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Content style guide for GitHub Docs

Welcome to the content style guide for GitHub Docs.

These guidelines are specific to GitHub’s documentation. For general style questions or guidance on topics not covered here, see the GitHub Brand Guide first, then the Microsoft Style Guide. For markup specific to source content on docs.github.com, see our markup reference guide.

Use table of contents icon on the top left corner of this document to get to a specific section of this guide quickly.

The GitHub Docs approach to style

  • Our style guide aims for simplicity. Guidelines should be easy to apply to a range of scenarios.
  • Decisions aren’t about what’s right or wrong according to the rules of grammar or the style guide, but about what’s best for our users. We're flexible and open to change while maintaining consistency.
  • To scale the style guide as our team and documentation sets grow, and to create high-quality, meaningful content that serves users, we focus our attention on high-impact, high-value scenarios rather than attempting to comprehensively cover every style question.
  • Consistency and grammatical correctness are important, but not as important as clarity and meaning.
  • When making a style or structure decision, we consider the flow of information within the unit of content and the context of the information.
  • When a question specific to help documentation isn’t covered by the style guide, we think it through using these principles, then make a decision. If a reviewer asks about it, we're prepared to discuss the decision.

Callouts

Callouts highlight important information that customers need to know. We use standard formatting and colors for different types of callouts across doc sets.

Use callouts sparingly for high-value information - do not include general information, permissions, or prerequisites in callouts. Do not include more than two bullet points in a callout.

There are three types of in-content callouts: notes, warnings, and danger notices.

Formatting callouts

Each callout starts with text indicating the type of callout (e.g. Warning:) to orient the reader (whether accessing the site visually or with a screen reader) and helps every user gauge the importance and necessity of the information in the callout.

Notes are rendered in blue {% note %} tags.

  • Notes provide useful information or reminders for the user, but the information is not required to follow. Notes may not be relevant or necessary to every user.
  • Precede note content with **Note:**.

Warnings and danger notices are rendered in red {% warning %} tags.

  • Warnings are potentially dangerous actions that a user should heed before continuing with a task. They are often non-optional steps.
    • Precede content with **Warning:**.
  • Danger notices are dangerous actions that a user should exercise extreme caution before performing. They often involve the potential for data loss or other destructive actions.
    • Precede content with **Danger:**.

For more information on formatting callouts, see “Callouts” in the markup reference guide.

Code

Code blocks

Keep lines in code samples to about 60 characters, to avoid requiring readers to scroll horizontally in the code block. Locate explanatory text before the code block, rather than using comments inside the code block.

Within code blocks:

  • Do not use markup before the command output.
  • Only use $ before the command itself if you’re showing the command’s output in the same block.
  • If your code example includes { or } that should render, wrap that section in {% raw %} {% endraw %} to disable Liquid processing for that section.

    • Use:

      GITHUB_TOKEN: {% raw %}${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}{% endraw %}

    • Avoid:

      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Commands

Use inline code blocks to refer to short command names.

  • Use: To check the status of a running cluster, use the ghe-cluster-status command.

Use command blocks for longer or more complex commands.

  • Use: Enable maintenance mode according to your scheduled window by connecting to the administrative shell of any cluster node and running:

    ghe-cluster-maintenance -s

Avoid inline links in command names.

Examples

When code examples refer to a larger file, show the relevant section of the file, so that users understand how to edit their own code in context.

  • Use:
on:
  schedule:
    - cron:  "40 19 * * *"
  • Avoid:
schedule:
  - cron:  "40 19 * * *"

Indentation

In YAML examples, such as actions and workflow files, use two spaces to indent lines within nested lists and block sequences.

  • Use:
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v2
        with:
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python }}

Scheduled workflows

Workflow runs are delayed when too many workflows run at once. Since many users copy code from the GitHub docs, we should use examples that guide users away from congested times.

  • Do not use examples that run on the hour. (The Actions team reports that times at the start of the hour, especially UTC midnight, are disproportionately overloaded.)
  • Do not use examples that run more frequently than necessary. For example, instead of running every 5 minutes, consider if the example makes sense to run every 30 minutes instead.
  • Use a different time for each example.

