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docs: unify formula and cask description guidelines - #24256

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  • Move desc guidance into a shared Description-Guidelines page so formulae and casks follow one set of expectations.

This may require some tinkering/further input, but I figured that opening a PR is the best way to get the ball rolling on it.


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  • I did not use AI/LLM to create this PR, or I disclosed the tool/model below and reviewed its output; I did not attribute commits to AI and will answer maintainer questions and review comments myself without AI/LLM.

Claude with Fable 5.1 at Extra High effort, with local review and testing.

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No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

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  • docs/Description-Guidelines.md
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📝 Summary

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Documentation
    • Added shared guidance for writing concise, neutral, one-line descriptions for formulas and casks, with examples and notes on mechanical formatting.
    • Updated the formula and cask cookbooks to direct readers to the shared guidelines; the cask cookbook now provides a brief description of the stanza instead of its previous detailed rules and examples.
    • Added the guidelines to the contributor documentation links.

Added shared guidance for one-line formula and cask descriptions. Updated the cookbooks, DSL declarations, and Contributors index to link to the guidance. No runtime behavior changed.

Changes: Description guidance

Layer / File(s) Summary
Shared description guidance
docs/Description-Guidelines.md
Added guidance and examples for neutral, one-line descriptions, including wording to omit and mechanical details handled by brew style.
Cookbook and DSL references
docs/Cask-Cookbook.md, docs/Formula-Cookbook.md, Library/Homebrew/cask/dsl.rb, Library/Homebrew/formula.rb, docs/index.md
Updated the cookbooks and DSL declarations to link to the shared guidance. Added the guide to the Contributors index.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Other

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to 0e7f7

The shared description guidance is ready to merge after normal checks.

Pre-merge checks: Passed 4
Passed Passed checks: 4 passed
Check name Status Explanation
Title check Passed The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: unifying formula and cask description guidelines.
Description check Passed The description directly explains the shared Description-Guidelines page and the purpose of the documentation changes.
Linked Issues check Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
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Actionable comments posted: 1


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📒 Files selected for processing: 6
  • Library/Homebrew/cask/dsl.rb
  • Library/Homebrew/formula.rb
  • docs/Cask-Cookbook.md
  • docs/Description-Guidelines.md
  • docs/Formula-Cookbook.md
  • docs/index.md

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🧰 Additional context used
📚 Code guidelines: 1
docs/AGENTS.md — auto-discovered
📓 Path-based instructions: 1
Source excerpt: Use the system Homebrew `brew bundle exec ...`

📄 CodeRabbit inference engine (docs/AGENTS.md)

Files:

  • docs/index.md
  • docs/Formula-Cookbook.md
  • docs/Cask-Cookbook.md
  • docs/Description-Guidelines.md
🪛 LanguageTool
docs/Cask-Cookbook.md

[style] ~583-~583: Consider using the synonym “brief” (= concise, using a few words, not lasting long) to strengthen your wording.
Context: ...a single-line UTF-8 string containing a short description of the software. Follow the...

(QUICK_BRIEF)

Comment thread docs/Description-Guidelines.md Resolved
- Move `desc` guidance into a shared `Description-Guidelines` page so
  formulae and casks follow one set of expectations.
- Keep the principle (describe, don't sell) and replace the rigid
  cask-only dos and don'ts with a short list of what to leave out:
  marketing language, feature lists, comparisons with other projects
  and addressing the reader.
- Leave the name and platform rules to `brew style`, which already
  enforces them, so the page only documents what needs judgement.
- Point both cookbooks and the `desc` DSL docs at the new page.

@MikeMcQuaid MikeMcQuaid left a comment

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Nice, love it! Unrelated note: I think it'd be nice if we can start getting descriptions for fonts too?

@bevanjkay

bevanjkay commented Oct 14, 2026 •

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Unrelated note: I think it'd be nice if we can start getting descriptions for fonts too?

We used to have these, but they were mass-removed because they weren't useful.
Homebrew/homebrew-cask#176580

Edit: Just seeing now that you commented in favour of reverting the PR back then 😅 I don't remember seeing that at the time. I'm ok to consider it moving forward.

@krehel
krehel added this pull request to the merge queue Oct 14, 2026
Merged via the queue into main with commit 21a7d64 Oct 14, 2026
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@krehel
krehel deleted the unified_guidelines branch October 14, 2026 13:55
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