# Typography

> Print-quality typography enforcement for English text. Prevents widows, orphans, and hanging short words (articles, prepositions, conjunctions, dashes) at line ends. Rewrites HTML text nodes to insert   ties. Also serves as the canonical short-word list used by /build and /audit.

- Skill: `dkadts/typography` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add dkadts/typography`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/dkadts/typography/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Design & Media
- Author: dkadts (https://skillmd.com/u/dkadts)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/dkadts/typography

---


# /typography

Standalone skill. Takes a completed section (or the full `site/index.html`) and enforces print typography rules on all English text. Callable anytime — before `/audit`, after copy edits, whenever the source text changed.

Also the **single source of truth** for the short-word list that `/build` (pre-save pass) and `/audit` (post-build check) both reference.

Language scope: **English only**. Do not run on any other language.

## When to use

- After `/build` writes a new section — `/build` calls this automatically as its pass 4b.
- After any copy edit in `inbox/texts/` that triggered a rebuild of a section.
- Standalone: user says "fix the typography on the hero" or "re-run typography on the whole site".
- Before `/audit` as a safety pass.

## Requirements

- `site/index.html` exists (or a specific section HTML file was provided).
- Content is English. If the copy is in another language, refuse and report which language was detected.

## The rules

### Rule 1 — Hanging short words at line end

A rendered line MUST NOT end on any of these words. Tie the word to the following word using ` ` so they wrap together.

**Canonical short-word list (English):**

```
# Articles
a, an, the

# Coordinating conjunctions
and, or, but, nor, for, so, yet

# Subordinating conjunctions & connectors
if, as, at, by, in, on, of, to, up, via, with, into, onto, from, than, then, when, where, while, before, after

# Auxiliary and short verbs
is, am, are, was, were, be, do, does, did, has, have, had, can, will, would, could, should

# Pronouns (short)
I, we, he, she, it, you, they, my, our, his, her, its, your, their, this, that

# Negations & quantifiers (short)
no, not, all, any
```

Case-insensitive matching, but preserve the original case when rewriting.

### Rule 2 — Dashes never end a line

`-`, `–`, `—` must attach to the following word: `text — word` (nbsp before the dash, regular space after). This is opposite direction from Rule 1 — dash pulls the next word up.

### Rule 3 — No orphans

Last line of a heading or a paragraph must contain **at least 2 words**. If the natural break would leave a single word on the last line, tie the last two words together: `... together with us.`

Detection heuristic: for each `<h1>`, `<h2>`, `<h3>`, `<p>`, `<li>`, take the last 2-3 words and tie the last two with `&nbsp;` regardless of length. Cheap, prevents 95% of orphans.

### Rule 4 — No widows (advisory)

If a `<p>` or `<blockquote>` spans a column break (rare on landing pages, but happens in multi-column footer or blog-style sections), the first line on the new column must contain ≥ 2 lines of the paragraph. This is difficult to detect statically — flag rather than fix.

## Process

**Step 1. Read input.**

- If a file path was provided, load it.
- Otherwise load `site/index.html` and every section CSS to know which classes are text vs decorative.

**Step 2. Detect language.**

Sample ~200 chars from the largest `<p>` and the first `<h1>`. If the character set is not predominantly ASCII English, stop and report. Example refusal: `Detected language: Russian. This skill runs on English only. Aborting.`

**Step 3. Walk text nodes.**

For each text node inside a semantic text element (`<h1>`-`<h6>`, `<p>`, `<li>`, `<blockquote>`, `<figcaption>`, `<button>`, `<a>` if the anchor's text is a full phrase, `<label>`):

1. Tokenize into words + whitespace runs.
2. **Rule 1 pass.** Scan word-by-word. If word W is in the short-word list AND the following whitespace is a regular space AND the next word W+1 exists — replace the space with `&nbsp;`.
3. **Rule 2 pass.** Scan for standalone `-`, `–`, `—` surrounded by spaces. Replace the space **before** the dash with `&nbsp;`.
4. **Rule 3 pass.** Take the last two words of the text node. Ensure they are joined by `&nbsp;`, not a regular space.

**Step 4. Skip zones.**

Do NOT rewrite text inside:
- `<code>`, `<pre>`, `<kbd>`, `<samp>`, `<var>` — verbatim by contract.
- `<script>`, `<style>` — not text content.
- Any element with `class="no-typo"` — user escape hatch.
- Attributes (`alt=`, `title=`, `placeholder=`, `aria-label=`) — these do not line-wrap in visible layout in the same way.

**Step 5. Idempotency check.**

Before writing, diff the file. Existing `&nbsp;` from prior passes must not be duplicated (`a&nbsp;&nbsp;the` — bug). Collapse `&nbsp;{2,}` to a single `&nbsp;`.

**Step 6. Save + report.**

Save the file. Print a compact report:

```
typography pass — site/index.html
  ties inserted:        47
  dashes rewritten:      3
  orphans prevented:    12
  skipped (code/pre):    5 nodes
  no-typo opt-outs:      1 node
```

If run inside `/build`, no report — silent success. If run standalone, always report.

## Escape hatch

`class="no-typo"` on any element skips it entirely. Use for stylized headings where the designer wants specific manual breaks (e.g. `<h1 class="no-typo">Ship<br>fast.</h1>`).

## Rules of behavior

- **English only.** Do not attempt to guess other languages' rules.
- **Rewrite text nodes only.** Never touch attributes, script, style, or verbatim elements.
- **Idempotent.** Running twice produces the same output as running once.
- **No visual changes beyond typography.** Never move elements, never add wrappers, never touch CSS.

## What NOT to do

- Do not attempt to detect actual rendered line breaks (would require a headless browser; too expensive per pass). Use the word-level heuristics defined above.
- Do not modify the short-word list per project. It's the canonical English list. If the user wants a variant, they can override in a project-local `typography-overrides.md` (not currently supported — flag as an enhancement request).
- Do not run on non-English copy. Refuse.

## Next

- `/audit` — will grep for violations (hanging words, unfixed dashes) as part of category A.
- `/build` — calls this automatically after each section HTML is written.