Vale for Technical Writers: Style Guides Made Easy

Technical writers spend countless hours manually checking documentation against style guides. Is "internet" capitalized in Microsoft's style guide? Does Google's developer guide prefer "click" or "select"? Should you write "use" or "utilize" according to Red Hat's standards?

These questions slow down documentation work and create inconsistency when different writers interpret style rules differently. Even experienced technical writers can't memorize every rule in a comprehensive style guide—and shouldn't have to.

Vale automates style guide enforcement, turning subjective style decisions into objective, repeatable checks. For technical writers, this means consistent documentation, faster reviews, and more time for content strategy instead of manual proofreading.

Why technical writing needs style guides

Style guides transform documentation from a collection of individual writing styles into a cohesive, professional information resource:

Consistency builds credibility

When your documentation uses consistent terminology, capitalization, and phrasing across all pages, readers trust the content more. Inconsistent style signals lack of attention to detail and makes users question technical accuracy.

Clarity improves user success

Style guides prioritize clarity: active voice over passive, concise phrasing over wordiness, specific terms over vague descriptions. Following these rules helps users understand and apply your documentation successfully.

Efficiency speeds up reviews

When everyone follows the same style guide, reviewers spend less time on style nitpicks and more time on technical accuracy, content completeness, and information architecture. Reviews move faster and provide more valuable feedback.

Scalability enables team growth

As documentation teams grow, style guides ensure new writers produce content that matches existing documentation. Onboarding becomes faster—new team members learn the style guide rules through automated feedback rather than through repeated corrections.

Professionalism reflects on the product

High-quality, consistent documentation suggests high-quality, well-maintained products. Users judge products partly by documentation quality. Professional style signals professional engineering.

Major technical writing style guides

Several organizations publish comprehensive style guides that have become industry standards:

Microsoft Writing Style Guide

Microsoft's style guide is the most widely adopted for technical content. It emphasizes:

Clear, concise language accessible to global audiences
Consistent terminology for UI elements and software concepts
Accessibility-focused language (avoiding ableist terms)
Bias-free communication
Specific guidance for developer documentation, API references, and user interface text

Best for: General technical documentation, product documentation, enterprise software guides

Google Developer Documentation Style Guide

Google's style guide focuses specifically on developer-facing content. Key priorities include:

Conciseness and directness for developer audiences
Consistent formatting for code, commands, and API elements
Clear examples and sample code integration
International audience considerations
SEO optimization for developer documentation

Best for: API documentation, developer tutorials, technical reference materials, open-source project docs

Red Hat Documentation Style Guide

Red Hat's comprehensive guide serves enterprise technical documentation needs:

Detailed terminology standards for Linux and open-source concepts
Emphasis on task-oriented documentation structures
Comprehensive capitalization and punctuation rules
Specific guidance for command-line references and system administration topics
International localization considerations

Best for: Enterprise documentation, system administration guides, Linux and open-source software documentation

GitLab Documentation Style Guide

GitLab's open, iterative style guide emphasizes DevOps and software development contexts:

Focus on clarity and brevity for fast-moving software documentation
Specific patterns for documenting features, UI, and workflows
Strong emphasis on examples and practical guidance
Integration with docs-as-code practices
Continuous improvement through community contribution

Best for: DevOps tools, software development platforms, continuous integration/deployment documentation

Elastic Documentation Style Guide

Elastic's style guide is tuned for search, observability, and data platform documentation:

Technical precision for search and data concepts
Consistent product naming and feature references
Integration with docs-as-code workflows
Focus on user outcomes and practical application

Best for: Search technology, observability platforms, data analysis tools

How Vale enforces style guides automatically

Vale is a prose linting engine that reads your documentation and applies style guide rules programmatically. Instead of manually checking each rule, Vale automates the entire process:

Rule packages encode style guides

Vale's rule packages are YAML-based definitions of style guide rules. Each package contains dozens to hundreds of individual rules that check for:

Terminology consistency: Enforce specific spellings, capitalizations, and phrasings for product names, technical terms, and brand elements
Writing quality: Detect passive voice, complex sentences, redundant phrases, and clarity issues
Style compliance: Check heading capitalization, list formatting, punctuation patterns, and other style elements
Inclusive language: Flag problematic terms and suggest inclusive alternatives
Common errors: Catch spelling mistakes, misused words, and typo patterns

Professional packages like Microsoft, Google, and Red Hat style guides include rules developed and maintained by the organizations themselves, based on their comprehensive style documentation.