Headers

Use H2 for headers, and H3 for subheaders. When referring to headers, surround the header name with quotation marks.

  • Use: Under “User licenses”, view your total licenses.

To orient readers and help them understand if the section is relevant to them, include introductory content after a header - don’t locate a subheader directly following a header.

Images

Alt text

Every image must include an alt attribute that provides a complete description of the image for the user. For more information, see “Accessibility guidelines for images and videos” in the Microsoft Docs Contributor Guide.

Filenames

Be descriptive when naming image files: include the name, action, and UI element in the filename. Mirror product language. Use kebab case. If replacing an image, use the exact filename.

  • Use: data-pack-purchase-button.png
  • Avoid: purchase_button.png

Screenshots

To learn about creating and versioning images, see "Creating and updating screenshots."

Inclusive language

As home to the largest developer community in the world, GitHub is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in every aspect of what we do. It is critical that all of our documentation is inclusive and respectful of our audience, which consists of people in widely varying circumstances from all over the planet. When we write our documentation, we use words that are inclusive, anti-racist, and accessible.

Individual words might be small, but together they can create community, belonging, and equity. Be empathetic in all word and style choices. Be accurate when referring to people and communities.

Use Avoid
Allowlist Whitelist
Denylist Blacklist
Default/Main branch Master branch

Resources about inclusive language

GitHub Brand Guide:

The Microsoft Style Guide offers resources on bias-free communication, accessibility terms, and writing for all abilities:

More resources for learning about inclusive and accessible language and style:

Linebreaks

For plain text, use linebreaks to separate paragraphs in the source (two consecutive linebreaks), rather than to create visual space in the source. Avoid unneeded linebreaks, especially in lists.

Links

Introduce links consistently using a standard format that clearly indicates where we’re linking: "For more information, see X [or "Page/article title"] in the X documentation." Do not include quotation marks within a hyperlink.

Links should be meaningful and provide high value to the user’s journey - link out carefully. Move links that are helpful but not necessary to an article’s further reading section. Do not repeat the same link more than once in the same article or under the same H2 header.

For accessibility and readability, avoid inline or midsentence links.

For more information on links and accessibility, see “Links” in the Readability Guidelines project.

Links between versions

Sometimes, you need to link from one version of GitHub Docs to another. For example, the Free, Pro, & Team version of "Managing the publication of GitHub Pages sites for your organization" might link to the Enterprise Cloud version of the same article like this:

You can choose to allow or disallow the publication of GitHub Pages sites.

Organizations that use GitHub Enterprise Cloud can choose to allow publicly published sites, privately published sites, both, or neither. For more information, see the GitHub Enterprise Cloud documentation.

To link to a different article in a different version, use this format:

For more information, see "ARTICLE TITLE" in the VERSION documentation.

To link to the same article in a different version, use this format:

For more information, see the VERSION documentation.

To link to a specific version, you must include the version in the path (e.g., /enterprise-cloud@latest/admin/overview/about-enterprise-accounts).

Links to learning paths

Use this format to link to a learning path.

For more information, follow the "LEARNING PATH TITLE" learning path.

Links to external resources

When linking to an external site, choose the most useful resource for the context of the link - you can link to a whole site if it's a general reference or to a specific page if that would be more helpful.

It's not necessary to link to an external product’s website when we mention an external product.

Lists

For general guidelines, see “Lists” in GitHub’s Brand Guide.

Capitalize the first letter in each line of a list. Use periods at the end of lines in a list only if the line contains a complete sentence.

When writing a list of items that consist of primary and secondary text, such as a term and its definition, use a colon delimiter. The secondary text should be capitalized as if it was the beginning of the line. For example:

  • foo: Something that provides bar.
  • bar: Something provided by foo.

Formatting unordered lists:

  • If the order of items in the list is not important, alphabetize the list items.
  • If the order is important, then order the list by the importance to the reader (for example, moving from broadest audience and applicability to a more specialized audience).

