[MD013] Allow trailing dashes in long list items

[kdeldycke]

Here is Markdown list of very long items:

❯ cat ./dash-separated-link-list.md
- [Link 1](#link-1) - Description of line 1.
- [Link 2](#link-2) - A very long description for the second link in the list. That description is more than 80 characters wide.
- [This is a very long title, pointing to an awesome article on incredible stuff we're not used to see everyday](#link-3) - Line #3's description.
- [Link number three](#this-is-a-very-long-url-that-is-pointing-to-a-really-really-great-website) - Fourth description.

It properly renders into 4 items:

• Link 1 - Description of line 1.
• Link 2 - A very long description for the second link in the list. That description is more than 80 characters wide.
• This is a very long title, pointing to an awesome article on incredible stuff we're not used to see everyday - Line MD033 "Inline HTML" should allow exceptions #3's description.
• Link number three - Fourth description.

But it does not comply with the MD013 rule:

❯ markdownlint ./dash-separated-link-list.md
(...)
./dash-separated-link-list.md:2:81 MD013/line-length Line length [Expected: 80; Actual: 128]
./dash-separated-link-list.md:3:81 MD013/line-length Line length [Expected: 80; Actual: 146]
./dash-separated-link-list.md:4:81 MD013/line-length Line length [Expected: 80; Actual: 119]

Now I'd like to limit each line to 80 characters. My cleaned-up markdown now looks like:

❯ cat ./dash-separated-link-list-80-chars.md
- [Link 1](#link-1) - Description of line 1.
- [Link 2](#link-2) - A very long description for the second link in the list.
  That description is more than 80 characters wide.
- [This is a very long title, pointing to an awesome article on incredible
  stuff we're not used to see everyday](#link-3) - Line \#3's description.
- [Link number
  three](#this-is-a-very-long-url-that-is-pointing-to-a-really-really-great-website) -
  Fourth description.

But this makes markdownlint unhappy:

❯ markdownlint ./dash-separated-link-list-80-chars.md
(...)
./dash-separated-link-list-80-chars.md:7:81 MD013/line-length Line length [Expected: 80; Actual: 86]

The thing is I can't simply split the 4th item before the middle dash. The layout below:

- [Link 1](#link-1) - Description of line 1.
- [Link 2](#link-2) - A very long description for the second link in the list.
  That description is more than 80 characters wide.
- [This is a very long title, pointing to an awesome article on incredible
  stuff we're not used to see everyday](#link-3) - Line \#3's description.
- [Link number
  three](#this-is-a-very-long-url-that-is-pointing-to-a-really-really-great-website)
  - Fourth description.

rightfully renders the last description into its own sub-list:

• Link 1 - Description of line 1.
• Link 2 - A very long description for the second link in the list. That description is more than 80 characters wide.
• This is a very long title, pointing to an awesome article on incredible stuff we're not used to see everyday - Line MD033 "Inline HTML" should allow exceptions #3's description.
• Link number three
  • Fourth description.

This is an edge-case, and I'd like to have markdownlint detect and allow for trailing spaces and dashes in long lines.

---

For reference, here the version I'm using:

❯ markdownlint --version
0.23.2

---

For the record, this edge-case is currently being discussed at:

• Dash-separated long list items rendered as sublist commonmark/cmark#347
• [Markdown] Dash-separated long list items rendered as sublist jgm/pandoc#6497

[DavidAnson]

You can do this today with link references. Here is your example without any warnings:

https://dlaa.me/markdownlint/#%25m%23%20Issue%20302%0A%0A-%20%5BLink%201%5D(%23link-1)%20-%20Description%20of%20line%201.%0A-%20%5BLink%202%5D(%23link-2)%20-%20A%20very%20long%20description%20for%20the%20second%20link%20in%20the%20list.%0A%20%20That%20description%20is%20more%20than%2080%20characters%20wide.%0A-%20%5BThis%20is%20a%20very%20long%20title%2C%20pointing%20to%20an%20awesome%20article%20on%20incredible%0A%20%20stuff%20we're%20not%20used%20to%20see%20everyday%5D(%23link-3)%20-%20Line%20%5C%233's%20description.%0A-%20%5BLink%20number%0A%20%20three%5D%5Blink3%5D%20-%20Fourth%20description.%0A%0A%5Blink3%5D%3A%20%23this-is-a-very-long-url-that-is-pointing-to-a-really-really-great-website%0A%0A%3C!--%20markdownlint-configure-file%20%7B%20%22MD013%22%3A%20true%20%7D%20--%3E%0A

[kdeldycke]

Seems to renders quite well by most implementations: https://johnmacfarlane.net/babelmark2/?text=%23+Issue+302%0A%0A-+%5BLink+1%5D(%23link-1)+-+Description+of+line+1.%0A-+%5BLink+2%5D(%23link-2)+-+A+very+long+description+for+the+second+link+in+the+list.%0A++That+description+is+more+than+80+characters+wide.%0A-+%5BThis+is+a+very+long+title%2C+pointing+to+an+awesome+article+on+incredible%0A++stuff+we%27re+not+used+to+see+everyday%5D(%23link-3)+-+Line+%5C%233%27s+description.%0A-+%5BLink+number%0A++three%5D%5Blink3%5D+-+Fourth+description.%0A%0A%5Blink3%5D%3A+%23this-is-a-very-long-url-that-is-pointing-to-a-really-really-great-website

[DavidAnson]

I will close this issue because it seems link references are working well.

[kdeldycke]

OK to close that one. And thanks @DavidAnson for the tip.