Monostyle
Monostyle is a free, GPL-3.0 Linux framework for linting documentation against a style guide.
What Monostyle is
Monostyle is a free, GPL-3.0 Linux framework for linting documentation against a style guide. It includes a reStructuredText parser and utilities that can also support scripted text editing. Checks focus on new or changed content, which the README says keeps runs fast while permitting rules that may produce false positives. Listed checks cover spelling, word choice, compounding, abbreviations, capitalization, homophones, singular and plural forms, possessives, passive voice, articles, repeated words, and limited grammar. Other rules inspect vague, promotional, informal, or complex wording, pronouns, technical terms, heading hierarchy, indentation, keyboard shortcuts, incomplete markup, document structure, line length, and wrapping. Monostyle supports custom style guides, terminology management, and brand voice rules, with warning-style rule actions and team workflow support. The project is customized for the Blender manual and says its tools and data require customization. SVN is supported; Git support is experimental. Autofix can apply fixes and update the working copy for external changes.
Good
- Checks many spelling and style categories
- Supports custom style guides
- Includes terminology and brand-voice rules
- Can apply autofixes
- Supports team workflows
Watch out
- Git support is experimental
- Requires customization of tools and data
- Checks may produce false positives
- Does not replace Sphinx builds
Who it suits
It suits Linux teams editing reStructuredText who need customizable terminology, style, and brand-voice checks. It is especially relevant to workflows modeled on the Blender manual.
Verdict
Monostyle offers broad, customizable checks for reStructuredText documentation, especially when teams share editorial rules. Users should plan for customization and separate Sphinx builds.
The facts
Each one read from Monostyle's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Autofix
- The README lists an autofix option that applies autofixes and also updates the working copy for external changes.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Blender manual
- The project says Monostyle is customized for the Blender manual.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Build limitation
- The README says running Monostyle does not replace building with Sphinx, and markup errors can cause false negatives.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Change-based checks
- Its tools check new or changed content, which the README says makes it fast and allows tools with possible false positives.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Change-focused checks
- Its tools check new or changed content, which the README says makes them fast and allows tools that can have false positives.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Customization
- The README says Monostyle is not ready-made and its tools and data require customization.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Documentation style
- Its list-search tools cover wording such as vague, promotional, informal, or overly complex language, as well as pronouns and technical terms.checked 8 Oct 2026
- License
- The repository displays a GPL-3.0 license.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Markup and style checks
- Listed checks include heading hierarchy, indentation, keyboard shortcut conformity, markup structure, line length, and wrapping.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Markup checks
- Markup tools check heading hierarchy, indentation, keyboard shortcut conformity, incomplete markup, and document structure.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Natural-language checks
- The tools documentation lists limited grammar linting, passive voice detection, article checking, and repeated-word detection.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Parser
- Monostyle includes its own reStructuredText parser.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Parser and utilities
- It includes its own reStructuredText parser and utilities that can also be used for text editing with scripts.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Project-specific use
- The README says Monostyle is customized for the Blender manual.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Monostyle is a framework for linting and style-checking documentation against a style guide.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Setup requirement
- When using SVN, the command-line client tools need to be installed.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Spell-check setup
- Spell checking requires building a dictionary, and the README says users must confirm its initial build if the dictionary file is missing.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Spelling tools
- The tools documentation lists checks for spelling, word choice, compounding, abbreviations, homophones, and possessive forms.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Version control
- The README says SVN is supported and Git support is experimental.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Vocabulary checks
- The new-word tool detects spelling errors, word-choice issues, compounding, abbreviations, capitalization, homophones, and certain singular or plural forms.checked 8 Oct 2026
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