Lint Quarto and R Markdown with rumdl¶

rumdl automatically selects its quarto flavor for .qmd and .Rmd files. The flavor recognizes executable cells, citations, shortcodes, callout divs, math, and the underlying Pandoc syntax while keeping normal Markdown checks active.

rumdl check manuscript.qmd

Built on Pandoc. The Quarto flavor includes all Pandoc-flavor syntax — fenced divs, attribute lists, citations, footnotes, definition lists, math, raw format blocks, grid and multi-line tables, line blocks, sub/superscripts, example lists, and bracketed spans. The sections below describe what Quarto adds on top of Pandoc: executable code blocks, shortcodes, and Quarto-specific div patterns.

Supported Patterns¶

Cell Options¶

Quarto code cell options using #| syntax:

```{python}
#| label: fig-example
#| fig-cap: "Example figure"
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.plot([1, 2, 3])
```

Affected rules: MD038 (code spans), MD040 (fenced code language)

Executable Code Blocks¶

Code blocks with language in braces:

```{r}
summary(data)
```

```{python}
print("Hello")
```

Affected rules: MD040 (fenced code language)

Pandoc Citations¶

Quarto supports Pandoc citation syntax:

According to @smith2020, the results show...

Multiple citations [@smith2020; @jones2021] confirm this.

Suppress author: [-@smith2020] showed...

In-text: @smith2020 [p. 42] argues that...

Affected rules: MD042 (empty links), MD051 (link fragments), MD052 (reference links)

Shortcodes¶

Quarto/Hugo shortcodes are recognized:

{{< video https://youtube.com/watch?v=xxx >}}

{{< include _content.qmd >}}

{{% callout note %}}
This is a callout.
{{% /callout %}}

Affected rules: MD034 (bare URLs - URLs in shortcodes not flagged), MD042, MD051, MD052

Div Blocks and Callouts¶

Quarto div syntax with attributes:

::: {.callout-note}
This is a note callout.
:::

::: {.column-margin}
Marginal content here.
:::

::: {#fig-layout layout-ncol=2}
![Caption A](imageA.png)

![Caption B](imageB.png)
:::

Affected rules: MD031 (blanks around fences)

Math Blocks¶

LaTeX math blocks are recognized and excluded from emphasis checking:

$$
E = mc^2
$$

Inline math $\alpha + \beta$ is also recognized.

Affected rules: MD037 (no space in emphasis), MD049 (emphasis style), MD050 (strong style)

Rule Behavior Changes¶

Rule	Standard Behavior	Quarto Behavior
MD034	Flag all bare URLs	Skip URLs inside shortcodes
MD037	Check emphasis spacing	Skip math blocks
MD038	Check all code spans	Handle Quarto-specific syntax
MD040	Standard language detection	Recognize `{language}` exec chunks, `{=format}` raw blocks, and `{.class …}` code attributes
MD042	Flag empty links	Skip citations and shortcodes
MD049	Check emphasis consistency	Skip math blocks
MD050	Check strong consistency	Skip math blocks
MD051	Validate link fragments	Skip citations and shortcodes
MD052	Flag undefined references	Skip citations and shortcodes

Limitations¶

Complex Pandoc filter syntax may not be fully recognized
YAML front matter extensions are parsed as standard YAML

Configuration¶

[global]
flavor = "quarto"

Or auto-detect by file extension:

[per-file-flavor]
"**/*.qmd" = "quarto"
"**/*.Rmd" = "quarto"

Note: .qmd and .Rmd files are auto-detected as Quarto flavor by default.

When to Use¶

Use the Quarto flavor when:

Writing Quarto documents (.qmd)
Writing RMarkdown documents (.Rmd)
Creating scientific publications with citations
Using Jupyter notebooks converted to Quarto