> 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/topics/quickstart.md).

# Quickstart

Get Vale running on your project in about five minutes.

This walks through a first working setup. Each step links to the page that covers it properly, so read on where you want the detail.

## [1. Install Vale](#1-install-vale)

Use your package manager—`brew install vale`, `choco install vale`, or one of the others on the [Installation](/topics/installation.md) page—then check it worked:

```bash
$ vale --version
```

## [2. Create a `.vale.ini`](#2-create-a-valeini)

Vale doesn't ship with opinions of its own. It needs a configuration file saying where to keep styles and which to apply, so create one in the root of your project:

{% code title=".vale.ini" %}

```ini
StylesPath = styles
MinAlertLevel = suggestion

Packages = Microsoft

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

{% endcode %}

Four things are happening:

* `StylesPath` is the folder Vale will keep downloaded styles in. Add it to your `.gitignore`.
* `MinAlertLevel` is the lowest severity worth reporting.
* `Packages` names what to download—here, Microsoft's writing style guide.
* `[*.md]` applies the styles that follow it to Markdown files. `Vale` is built in; `Microsoft` is the package.

See [.vale.ini](/topics/.vale.ini.md) for everything the file accepts.

## [3. Download the styles](#3-download-the-styles)

```bash
$ vale sync
```

```
 SUCCESS  Synced 1 package(s) to 'styles'.
```

Run this again whenever you change `Packages`. See [Packages](/keys/packages.md) for other ways to name one, including a URL or a local path.

## [4. Lint something](#4-lint-something)

```bash
$ vale README.md
```

```
 README.md
 3:1   suggestion  Consider using 'to' instead of 'In order to'.  Microsoft.Wordiness
 3:13  suggestion  Consider using 'use' instead of 'utilize'.     Microsoft.Wordiness

✔ 0 errors, 0 warnings and 2 suggestions in 1 file.
```

You can pass a directory instead of a file, or a glob:

```bash
$ vale docs/
$ vale --glob='*.md' .
```

## [5. Read the output](#5-read-the-output)

Each line is one alert:

```
 3:13  suggestion  Consider using 'use' instead of 'utilize'.     Microsoft.Wordiness
 └─┬─┘ └────┬───┘  └──────────────────┬──────────────────────┘    └────────┬────────┘
 line:col  severity                 message                            rule name
```

The rule name is the useful part: it's `<style>.<rule>`, and it's how you turn one off. To silence that rule for Markdown, name it in your config:

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

Microsoft.Wordiness = NO
```

Severity matters for automation. **Only `error` sets a non-zero exit code**, so a CI job fails on errors and passes with warnings and suggestions:

```bash
$ vale README.md   # 2 suggestions
$ echo $?
0
```

See [MinAlertLevel](/keys/minalertlevel.md) for changing what gets reported, and [BasedOnStyles](/keys/basedonstyles.md) for enabling and disabling rules.

## [Setting up with a coding agent](#setting-up-with-a-coding-agent)

If an AI assistant is doing the setup, give it [AGENTS.md](https://vale.sh/AGENTS.md) rather than this page. It covers the same four steps, plus the things that are easy to get wrong without reading further: only `error` sets a non-zero exit code, `--output=JSON` is the format to parse, and a term that trips spell check belongs in a vocabulary rather than in a disabled rule.

Save it in the root of your repository, where most assistants read it automatically.

For task-shaped work — fixing alerts, triaging a first run, adding a vocabulary — there are [agent skills](https://vale.sh/skills) to copy in alongside it. In Claude Code, the skills, an edit-time linting hook, and the Vale CMS MCP server install together as one plugin:

```
/plugin marketplace add vale-cli/agent-tools
/plugin install vale@agent-tools
```

The skills and the hook run the CLI you just installed and need no account. The hook lints each prose file as your assistant writes it and hands back only error-level alerts, so a mistake is fixed in the same turn it was made. The MCP server is the one paid piece — it belongs to [Vale CMS](https://vale.sh/cms) and gives an assistant the engine itself to check a rule against, rather than the docs about it.

## [Where to go next](#where-to-go-next)

* Browse the [Package Explorer](https://vale.sh/explorer) for styles beyond Microsoft.
* Write your own rules with [Styles](/topics/styles.md) and the [checks](/checks/existence.md) reference.
* Narrow what Vale reads using [Scopes](/topics/scopes.md).


---

# 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/topics/quickstart.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

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`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.

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