Heading numbering mixed
heading-numbering-mixon by default (info)Japanese / English
Sibling headings numbered in mixed ways: "1. Overview", "2. Steps", "Summary"
Example
How to fix
Number sibling headings the same way. If the unnumbered one is meant to sit outside the numbered body, give it a different parent.
Why it matters
A numbered "1. Overview" and "2. Steps" next to an unnumbered "Summary", or "1." and "2." next to "3)" or "Chapter 4", leave the reader unsure whether the odd one is meant to be different or lost its number, and the numbers stop matching the table of contents and cross-references. chaff does not pick a style; among headings with the same parent and depth (siblings) it points at the minority. Words that carry a number (Chapter 1, 第1章) and front and back matter that is never numbered (Contents, References) are in each language's lexicon.
What it does not flag
Fewer than three siblings, a tie between the two sides, and headings at different depths or under different parents ("1." and "1.1") are not compared. Front and back matter (Contents, References, Appendix, a closing Contact), and unnumbered headings placed before a numbering that starts at 1 (the page title, "Applies to England"), are not counted among the siblings. A number at the head of a heading without a separator ("2026 roadmap", "3 reasons") is not read as a heading number. Nor is a number that names a period or an event ("Week 1", "Day 2", "Phase 3", "第3回"). A letter that every sibling repeats ("Q. Why …?", "Q. 2.0 behaviour, how?") marks a question, and is not a number.
Turning it off or relaxing it
Technical details
- Layer
- L1
- Status
- stable
- Severity
- info
- Languages
- Japanese and English
- Suited to
- business, technical, blog, legal, docs, academic, literature, speech
- Reads from the document
- markdown
Levels
Set a level for this rule under rules in chaff.yaml. With nothing set, it runs at the level its genre gives it (see By genre below).
| strict | warning |
|---|---|
| normal | info |
| relaxed | info |
This rule has no limit to count to. A level sets how a finding is marked: relaxed keeps the finding and marks it a step lower.
By genre
- Runs by default in
- technical/spec, technical/readme, blog/tech, blog/essay, blog/owned-media, business/proposal, business/report, business/email, business/press-release, business/meeting-notes, legal/contract, legal/statute, legal/judgment, legal/patent, docs/manual, docs/faq, docs/glossary, academic/paper, literature/fiction, literature/essay, literature/poetry, literature/play, speech/address, speech/transcript
Message
The heading "{heading}" is numbered differently from its siblings ("{example}" and {count} in all)
The heading "{heading}" has no number, while {count} of its siblings do ("{example}")
The heading "{heading}" is numbered, while {count} of its siblings are not ("{example}")
The heading "{heading}" writes its number differently from {count} of its siblings ("{example}")
Rewrite depth (chaff fix-plan --depth): light — words and sentences; the structure and the voice stay
This page is built from the rule's definition file:packages/chaff/rules/heading-numbering-mix.yaml