When introducing a list, avoid phrasing like “the following” or “these”, terms which are difficult to localize. Instead, be descriptive, yet general enough to allow a list to scale or change without having to update the description.

Procedural steps

Procedures give readers a set of sequential steps to follow to complete a task. Always use numbered lists for procedures. Give readers all of the prerequisites or conceptual information they’ll need to complete the task before the procedure, rather than including it within a specific step.

Each step must include an action. You can also choose to include whether a step is optional, explain the reason or result of the step, and orient the reader by describing the location of the action, before guiding them to complete the action.

Use a consistent order to present information within each step.

  1. If the step is optional, indicate that first.
  2. When needed for clarity, or to reinforce the severity of a destructive or confusing action, explain the reason for or result of the step.
  3. Describe the location the user will find the action in.
  4. Action.

Use: Optionally, to [REASON], in [LOCATION], take [ACTION].

Examples:

  • Click Payment information.
  • Under your organization name, click Settings.
  • To confirm your change, click Remove credit card.
  • Optionally, to see your plan’s details, click Show details.
  • Under "GitHub Sponsors", to the right of the sponsored open source contributor, click [down arrow octicon] next to your sponsored amount, then click Change tier.

Product names

Use full product names. Do not abbreviate or shorten product names unless directly reproducing content from the product (e.g. UI copy or API responses).

Use product name variables to render product names - do not write product names in plain text. This makes product name changes easier to implement across the site and avoids typos in our product names. For more information about product name variables, see “Reusables and variables” in this document and the data directory of the github/docs repository.

Product names are always singular.

  • Use: GitHub Actions helps you automate your software development workflows.
  • Avoid: GitHub Actions help you automate your software development workflows.

Take care to distinguish between product names and product elements. For more information, see “Terminology” in GitHub’s Brand Guide.

Product Element
GitHub Actions an action
GitHub Packages a package
GitHub Pages a GitHub Pages site

Product-specific conventions

This section describes additional conventions that are specific to GitHub products.

GitHub Actions

Disclaimers for third-party actions

Code examples that use third-party actions must include the following disclaimer as part of the code block:

# This workflow uses actions that are not certified by GitHub.
# They are provided by a third-party and are governed by
# separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support
# documentation.

To insert this disclaimer, use the {% data reusables.actions.actions-not-certified-by-github-comment %} reusable. If the code block is indented, you must use indented_data_reference along with the reusable. For example:

{% indented_data_reference reusables.actions.actions-not-certified-by-github-comment spaces=4 %}

For GitHub Docs purposes, a third-party action is any action that doesn't have the actions/, github/ or octo-org/ prefix. For example, this is a first-party action:

steps:
  - uses: actions/javascript-action@main

This is an example of a third-party action:

steps:
    - uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@daadedc81d5f9d3c06d2c92f49202a3cc2b919ba

Examples:

Pinning version numbers to SHA

Code examples that use third-party actions must always pin to a full length commit SHA, instead of the version number or branch:

steps:
    - uses: google-github-actions/setup-gcloud@daadedc81d5f9d3c06d2c92f49202a3cc2b919ba

For GitHub Docs purposes, a third-party action is any action that doesn't have one of the following prefixes: actions/, github/, and octo-org/. For example, this is a first-party action:

steps:
  - uses: actions/javascript-action@main

For more information, see "Using SHAs"

Punctuation

Follow standard American English punctuation rules. For more guidance, see “Punctuation” in GitHub’s Brand Guide and “Punctuation” in the Microsoft Style Guide.

Reusables and variables

Use reusable strings for individual nouns (e.g. product names) or for complete sentences or paragraphs. Sentence fragments and phrases should not be contained in reusable strings as they can cause problems when content is localized. For more information, see the data directory in the github/docs repository and the “Product names” section of this document.

Tables

A table’s contents should be clear from the preceding content - avoid unneeded descriptions. If you must describe a table, use complete sentences closed with a period.

  • Use: Nothing or a clear header.
  • Avoid: “The table below shows what kind of migration data is exported:”

Titles

Use quotation marks around article titles, whether the article is hosted on GitHub Docs or elsewhere. Do not include quotation marks around the names of external sites.

