mdrefine

content/shell-prompt ​

Reports a code block of shell commands in which every command starts with a prompt, $ or % followed by blank space, and that shows no output. Such prompts tell a reader nothing that the block does not, and get in the way of copying the commands.

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

Reported:

markdown
```sh
$ npm ci
$ npm test
```

Not reported:

markdown
```sh
npm ci
npm test
```

```console
$ node --version
v24.21.0
```

Edge cases and advanced usage ​

Details: removing the prompts changes the code that readers copy, so the rule only reports. A block is checked when it names no language, as indented blocks cannot, or names a shell or a shell session: sh, bash, zsh, fish, ksh, csh, tcsh, dash, shell, console, terminal, shell-session, sh-session, or shellsession, in any letter case. Other languages, text among them, can start a line with $ or %, as TeX's comments and math do. Blank lines are not commands, nor are lines that a backslash at the end of the line above continues the command onto.

Not checked:

  • A block with a line that starts with #. Such a line is not a command: it is a comment in shell code, and output or a root prompt in a session.
  • A block in which any other line shows output, even if some commands show none.