Rules match, highlight, and suggest

When Vale processes your documentation, it:

Parses your content format: Understands markdown, MDX, AsciiDoc, HTML, and other formats, distinguishing prose from code blocks, markup, and metadata
Applies rules to prose: Checks each sentence, phrase, and word against active rules in the selected style guide package
Highlights matches: Identifies exactly which text triggered which rule, with line and column precision
Provides explanations: Describes why the rule exists and what principle it enforces
Suggests fixes: Offers specific replacements or edits that comply with the style guide

This automated process replaces manual style checking with instant, consistent feedback.

Browser-based Vale makes style guides accessible

Traditionally, enforcing style guides required:

Installing and configuring Vale CLI
Setting up .vale.ini configuration files
Managing rule package downloads
Integrating with text editors or CI/CD pipelines

While these workflows are powerful for teams, they create friction for individual writers and occasional contributors.

ProseLint Web brings style guide enforcement to the browser:

Zero installation: No local tools to install or configure. Open the browser editor and start checking immediately.

One-click package selection: Choose Microsoft, Google, Red Hat, or other style guides from a dropdown. Packages download automatically and cache for offline use.

Instant feedback: Paste documentation, click "Lint," and get style guide feedback in seconds.

Privacy-first processing: Content processes entirely in your browser using WebAssembly. Your documentation never uploads to external servers.

Quick-fix automation: Many style issues include one-click fix buttons that apply suggestions automatically.

Practical workflows for technical writers

Here's how technical writers integrate Vale into documentation workflows:

During drafting: real-time style checking

While writing new content:

Draft in your preferred editor: Write in VS Code, Notion, or any tool you prefer
Periodic Vale checks: Copy sections to the ProseLint Web editor and lint as you complete major sections
Fix issues early: Address style problems while context is fresh, before moving to the next section
Learn patterns: Notice which rules you trigger frequently and adjust your writing habits

Before submitting: pre-review self-check

Before sending documentation for review:

Paste completed draft into ProseLint Web
Select your team's style guide: Use the package your organization has standardized on
Review all issues: Work through errors, warnings, and suggestions
Apply fixes: Use quick-fix buttons or manually revise based on feedback
Re-lint to verify: Check that fixes resolved issues and didn't introduce new ones
Submit with confidence: Send for review knowing style guide compliance is verified

During review: focus on content, not style

When reviewing documentation from colleagues:

Require Vale pre-check: Ask contributors to lint before submitting
Focus review on substance: Evaluate technical accuracy, content completeness, information architecture
Reference Vale for style questions: If style issues appear, direct writers to Vale rather than listing style corrections manually
Spend time on strategy: Use review time for high-value feedback about user needs, content gaps, and documentation structure

For open-source contributions: lower the barrier

When contributing to open-source projects:

Check project style guide: See if the project uses a specific Vale package
Lint before submitting PR: Use ProseLint Web to check your contribution against the project's style standards
Include "linted" note in PR: Mention in pull request description that you ran Vale with the project's style guide
Reduce maintainer burden: Help maintainers by submitting style-compliant contributions that require less editorial work

Comparing style guides: which one to choose

Different style guides suit different contexts. Here's how to choose:

For general technical documentation

Choose Microsoft Writing Style Guide if:

You're documenting general software products
Your audience includes both technical and non-technical users
Accessibility and inclusive language are priorities
You need comprehensive guidance for UI, API, and conceptual documentation

Microsoft's guide is the most comprehensive and widely applicable for technical content.

For developer-focused documentation

Choose Google Developer Documentation Style Guide if:

Your primary audience is software developers
Content focuses on APIs, SDKs, and technical integrations
Conciseness and directness are top priorities
SEO for developer searches matters for your content

Google's guide is optimized specifically for developer documentation patterns.

For enterprise and open-source infrastructure

Choose Red Hat Documentation Style Guide if:

You're documenting Linux, system administration, or infrastructure tools
Enterprise IT professionals are your primary audience
Comprehensive terminology standards for open-source technologies matter
You need detailed guidance for command-line and configuration documentation

Red Hat's guide excels for enterprise infrastructure and open-source tooling.

For DevOps and software development platforms

Choose GitLab Documentation Style Guide if:

You're documenting DevOps tools or development platforms
Docs-as-code workflows are central to your team
Iterative improvement and community contribution are valued
Fast-moving software releases require agile documentation

GitLab's guide is designed for the rapid iteration pace of software development tools.

