P R O S E R U N N E R

Fast prose linter. Finds writing issues, lets you ignore what you don't care about.

Example

$ proserunner document.md

document.md
[1]   3:13  "quick as lightning"  -> A tired phrase.
[2]   7:15  "software program"    -> Pleonastic phrase.
[3]  11:49  "hopefully"           -> Skunked term: consider rephrasing.
[4]  13:8   "Female booksalesman" -> Sexist or ridiculous term.

Fix what matters, ignore the rest by number:

$ proserunner document.md --ignore-issues 2,3

document.md
[1]   3:13  "quick as lightning"  -> A tired phrase.
[2]  13:8   "Female booksalesman" -> Sexist or ridiculous term.

Quick start

Clone the repo, cd into it, then pick one:

# Option 1: native binary (needs Babashka, Clojure CLI, and GraalVM; fastest startup)
bb install                          # Installs to ~/.local/bin (open a new shell if it wasn't on your PATH)
proserunner document.md             # Check a file, from anywhere
proserunner docs/ README.md         # Check several paths
proserunner init                    # Set up project config

# Option 2: Babashka only (no build, no Java); run from the repo
bb lint /path/to/document.md        # Same flags as proserunner

# Option 3: Clojure CLI (needs Java and Clojure CLI, slower startup); run from the repo
clojure -M:run /path/to/document.md

Options 2 and 3 resolve relative paths from the repo directory, so pass an absolute path to your file.

See installation for details.

In CI, the exit status does the work: 0 means no issues, 1 means issues were found, 2 means something went wrong.

proserunner docs/ -o plain   # Fails the build on issues; one issue per line in the log

Why it's useful

• Numbered issues - Ignore specific problems by number: --ignore-issues 1,3,5. Numbers are for the current run.
• Pipes - proserunner - checks standard input, so it fits after pandoc or your clipboard.
• Customizable - Add checks as EDN files. Toggle them on/off without touching code.
• Fast - Parallel processing, smart caching.
• Flexible - Output formats: grouped, plain (one issue per line), table, JSON, EDN, verbose.
• Smart ignores - Run it, fix what matters, ignore the rest by number. Ignores remember location.
• Project friendly - Commit ignore files and custom checks. Everyone sees the same issues.

What it checks

Ships with 22 checks (run proserunner checks to see yours):

Name	Kind	Explanation
Annotations	Case	Typical markers used to signal problem sites in the text.
Archaisms	Existence	Outmoded word or phrase.
Clichés	Existence	An overused phrase or opinion that betrays a lack of original thought.
Compression	Recommender	Compressing common phrases. From Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams.
Corporate-speak	Existence	Words and phrases that make you sound like an automaton.
Hedging	Existence	Say, or say not. There is no hedging.
Jargon	Existence	Phrases infected with bureaucracy.
Meta-discourse	Existence	Self-referential phrases that add no value.
Needless-variant	Recommender	Prefer the more common term.
Nominalization	Recommender	Convert weak noun phrases back to strong verbs.
Non-words	Recommender	Identifies sequences of letters masquerading as words, and suggests an actual word.
Not the negative.	Recommender	Prefer the word to the negation of the word's opposite.
Overused-adverbs	Existence	Use of adverbs that are weak or redundant. Consider using a stronger verb instead.
Oxymorons	Existence	Avoid contradictory terms (that aren't funny).
Phrasal adjectives	Recommender	Hyphenate phrasal adjectives.
Pompous-diction	Recommender	Pompous diction: use simpler words. From Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams.
Redundancies	Existence	Avoid phrases that say the same thing more than once.
Regex	Regex	Raw regular expressions.
Repetition	Repetition	Catches consecutive repetition of words, like the the.
Sexism	Existence	Sexist or ridiculous terms (like mail person instead of mail carrier).
Skunked-terms	Existence	Words with controversial correct usage that are best avoided.
Weasel-words	Existence	Vague phrases that avoid commitment and precision.

See check definitions →

Customizing checks

Turn off checks - Edit ~/.config/proserunner/config.edn (or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/proserunner/):

{:checks
 [{:name "default"
   :directory "default"
   :files ["cliches"
           ;; "jargon"      ; disabled
           "corporate-speak"]}]}

Add custom checks - Drop .edn files in:

• Global: ~/.config/proserunner/custom/
• Project: .proserunner/checks/

Or use: proserunner checks add ~/my-checks

See Usage docs for check examples.

Docs

• Installation - Build and install
• Usage - Commands, checks, config, ignores
• Upgrading from 0.7 - Commands replaced the action flags, and config moved to ~/.config/proserunner
• Architecture - How it works