EditorConfig Guide

EditorConfig provides consistent coding styles across editors and IDEs. Create a .editorconfig file in your project root.

Standard Configuration

# EditorConfig - https://editorconfig.org
root = true

# Default for all files
[*]
charset = utf-8
end_of_line = lf
insert_final_newline = true
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
indent_style = space

# Python
[*.py]
indent_size = 4
max_line_length = 100

# Ruby
[*.rb]
indent_size = 2
max_line_length = 100

# Go (tabs required)
[*.go]
indent_style = tab
indent_size = 4

# Rust
[*.rs]
indent_size = 4
max_line_length = 100

# C#
[*.cs]
indent_size = 4
max_line_length = 100

# JavaScript/TypeScript
[*.{js,jsx,ts,tsx}]
indent_size = 2
max_line_length = 100

# Web (HTML, CSS)
[*.{html,css,scss,less}]
indent_size = 2

# Data formats
[*.{json,yaml,yml,toml}]
indent_size = 2

# Markdown
[*.md]
indent_size = 4
max_line_length = 80
trim_trailing_whitespace = false

# Shell scripts
[*.sh]
indent_size = 2
max_line_length = 80

# SQL
[*.sql]
indent_size = 2
max_line_length = 80

# Makefiles (tabs required)
[Makefile]
indent_style = tab

# Dockerfiles
[Dockerfile*]
indent_size = 4

# Git config
[.git*]
indent_size = 4

Properties Reference

Property	Values	Description
root	true	Stop searching for .editorconfig
indent_style	tab, space	Hard tabs or soft tabs
indent_size	integer	Number of spaces per indent
tab_width	integer	Width of a tab character
end_of_line	lf, cr, crlf	Line ending style
charset	utf-8, latin1, etc.	Character encoding
trim_trailing_whitespace	true, false	Remove trailing spaces
insert_final_newline	true, false	File ends with newline
max_line_length	integer, off	Soft line length limit

Editor Support

EditorConfig is supported natively or via plugins:

Editor	Support
VS Code	Native (settings enable)
JetBrains IDEs	Native
Vim/Neovim	Plugin: editorconfig-vim
Emacs	Plugin: editorconfig-emacs
Sublime Text	Plugin: EditorConfig
Atom	Plugin: editorconfig

VS Code Settings

Add to .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "files.trimTrailingWhitespace": true,
  "files.insertFinalNewline": true,
  "files.eol": "\n"
}

Relationship with Other Tools

EditorConfig works alongside language-specific formatters:

Tool	Purpose	EditorConfig Relationship
Prettier	Formatting	Respects .editorconfig
Ruff	Python formatting	Has own config, sync manually
rustfmt	Rust formatting	Has own config, sync manually
gofmt	Go formatting	Hardcoded (tabs), no config
dotnet format	C# formatting	Respects .editorconfig

Syncing with Formatters

Keep EditorConfig and formatter configs in sync:

# pyproject.toml (Ruff)
[tool.ruff]
line-length = 100  # Match .editorconfig max_line_length

[tool.ruff.format]
indent-style = "space"  # Match .editorconfig indent_style

Best Practices

1. Always set root = true in project root to prevent inheriting from parent directories.

2. Use LF line endings (end_of_line = lf) for consistency across platforms. Handle Windows in .gitattributes.

3. Always insert final newline - POSIX standard, prevents diff noise.

4. Trim trailing whitespace - except in Markdown where trailing spaces can mean line breaks.

5. Match formatter configs - EditorConfig sets editor behavior, but formatters enforce on save/commit.