When in doubt: start with Microsoft, customize later

If you're unsure which guide fits your needs:

Start with Microsoft Writing Style Guide: It's comprehensive and broadly applicable
Run Vale for a week: See which rules provide value and which create friction
Evaluate alternatives: Try Google or Red Hat packages to compare
Customize gradually: As you build experience, consider customizing rules or creating organization-specific additions

No style guide is perfect for every organization. Start with a professional baseline, then refine based on your team's needs.

Advanced Vale usage: custom rules and overrides

Beyond using standard packages, Vale supports customization:

Override rule severity

Not every rule in a package fits your context. You can:

Disable specific rules: Turn off rules that don't apply to your documentation
Downgrade warnings to suggestions: Adjust severity for rules you want to highlight but not enforce strictly
Upgrade suggestions to errors: Make optional rules mandatory for your team

This flexibility allows you to adopt professional packages while adapting them to your organization's priorities.

Add custom terminology

Every organization has product-specific terms, brand names, and technical concepts:

Define preferred spellings: Ensure "Kubernetes" not "kubernetes," "GitHub" not "Github"
Create acronym rules: Enforce "API" expansion on first use, consistent capitalization
Brand voice patterns: Encode your organization's specific voice preferences beyond what standard packages cover

Custom terminology rules ensure consistency for concepts unique to your products.

Create organization-specific rules

Advanced teams can write custom Vale rules to enforce:

Product-specific writing patterns
Template structures for specific documentation types
Organization-unique style preferences
Integration with internal glossaries and terminology databases

Custom rules require Vale CLI and YAML familiarity, but provide unlimited extensibility.

Success stories: technical writing teams using Vale

Real teams report significant improvements after adopting Vale:

Documentation team at SaaS company: "We standardized on Microsoft's style guide with Vale. Review time dropped by 40% because reviewers stopped leaving style comments. Writers self-check before submitting, and reviews focus on technical accuracy and content completeness now."

Open-source project maintainer: "We added Vale with Google's developer guide to our CI. Contribution quality improved immediately—even first-time contributors submit docs that match our style. We link to ProseLint Web in CONTRIBUTING.md, so anyone can check locally without installing tools."

Enterprise technical writer: "I used to spend hours manually checking docs against Red Hat's style guide. Now I paste into ProseLint Web, fix issues in minutes, and spend my time improving content structure and user experience instead of hunting for capitalization errors."

Solo developer: "My project's README and docs looked inconsistent because I wrote them over months. Running Vale with Microsoft's guide exposed dozens of style inconsistencies I'd never have caught manually. Fixed everything in an afternoon—docs look professional now."

Getting started with Vale style guides today

You can start enforcing professional style guides in the next five minutes:

Quick start for individual writers

Visit the ProseLint Web editor in your browser
Select a style guide package: Try Microsoft Writing Style Guide to start
Paste a sample document: Use actual documentation you're working on
Review issues: See which rules trigger and what they suggest
Apply fixes: Use quick-fix buttons or revise manually
Compare guides: Try Google or Red Hat packages to see differences

Team rollout steps

Choose a standard package: Pick the style guide that matches your documentation context
Test with real docs: Have a few team members lint actual documentation and collect feedback
Document the standard: Add to CONTRIBUTING.md which Vale package the team uses
Link the browser tool: Make ProseLint Web accessible for writers who don't want to install CLI
Add Vale CLI to CI: Enforce the style guide automatically on pull requests
Train the team: Show writers how to self-check with Vale before submitting
Iterate on rules: Disable or customize rules based on team feedback

Conclusion: automated style guides make better documentation

Technical writers shouldn't spend time memorizing and manually checking hundreds of style rules. That cognitive load is better spent understanding user needs, structuring information effectively, and ensuring technical accuracy.

Vale automates style guide enforcement, turning comprehensive style guides from Microsoft, Google, Red Hat, and others into actionable, instant feedback. Technical writers get consistent, professional documentation without manual style checking.

Try ProseLint Web with your next documentation project and experience the difference automated style guides make.

Resources

ProseLint Web editor — browser-based style guide enforcement for technical writers
Vale CLI — local and CI/CD integration for automated enforcement
Vale packages repository — professional style guide packages
Microsoft Writing Style Guide — comprehensive technical writing reference
Google Developer Documentation Style Guide — developer documentation standards
Red Hat Documentation Style Guide — enterprise technical writing reference