House Style

Lint your Flare topics against your style guide

A free plugin for MadCap Flare 2026. It flags style issues and fixes them as tracked changes.

Download for Flare 2026 See how it works
rules built in
2,029
MIT licensed, open source
Free
on its own ribbon tab
In Flare
messages-setting-reminder-on-messages.htm

Setting reminder on messages

You can set reminders on specific messages. If there's an important message you want to be notified about later, simply hover over it and click on the reminder icon.

In the submenu, you can select an appropriate time to receive a notification later.

House Style Issues 3 issues
  • Delete 'simply'
    State the point directly · Warning
  • Use 'point to' instead of 'hover over'
    Google style · Warning
  • Use 'click' instead of 'click on'
    Google style · Warning
Lint Topic · no AI used
Click Change on an issue.

From rule to tracked change

Write a rule once. House Style finds it in every topic.

In your style guide

Plain-language.htm
Plain words
AvoidUseSeverityWhy
utilize, utilizes, utilized, utilizinguse, uses, used, usingwarningPlain words.

In your topic

mail-dashboard-integration.htm

Dashboard integration

These widgets utilize the emails from the email accounts that are set up for your account.

In House Style Issues

  • Use 'use' instead of 'utilize'
    Plain words · Warning

A full style guide, built in

Google's developer documentation style guide is built in.

rules built in. 453 run without AI.

What the rules do
228Fixed automatically
225Flagged for you to decide
1,576Used by AI review
SourceExact changeFlag onlyAI guidanceTotal
Google developer documentation style guide435 lint rules1,5712,006
Starter team rules18 lint rules523
All rules2282251,5762,029

  1. Lint a topic or a whole project

    Lint Project groups issues by rule. Change All fixes a rule everywhere.

    House Style Issuesend-user-help · 752 issues in 150 files
    • Change All available
    • Needs you
    1. Add alt text to images Needs you 83 in 25 files
    2. Use 'click', not 'click on' Change All 61 in 27 files
    3. Delete 'Please' and 'Simply' Change All 59 in 40 files
    4. Address the reader as 'you' Needs you 42 in 21 files
    5. Avoid -ing words in headings Needs you 39 in 27 files
    6. No spaces around em dashes Needs you 39 in 18 files
    7. 69 more rules 429 issues
    Sample project. 752 issues in 150 files. 297 fix automatically.
    RuleIssuesFilesAutomatic change
    Add alt text to images8325No
    Use 'click', not 'click on'6127Yes
    Delete 'Please' and 'Simply'5940Yes
    Address the reader as 'you'4221No
    Avoid -ing words in headings3927No
    No spaces around em dashes3918No
    69 more rules42934 of them
    All rules752150297 issues, 36 rules

  2. Your team's rules, with owners

    Keep your team's rules in a shared Flare project. Owners approve changes.

    A writerLints a topic
    Request a change
    OwnersApprove or decline
    Rule updated
    Every writerSees it on the next lint
    Owners are listed in owners.txt.

  3. AI only when you ask

    Linting never uses AI. Rewrite and Ask AI use your Anthropic key or your company's gateway.

    a month, light use
    $6
    a month, typical use
    $13
    a month, heavy use
    $30
    Estimated cost per action
    US cents, at Anthropic list prices
    • AI review of a topic5.4¢
    • Ask AI4.3¢
    • Rewrite a paragraph3.6¢
    • AI review after changes1.2¢
    • Suggest alt text0.4¢
    • Topic Metadata0.2¢
    • Lint Topic, Lint Project0¢, no AI

    Estimates per writer. See the AI cost report.

    ActionEstimated cost
    AI review of a topic$0.054
    Ask AI$0.043
    Rewrite a paragraph$0.036
    AI review after applying changesabout $0.012
    Suggest alt textabout $0.004
    Topic Metadata$0.002
    Lint Topic, Lint Project$0

  4. Updates itself

    New versions install when you close Flare.

    Turn updates off in Settings.

    House StyleHouse Style 0.2.0 installs when you close Flare. Your next start shows what's new.

    An update-policy.json file in the plugin folder can turn this off for everyone.

  5. Private

    Linting runs on your computer. AI actions send the selected text to your AI provider only.

    Read the privacy details
    Problem reports are sent only when you choose.

Lint your first topic

Download the zip, run Install.cmd and start Flare. Install steps

House Style setup
Step 1 of 3
How will you use House Style?
You can skip any step. Download for Flare 2026