For further guidance, see “Formatting titles” in Microsoft’s Style Guide.

Short titles

We use short titles to populate the sidebar navigation. They should give users contextual understanding of the article, but align to the following standards:

  • Short titles are 2-3 words long, yet should still convey the full meaning of the title.
  • To help cut words, look at the title in context:
    • Are there words in the breadcrumb that you can omit in the short title?
    • Remove repeated words possible
  • Don’t introduce new words in short titles that aren’t in the full title
  • Short titles should be parallel to short titles for similar content
    • Use:
      • Organizations and teams
      • Enterprise accounts
  • Short titles should still mimic format of the full title
    • For task-based titles, if there’s a preposition or object or it’s otherwise awkward to shorten, try to find a verb but you can use a nouns when needed
Instead of Use
Authenticating to GitHub Authentication
Installing and configuring GHE Server Installation and configuration

User interface elements

Boldface

Use bold to describe UI elements that can be interacted with.

  • In the left sidebar, click Billing.
  • Look in the merge box at the bottom of the pull request's Conversation tab.
  • Next to Title, add a descriptive label for your new key.

Branch names

Use code formatting for branch names.

  • main
  • <username>.github.io

Buttons

Format button names in bold and, whenever possible, omit the word “button.” To describe using a button, write “click”, not push or press.

  • Use: Click Pull request.
  • Avoid: Press the Pull request button.

Checkboxes

Format checkbox names in bold and omit the word “checkbox.” To describe choosing or clearing a checkbox, use “select” or “deselect.”

  • Use: Select Enable for all new repositories.
  • Avoid: Check the “Enable for all new repositories” checkbox.

Drop-down menus

Format drop-down menus in regular text and format clickable items within a menu in bold. Select drop-down menus (regardless of whether the menu name is a word or an octicon), and click their menu items.

  • Use: Select the Backup email addresses drop-down menu and click Only allow primary email.

Dynamic text

Use capital letters to indicate text that changes in the user interface or that the user needs to supply in a command or code snippet.

  • Use: Click Add USERNAME to REPONAME.

Location

Describe a user interface element’s location with standard terms.

  • Under or above
  • Next to
  • Upper-left, upper-right, lower-left, lower-right
  • Top of the page, bottom of the page, right side of the page, left side of the page

Radio buttons

Format radio button labels in bold and omit the words “radio button” or any other descriptor. To describe using a radio button, write "select."

Repository names

Use a standard format to refer to repositories. Link to repositories when helpful.

User interface text

When referencing text in the user interface, reproduce the text exactly. Use quotation marks to surround UI text that cannot be interacted with.

  • Use: Under “IP allow list”, click Edit.

More resources

GitHub Brand Guide:

Voice and tone

Use clear, simple language that’s approachable and accessible for a wide range of readers. For more information, see “Voice” in GitHub’s Brand Guide. To learn more about writing approachable content, see “Microsoft's brand voice: Above all, simple and human and “Top 10 tips for Microsoft style and voice.”

Word choice and terminology

For general guidance and GitHub-specific terms, see “Terminology” and “Words that can be tricky” in GitHub’s Brand Guide. For more detailed guidance, see the “A-Z word list” in Microsoft’s style guide.

Abbreviations

Spell out words except when referring to a word that’s explicitly shortened in the product itself.

  • Use: Repository
  • Avoid: Repo
  • Use: Administrator, people with admin permissions
  • Avoid: Admins

Do not use symbols or octicons that aren’t used in GitHub’s user interface.

  • Use: Click File, then click Edit.
  • Avoid: Click File > Edit.

Accounts

To avoid ambiguity and confusion, do not use product names as adjectives to describe accounts in any of our products. Instead, clarify the account type and choose clearer phrasing that avoids conflating accounts and products. When talking about accounts, only refer to the product name when needed to disambiguate between products.

  • Use: Your organization account
  • Use: Your user account on GitHub Enterprise Cloud
  • Avoid: Your GitHub Enterprise Server organization
  • Use: You can highlight your work on GitHub Enterprise Server by sending the contribution counts to your GitHub.com profile.

