Proselint is a linter for English prose that scans text files to detect writing issues and suggest improvements based on established style guidance.
The tool addresses the gap between abundant writing advice scattered across usage guides, dictionaries, and editorial wisdom and the practical difficulty of applying that knowledge while writing. Rather than requiring writers to internalize hundreds of pages of style guidance, proselint automates the detection of common writing problems. It draws on advice from established authorities including Bryan Garner, David Foster Wallace, Steve Pinker, George Orwell, and editorial standards from major literary publications and newspapers. The linter works as a command-line utility that can be integrated into scripts, workflows, and other tools.
Proselint suits writers and editors who want real-time feedback on prose quality, particularly those working in environments where style consistency matters. It integrates with popular text editors including Vim, Emacs, and Neovim through existing plugins, and can be incorporated into CI/CD pipelines via MegaLinter. The tool can be installed via package managers for Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and Nix, or used with pre-commit hooks. Anyone considering adoption should note that the project is mirrored on GitHub with its primary repository elsewhere.
The project maintains active continuous integration with passing workflow checks and code coverage tracking. Development activity shows regular maintenance of the codebase and responsiveness to integration with external tools and editors.
