> 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/keys/basedonstyles.md).

# BasedOnStyles

Learn how to enable a style for a specific file type.

```ini
StylesPath = styles

[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, MyStyle
```

`BasedOnStyles` enables every rule in the named styles for the files a section matches.

It's a section-level setting, so it has to appear under a glob. Putting it above the first section is an error:

```
'BasedOnStyles' is a syntax-specific option
```

To apply styles to everything, use the catch-all section:

```ini
[*]
BasedOnStyles = Vale
```

## [More than one section](#more-than-one-section)

When several sections match a file, the last one written takes it: its `BasedOnStyles` **replaces** the others rather than adding to them.

```ini
[*]
BasedOnStyles = Vale

[*.md]
# Markdown files get Microsoft *instead of* Vale, not as well as.
BasedOnStyles = Microsoft
```

If you want the defaults plus something extra, name them all:

```ini
[*]
BasedOnStyles = Vale

[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, Microsoft
```

## [Individual rules](#individual-rules)

Rules can be switched on or off by name, and unlike `BasedOnStyles`, these settings **accumulate** across every section that matches:

```ini
[*]
BasedOnStyles = Vale

[*.md]
# Markdown keeps everything from Vale, and adds one rule
# from a style that isn't otherwise enabled.
Microsoft.Contractions = YES
```

That's the way to extend your defaults for one file type without repeating them.

Turning a rule off works the same way:

```ini
[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = Vale, MyStyle

Vale.Spelling = NO
```

A rule can also be enabled on its own, without its style being listed at all:

```ini
[*.md]
# Only this rule runs, not the rest of Style1.
Style1.Rule = YES
```

## [Severity](#severity)

The same syntax sets a rule's level, which overrides whatever the rule file declares:

```ini
[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = Vale

Vale.Spelling = warning
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Setting a level for a whole style requires Vale v3.17.0 or later.
{% endhint %}

A bare style name sets the default for every rule in that style, and a rule naming itself still wins:

```ini
[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = proselint

# Everything in proselint is a suggestion ...
proselint = suggestion
# ... except this one.
proselint.Typography = warning
```

This is the concise way to keep one part of a style while turning the rest down—or off:

```ini
proselint = NO
proselint.Typography = YES
```

See [MinAlertLevel](/keys/minalertlevel.md) for how levels affect Vale's exit code.

## [Parameters](#parameters)

{% hint style="info" %}
Bracketed parameters require Vale v3.20.0 or later.
{% endhint %}

A bracketed key overrides one scalar on a rule you have enabled, keeping the rule's identity:

```ini
[*.md]
BasedOnStyles = Std

# The rule stays Std.SentenceLength; only its threshold moves.
Std.SentenceLength[max] = 30
```

Values are coerced to the field's type at compile time, and an unknown parameter fails the rule's compilation rather than being silently dropped.

Only scalars can be tuned this way. A structural field — `tokens`, `swap`, `message` — is refused with a pointer at [extending the rule](/topics/styles.md#extending-another-rule) in a style, which is what authoring is for. `[level]` is refused too: the classic `Style.Rule = warning` syntax already says that.


---

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