stet

"Let it stand." — A style checker that respects the writer.

stet is a pluggable prose linter for newsrooms and writers. It catches style issues, flags readability problems, and suggests fixes — but you're the final boss. Flag false positives, tell it to back off, and it learns.

In an era of overzealous AI editing, stet gives you the power to push back. Your house style, your rules, your call.

Install

npm install stet

Quick start

import { check, commonPack } from 'stet';

const issues = check('We need to utilize this tool.  It is very important.');
// → [
//   { rule: 'COMMON-COMPLEX-01', originalText: 'utilize', suggestion: 'use', ... },
//   { rule: 'COMMON-SPACE-01', originalText: '  ', suggestion: ' ', ... },
// ]

CLI

npx stet check article.txt          # human-readable output
npx stet check article.txt --json   # JSON output
npx stet check article.txt -c stet.config.yaml

Exit code 1 if issues found (CI-friendly).

Built-in rules (common pack)

10 rules focused on universal readability, backed by 800+ curated data entries from plain language guidelines, grammar references, and editorial review.

Rule	What it checks	Severity
COMMON-SENT-01	Hard/very-hard sentences (ARI grade level)	warning
COMMON-ADV-01	Adverbs (-ly), 153 exclusions	info
COMMON-PASSIVE-01	Passive voice, 168 irregular participles	info
COMMON-COMPLEX-01	307 complex words with simpler alternatives	warning
COMMON-QUAL-01	54 qualifier/weakening phrases	info
COMMON-REDUN-01	118 redundant phrases ("free gift" → "gift")	info
COMMON-FRE-01	Flesch Reading Ease below threshold	warning
COMMON-PARA-01	Long paragraphs (>320 chars)	warning
COMMON-SPACE-01	Double spaces, trailing whitespace	info
COMMON-REPEAT-01	Repetitive words	warning

House-style rules (number formatting, currency, terminology) belong in custom packs — see below.

API

// Tier 1: Sync, deterministic — CI, agents
check(text: string, options?: CheckOptions): Issue[]

// Tier 2: Document-level — structured sections
checkDocument(doc: DocumentInput, options?: CheckOptions): DocumentIssue[]

// Tier 3: Async — FX rates, LLM enrichment (opt-in via HostServices)
checkAsync(text: string, options?: CheckOptions): Promise<Issue[]>
checkDocumentAsync(doc: DocumentInput, options?: CheckOptions): Promise<DocumentIssue[]>

Configuration

Create stet.config.yaml:

packs:
  - stet/common
  - @my-org/style-rules    # your own pack

language: en-GB
roles:
  default: subeditor

config:
  freThreshold: 30
  headlineCharLimit: 90

rules:
  disable:
    - COMMON-ADV-01        # too noisy for us

language accepts en-GB, en-US, and zh-SG.

Chinese spellcheck

Set language: zh-SG to switch COMMON-SPELL-01 to a bundled Chinese wordlist. The extension ships data/wordlist-zh-sg.txt, and custom spellcheck terms are merged from chrome.storage.sync under stet_custom_terms.

Chinese support is currently dictionary-based spellcheck. The rest of the common readability pack remains English-oriented.

The extension options page and popup include demo profile and language toggles. The Singapore Chinese profile keeps the current newsroom/product config intact, switches the checker to zh-SG, and limits the common pack to COMMON-SPELL-01. Editors can still force en-GB, en-US, or zh-SG directly and add newsroom-specific custom terms from the UI.

Custom packs

import type { RulePack } from 'stet';
import { registerPack } from 'stet';

const myPack: RulePack = {
  id: 'my-rules',
  name: 'My Style Rules',
  description: 'House style for my newsroom',
  rules: [
    {
      id: 'MY-RULE-01',
      name: 'No exclamation marks',
      category: 'style',
      severity: 'warning',
      check: (text) => {
        const issues = [];
        let idx = text.indexOf('!');
        while (idx !== -1) {
          issues.push({
            rule: 'MY-RULE-01',
            name: 'No exclamation marks',
            category: 'style',
            severity: 'warning',
            originalText: '!',
            suggestion: '.',
            description: 'Avoid exclamation marks in news copy.',
            offset: idx,
            length: 1,
            canFix: true,
          });
          idx = text.indexOf('!', idx + 1);
        }
        return issues;
      },
    },
  ],
  config: {},
};

registerPack(myPack);

Roles

Built-in role presets filter rules by category:

Role	Sees
journalist	House style, content accuracy
subeditor	Everything
editor	Readability, content quality
online	Quick digital publishing checks

Issue identity

Every issue gets:

• issueId — unique per run (for UI tracking)
• fingerprint — stable across runs (for ignore lists, analytics, feedback)

Diagnostics

check(text, {
  onDiagnostic: (d) => console.warn(`Rule ${d.ruleId} crashed:`, d.error),
});

Rule errors are reported, not swallowed.

License

MIT