Add lintOutsideWorkspace setting to limit linting to workspace files

Adds an opt-in markdownlint.lintOutsideWorkspace setting (boolean,
default true to preserve current behavior). When set to false, Markdown
files opened from outside the current workspace are no longer linted,
restricting diagnostics to files inside an open workspace folder.

Documents not stored on disk (such as untitled documents) are always
linted, and explicit actions such as the markdownlint.fixAll command and
document formatting continue to work regardless of this setting.

Implements #440.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: JamBalaya56562

.markdownlint.json

@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@
 			"### markdownlint.severityForError",
 			"### markdownlint.severityForWarning",
 			"### markdownlint.customRules",
+			"### markdownlint.lintOutsideWorkspace",
 			"### markdownlint.lintWorkspaceGlobs",
 			"## Suppress",
 			"## Snippets",

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Changes
 
+* 0.62.0 - Add `lintOutsideWorkspace` setting to limit linting to workspace files
 * 0.61.0 - Improved rules, add warnings, add `severityForError`/`Warning`
 * 0.60.0 - Improved rules
 * 0.59.0 - Add `configFile` setting

README.md

@@ -362,6 +362,18 @@ For information about authoring custom rules, see [the `markdownlint` documentat
 > In `markdownlint-cli2` configuration files, the `modulePaths` property can be used in conjunction to specify one or more additional paths for resolving module references.
 > This can be used to work around the VS Code limitation that globally-installed Node modules are unavailable by setting `modulePaths` to the location of the global module path (typically `/usr/local/lib` on macOS/Linux or `~/AppData/Roaming/npm` on Windows).
 
+### markdownlint.lintOutsideWorkspace
+
+By default, `markdownlint` lints every open Markdown document, including files that are not part of the current workspace. Setting this property to `false` restricts linting to files inside an open workspace folder, so Markdown files opened from elsewhere on the file system are not linted:
+
+```json
+{
+    "markdownlint.lintOutsideWorkspace": false
+}
+```
+
+> **Note**: Documents that are not stored on disk (such as untitled documents) are always linted. Explicit actions such as the `markdownlint.fixAll` command and document formatting continue to work regardless of this setting.
+
 ### markdownlint.lintWorkspaceGlobs
 
 This property specifies the list of globs used when linting a workspace with the `markdownlint.lintWorkspace` command.

extension.mjs

@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ const sectionConfig = "config";
 const sectionConfigFile = "configFile";
 const sectionCustomRules = "customRules";
 const sectionFocusMode = "focusMode";
+const sectionLintOutsideWorkspace = "lintOutsideWorkspace";
 const sectionLintWorkspaceGlobs = "lintWorkspaceGlobs";
 const sectionRun = "run";
 const sectionSeverityForError = "severityForError";
@@ -560,9 +561,21 @@ function lintWorkspaceViaTask () {
 		});
 }
 
+// Returns whether the document's location should be linted (honors lintOutsideWorkspace)
+function shouldLintDocumentLocation (document) {
+	const configuration = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(extensionDisplayName, document.uri);
+	if (configuration.get(sectionLintOutsideWorkspace)) {
+		return true;
+	}
+	// Setting is off: only lint files that are inside an open workspace folder
+	// (non-file documents like untitled or virtual are always allowed)
+	return (document.uri.scheme !== schemeFile) ||
+		Boolean(vscode.workspace.getWorkspaceFolder(document.uri));
+}
+
 // Lints a Markdown document
 function lint (document) {
-	if (!lintingEnabled || !isMarkdownDocument(document)) {
+	if (!lintingEnabled || !isMarkdownDocument(document) || !shouldLintDocumentLocation(document)) {
 		return;
 	}
 	const diagnostics = [];
@@ -1015,6 +1028,8 @@ function didChangeWorkspaceFolders (changes) {
 	for (const workspaceFolderUri of changes.added.map((folder) => folder.uri)) {
 		createFileSystemWatchers(workspaceFolderUri);
 	}
+	// Re-lint because workspace membership can affect linting (see "lintOutsideWorkspace")
+	clearDiagnosticsAndLintVisibleFiles();
 }
 
 export function activate (context) {

package.json

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 	"displayName": "markdownlint",
 	"description": "Markdown linting and style checking for Visual Studio Code",
 	"icon": "images/markdownlint-128.png",
-	"version": "0.61.2",
+	"version": "0.62.0",
 	"author": "David Anson (https://dlaa.me/)",
 	"publisher": "DavidAnson",
 	"sponsor": {
@@ -344,6 +344,12 @@
 					],
 					"default": false
 				},
+				"markdownlint.lintOutsideWorkspace": {
+					"description": "Whether to lint Markdown files that are open but not part of the current workspace. Set to false to only lint files within the workspace.",
+					"scope": "resource",
+					"type": "boolean",
+					"default": true
+				},
 				"markdownlint.lintWorkspaceGlobs": {
 					"description": "Array of glob expressions to include or ignore when linting a workspace with the \"lintWorkspace\" command.",
 					"scope": "resource",

test-ui/tests.cjs

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 const assert = require("node:assert");
 const fs = require("node:fs/promises");
+const os = require("node:os");
 const path = require("node:path");
 const vscode = require("vscode");
 
@@ -260,6 +261,49 @@ function dynamicWorkspaceSettingsChange () {
 	});
 }
 
+// Verify lintOutsideWorkspace=false stops linting a file outside the workspace
+function lintOutsideWorkspaceSetting () {
+	return testWrapper((resolve, reject, disposables) => {
+		const configuration = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("markdownlint");
+		const outsideName = "/markdownlint-outside.md";
+		let fileUri = null;
+		let disabled = false;
+		let done = false;
+		disposables.push(
+			vscode.languages.onDidChangeDiagnostics((diagnosticChangeEvent) => {
+				callbackWrapper(reject, () => {
+					if (!fileUri) {
+						return;
+					}
+					const diagnostics = getDiagnostics(diagnosticChangeEvent, outsideName);
+					const codes = diagnostics.map((diagnostic) => (diagnostic.code && diagnostic.code.value) || diagnostic.code);
+					if ((codes.length > 0) && !disabled) {
+						// By default the outside file is linted
+						assert.ok(codes.includes("MD019"));
+						disabled = true;
+						configuration.update("lintOutsideWorkspace", false, vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Workspace)
+							.then(noop, reject);
+					} else if ((codes.length === 0) && disabled && !done) {
+						// With lintOutsideWorkspace=false the outside file is no longer linted
+						done = true;
+						configuration.update("lintOutsideWorkspace", undefined, vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Workspace)
+							.then(() => vscode.commands.executeCommand("workbench.action.closeActiveEditor"))
+							.then(() => fs.rm(fileUri.fsPath, { "force": true }))
+							.then(() => resolve(), reject);
+					}
+				});
+			})
+		);
+		fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "mdl-"))
+			.then((directory) => {
+				fileUri = vscode.Uri.file(path.join(directory, outsideName));
+				return fs.writeFile(fileUri.fsPath, "#  Heading\n");
+			})
+			.then(() => vscode.window.showTextDocument(fileUri))
+			.then(noop, reject);
+	});
+}
+
 // Run lintWorkspace command
 function lintWorkspace () {
 	return testWrapper((resolve, reject, disposables) => {
@@ -286,6 +330,7 @@ if (vscode.workspace.workspaceFolders) {
 	tests.push(
 		openEditDiffRevert,
 		dynamicWorkspaceSettingsChange,
+		lintOutsideWorkspaceSetting,
 		// Run this last because its diagnostics persist after test completion
 		lintWorkspace
 	);