> 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.

## [Manuscripts](#manuscripts)

{% hint style="info" %}
Requires Vale v3.23.0 or later.
{% endhint %}

A plain-text file that marks its chapters is read as a document. A line of its own reading `Chapter One`, `Prologue`, `Epilogue`, `Interlude`, `Part II`, or a bare number such as `7` or `IV` is a heading, and everything after it up to the next such line is its section. A first short line followed by a chapter heading is the title. A row of asterisks, hashes, or dashes on its own line is a scene break.

Chapters and numbered headings are `heading.h2`; a part, book, or act is `heading.h1`, as is the title. With that structure, the rules a Markdown manuscript gets reach the `.txt` one: a rule scoped to `heading`, or to a selection such as `doc(section:has(> h2))`, sees the same chapters in either format. A file with no chapter line is read as it always was, one block of prose.

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 by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:

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

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.

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.