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Document differences between spelling tests

We have two spelling tests in use:

  • Markdownlint, in .markdownlint.yml in the root directory of the gitlab repo. Breaks CI on failure.
  • Vale, in doc/.vale/gitlab/Spelling.yml (the rule) and doc/.vale/gitlab/spelling-exceptions.txt (allowed exceptions). Does not break CI.

@msedlakjakubowski reminded me in gitlab!92082 (comment 1020882495) that we have some tech debt here. The Markdownlint spelling test predates Vale, and probably contains items that should be downgraded from CI-breaking to a warning.

We should:

  1. Scan through both word lists.
  2. Identify which ones we want to break CI on. I expect we'd prioritize our company name, common product names, and multi-word phrases with specific capitalization needs. Keep those in the Markdownlint test.
  3. Move everything else into the Vale spelling-exceptions list. Correct any new problems that block pipelines.
  4. Document the setup in our style guide and clearly explain the difference between the two lists.

Related issues

Edited by Amy Qualls