textproc/vale 3.24.0_1 FreeBSD

When you think about software built for automated writing assistance, a lot of assumptions probably come to mind. You have heard terms like cloud-based, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. You have been promised sophisticated, human-like feedback to dramatically improve your writing.

Vale is none of that; it was not designed to be, and it does not try to be. To put it succinctly, Vale does not teach you how to write, it is a tool for writers.

This distinction is particularly important to understand because Vale does not offer any of its own advice. Instead, it offers a framework for creating and enforcing custom rules. Its approach is much more similar to code linters than it is to traditional grammar checkers.