Microsoft is a Vale-compatible style guide implementation that enforces the Microsoft Writing Style Guide rules within the Vale linting framework.
The tool solves the problem of applying Microsoft's documented writing standards to documentation and content automatically. It translates the Microsoft Writing Style Guide into YAML-based linting rules that Vale can execute, allowing teams to catch style violations during the writing process rather than in manual review. Users add the package to their Vale configuration and run a sync command to enable the checks.
Teams maintaining documentation that should follow Microsoft's style conventions are the primary audience. The tool suits any project using Vale that wants to adopt Microsoft's guidance on word choice, capitalization, terminology, and prose conventions. The implementation covers the style guide topic by topic, with coverage tracked separately for the A–Z word list and other guidelines to give an accurate picture of what the guide implements.
The project maintains a structured test suite using fixtures and expected output files, with automated verification that coverage claims remain accurate as rules change. The coverage tracking system enforces that every rule referenced in documentation still exists, preventing silent gaps when rules are renamed or merged. The test suite can be run with standard Go testing commands and regenerated when intentional changes are made to rule behavior.
