name: table-pipe-spacing default: true advisory: false fix: true since: unreleased

table-pipe-spacing

Table cell separator with no space before it, dropping the row’s column alignment.

A GFM table cell separator (|) that is not preceded by whitespace makes the renderer drop the whole row’s column alignment. In a table with an explicit :--, --:, or :-: column, the affected row stops emitting its text-align, so the column renders ragged even though the delimiter row asks for alignment.

For example, the middle separator below abuts the first cell’s content:

| File | Words |
| --- | ---: |
| report.md| 1.7k |

The Words column is declared right-aligned, but because report.md| has no space before the pipe, that row renders left-aligned.

The same source shape blocks mdwright fmt under [fmt.tables] style = "align": padding the cell to align the column would insert the missing space, which changes how the table parses, so the formatter preserves the table untouched rather than alter the rendered output. One such row prevents the table from ever being aligned.

The fix is to put a space before the separator:

| File | Words |
| --- | ---: |
| report.md | 1.7k |

The delimiter row (| --- | ---: |) is exempt: it carries no content and renders correctly even when fully compact (|---|---:|).