Acronyms

Spell out acronyms the first time they’re used in an article, except in titles or headers.

Apps

Use "apps" or "applications" in general content.

  • Use: Publish and list your apps in GitHub Marketplace

Use "Apps" when referring to specific apps or types of apps.

  • Use: GitHub App, OAuth App

GitHub Apps is always capitalized, because it’s a feature name.

Currency

When referring to dollars, cents, amounts of currency or using the $ sign, ensure the currency used is defined even if the amount is zero. Use the ISO standard currency name, and the ISO standard currency code where possible.

Use lowercase for currency names, but capitalize the reference to the country or region.

  • Use: US dollar.
  • Avoid: US Dollar, $USD dollar.

Use uppercase for currency codes.

  • Use: USD.

Where there is only one reference in an article, use the currency name without a $ sign preceding the amount.

  • Use: 10 US dollars for a single reference to currency.

Where an article contains several references to the same currency, ensure that the first reference uses the currency name without a $ sign preceding the amount and includes the currency code in parentheses following the currency name.

For subsequent references to currency in an article or where appropriate (such as when space is a consideration, or when several amounts are presented in a table or list), include the $ sign preceding the amount and use the ISO standard currency code following the amount.

  • Use: 10 US dollars (USD) for the first reference, and $0.25 USD for subsequent references.
  • Avoid: $10 US dollars (USD), USD$0.25.

Where the first reference concerns cents or a non-dollar amount, capitalize the reference to the country or region of the currency used in parentheses immediately after the first reference. Subsequent currency references are treated using the guidelines above.

  • Use: 99 cents (US currency) for the first reference, and 99 cents for subsequent references.
  • Avoid: $0.99 (US currency), $0.99 USD cents, USD$0.99 cents.

Inclusive language

See the “Inclusive language” section of this guide.

Permissions

A permission is the ability to perform a specific action. For example, the ability to delete an issue is a permission.

A role is a set of permissions that can be assigned to a user. Roles exist at different levels.

  • Accounts (e.g., organization owner, billing manager for an enterprise account)
  • Resources (e.g., "Write" for a repository, "Admin" for a security advisory)
  • Teams (e.g., "team maintainer")

A person's access refers generally to all the abilities the person has in a particular context, regardless of which roles or individual permissions those abilities come from.

Only use permission or role when the distinction between the two is important. Otherwise, use access.

  • Use: To create a custom repository role, you choose an inherited role and then add individual permissions.
  • Use: Managing a team's access to your organization's repository
  • Use: If your team membership gives you a different level of access than your role as organization owner...
  • Use: People with write access can...
  • Avoid: People with the write role can...
  • Avoid: People with write permissions can...
  • Avoid: People with write privileges can...

When specifying the access required to take an action, refer only to the role at the same level as the action. For example, you need admin access to a repository, which is a repository-level role, to configure protected branches. You can get admin access to a repository by being an organization owner, an organization-level role, but the repository-level role is what actually governs your ability to take the action, so that is the only role that should be mentioned.

  • Use: People with write access to a repository can do X to the repository.
  • Avoid: Organization owners and people with write access can do X to the repository.

For more information about word choice for permissions statments, see "Permissions statements" in the content model.

Prepositions

Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition unless the rewritten sentence would sound awkward or too formal.

Product names

See the “Product names” section of this guide.

Terms to use or avoid

Use Avoid
person user, customer
terminal shell
username login
sign in log in, login
sign up signup
recommended limit soft limit
email e-mail
on GitHub on a remote repository
press (a key) hit, tap
type (in the user interface) enter (in the user interface)
enter (in the command line) type (in the command line)

Word order

Strings of nouns

Avoid stacked modifiers (strings of nouns), which can lead to incorrect translations because translations may not be able to tell which word is modifying the other. You can rephrase the string of nouns using a preposition. If using a stacked modifier is essential, make sure the background information and context are clear so that readers and the translator can understand what is being modified.

  • Use: Default source settings for public repositories
  • Avoid: Public repository default source settings