About .editorconfig Generator

Tab/space indent, EOL, charset rules — one config for every editor. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Generators collection.

Use Cases

• Teams enforcing consistent indent style across all editors
• Open-source projects preventing formatting-only pull requests
• Polyglot repos setting different indent rules per language
• DevOps engineers standardizing line endings for cross-OS teams

Tips

• Set root = true to prevent parent directory inheritance
• Mix tab and space rules per file type in one config
• Supports every major editor including VS Code and JetBrains

Fun Facts

• EditorConfig was created by Trey Hunner in 2011 to solve the 'tabs vs. spaces' debate across teams by letting the repository dictate formatting rules.
• Over 30 editors and IDEs natively support .editorconfig files, including VS Code (built-in since 2019), Vim, Emacs, Sublime Text, and all JetBrains IDEs.
• The EditorConfig specification intentionally keeps its feature set minimal — it handles indent style, size, EOL, charset, and trailing whitespace, nothing more.

FAQ

Why use .editorconfig?

Consistent indentation and line endings across everyone's editor without per-editor plugins or settings. VS Code, IntelliJ, Vim, Emacs all honor it natively or via plugin.

Which rules does it generate?

indent_style (tab/space), indent_size, end_of_line (lf/crlf), charset (utf-8), trim_trailing_whitespace, insert_final_newline. Section overrides for specific file globs.

Can I have different rules per file type?

Yes — the generator adds sections for `*.md` (preserve trailing whitespace), `*.py` (4-space), `Makefile` (tabs only), matching typical language conventions.

Is it a replacement for Prettier?

No. EditorConfig handles indentation and line endings; Prettier handles syntax-aware formatting. They're complementary — most projects use both.