EditorConfig

Below is an example .editorconfig file setting end-of-line and indentation styles for Python and JavaScript files.

# EditorConfig is awesome: https://editorconfig.org

# top-most EditorConfig file
root = true

# Unix-style newlines with a newline ending every file
[*]
end_of_line = lf
insert_final_newline = true

# Matches multiple files with brace expansion notation
# Set default charset
[*.{js,py}]
charset = utf-8

# 4 space indentation
[*.py]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 4

# Tab indentation (no size specified)
[Makefile]
indent_style = tab

# Indentation override for all JS under lib directory
[lib/**.js]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2

# Matches the exact files either package.json or .travis.yml
[{package.json,.travis.yml}]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2

Check the Wiki for some real-world examples of projects using EditorConfig files.

When opening a file, EditorConfig plugins look for a file named .editorconfig (all lowercase) in the directory of the opened file and in every parent directory. A search for .editorconfig files will stop if the root filepath is reached or an EditorConfig file with root=true is found.

EditorConfig files are read top to bottom and the most recent rules found take precedence. Properties from matching EditorConfig sections are applied in the order they were read, so properties in closer files take precedence.

For Windows Users: To create an .editorconfig file within Windows Explorer, you need to create a file named .editorconfig. (note the trailing dot), which Windows Explorer will automatically rename to .editorconfig for you.

EditorConfig files use an INI format that is compatible with the format used by Python configparser Library, but [ and ] are allowed in the section names. The section names are filepath globs (case sensitive), similar to the format accepted by gitignore. Only forward slashes (/, not backslashes) are used as path separators and octothorpes (#) or semicolons (;) are used for comments. Comments should go on their own lines. EditorConfig files should be UTF-8 encoded, with either CRLF or LF line separators. EditorConfig files are read top to bottom and the most recent rules found take precedence.

Filepath glob patterns and currently-supported EditorConfig properties are explained below.

Special characters recognized in section names for wildcard matching:

Special characters can be escaped with a backslash so they won't be interpreted as wildcard patterns.

Note that not all properties are supported by every plugin. The wiki has a complete list of properties.

• indent_style: set to tab or space to use hard tabs or soft tabs respectively.
• indent_size: a whole number defining the number of columns used for each indentation level and the width of soft tabs (when supported). When set to tab, the value of tab_width (if specified) will be used.
• tab_width: a whole number defining the number of columns used to represent a tab character. This defaults to the value of indent_size and doesn't usually need to be specified.
• end_of_line: set to lf, cr, or crlf to control how line breaks are represented.
• charset: set to latin1, utf-8, utf-8-bom, utf-16be or utf-16le to control the character set.
• trim_trailing_whitespace: set to true to remove any whitespace characters preceding newline characters and false to ensure it doesn't.
• insert_final_newline: set to true to ensure file ends with a newline when saving and false to ensure it doesn't.
• root: special property that should be specified at the top of the file outside of any sections. Set to true to stop .editorconfig files search on current file.

Currently all properties and values are case-insensitive. They are lowercased when parsed. Generally, if a property is not specified, the editor settings will be used, i.e. EditorConfig takes no effect on that part. For any property, a value of unset is to remove the effect of that property, even if it has been set before. For example, add indent_size = unset to undefine indent_size property (and use editor default).

It is acceptable and often preferred to leave certain EditorConfig properties unspecified. For example, tab_width need not be specified unless it differs from the value of indent_size. Also, when indent_style is set to tab, it may be desirable to leave indent_size unspecified so readers may view the file using their preferred indentation width. Additionally, if a property is not standardized in your project (end_of_line for example), it may be best to leave it blank.

EditorConfig editor plugins must follow the specifications. They can be developed with the help from one of the EditorConfig core libraries. The EditorConfig core libraries accept as input the file being edited, find and parse relevant .editorconfig files, and pass back the properties that should be used. Please ignore any unrecognized properties and property values in your editor plugin for future compatibility, since new properties and permitted values will be added in the future.

EditorConfig core libraries exist for many programming languages:

If you are planning on creating a new plugin, use the mailing list to let us know so we can help out and link to your plugin once it's created. If you plan on using one of the EditorConfig cores as a library or command line interface, the C library documentation, Python library documentation or Java library documentation may be helpful.

More details can be found on the Plugin-How-To wiki page.