

markdown
Run `npm test` before you commit, and `` `backticks` `` show as code.

Edge cases and advanced usage ​

Details: renderers take one space off each end of a code span only when both ends have one, so ` npm test ` shows npm test, while ` npm test` keeps its space and ` npm test ` keeps one at each end. Removing the space changes the code that readers see and copy, and some code needs it, so the rule only reports. Blank space is reported only next to a letter or a digit of the code. A line ending at an end of the span counts as the space that renderers show for it.

Not checked:

  • Blank space next to another character, which usually belongs to the code, as when a span shows syntax such as a list item's - or a definition's : .
  • The space next to a backtick at an end of the code, as in `` `npm``, which keeps that backtick apart from the span's own.
  • More than one space or a tab at one end only, as in ` Text`, which shows indentation.
  • The one space at each end that renderers take off, and a span of nothing but blank space.

Dialect notes ​

In Obsidian: a span of one or two backticks across lines is not reported, because Live Preview ends it at its line.

This is a rule of its own rather than an option of style/inline-code: that rule only makes edits that keep the code as renderers show it, and no edit of the padding does, so there is nothing to fix, only to report.