> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.vale.sh/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.vale.sh/formats/text.md).

# Plain text

Learn how Vale handles files with no markup.

The supported extension is `.txt`. A file is read as prose: blank lines separate paragraphs, and the text is segmented into sentences, so a rule scoped to `paragraph` or `sentence` works as it does in a markup file. The `text` scope is the whole file as one block, so a pattern with `\s+` in it can match across a blank line there. Nothing is ignored, since nothing marks code or links.

Any other extension Vale does not know is read as one block of text under the `text` scope, without paragraph or sentence segmentation. A [format association](/topics/.vale.ini.md#format-associations) reads such a file as one of the formats Vale knows:

```ini
[formats]
log = txt
```

Text that has structure by convention, a commit message, a transcript, a subtitle file, can be given scopes of its own through a [TextFSM View](/topics/views.md#text), so that a rule reaches the subject or one speaker's turns by name.

`--ignore-syntax` reads every file this way, line by line, whatever its extension.


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.vale.sh/formats/text.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.