kandev/docs/decisions/2026-08-10-no-em-dash-public-copy.md

ADR-2026-08-10-no-em-dash-public-copy: Keep Em Dashes Out of Public Copy

Status: accepted Date: 2026-08-10 Area: frontend, infra

Context

Em dashes appear in UI copy, translation catalogs, and public documentation. They make the product text look inconsistent and can resemble generated prose. The repository already checks UI copy, but the public documentation validator does not check the same rule.

Decision

Kandev user-facing copy must not contain the Unicode em dash (U+2014). This rule covers web source strings, locale values, backend-rendered copy, and Markdown under docs/public/**. The existing no-em-dash scanner remains the shared source check; the public-doc validator also runs its Markdown scan so documentation-only changes fail in the published-docs workflow.

Comments, generated changelog history, and non-public internal prose are outside this rule. Violations report the file and line, or the catalog key when the value is in a locale catalog.

Consequences

New UI and public-doc copy gets a single, deterministic CI check. The initial cleanup removes existing em dashes from published pages. Authors must use a period, colon, comma, semicolon, parentheses, or a normal hyphen when the meaning requires one.

The scanner runs in both the web i18n check and the public-doc validation workflow, so either kind of change remains covered when the other area is not touched.

Alternatives Considered

• Use an ESLint-only rule: rejected because locale JSON, Markdown, and backend rendered copy are not all ESLint inputs.
• Check only changed lines: rejected because existing public pages would remain non-compliant and the rule would depend on diff-base behavior.
• Allow em dashes in public docs: rejected because the requested style boundary applies to both UI text and published documentation.