prettier-pretty-check

A drop-in replacement for Prettier that provides beautiful, clickable error output when running --check.

Why?

Prettier's default --check output is... not great:

``
Checking formatting...
[warn] src/index.js
[warn] Code style issues found in the above file. Run Prettier with --write to fix.
`

This tool gives you clickable links and clear descriptions:

`
❌ Prettier check failed

src/index.js:12:5: error: Add 2 spaces of indentation (prettier/indent)
src/index.js:45:80: error: Line exceeds print width (prettier/line-length)
src/index.js:67:1: error: Line needs to be added (prettier/insert)
src/components/App.tsx:23:15: error: Fix spacing around brackets (prettier/spacing)

✖ 4 formatting errors

Run prettier --write to fix automatically
`

- Clickable links - file:line:col format works in VS Code, terminals, and most editors
- Standard format - Compatible with GitHub Actions problem matchers
- Rule names - (prettier/indent), (prettier/spacing), etc. for easy filtering

Features

- Clickable file links: file:line:col format - click to jump directly to the issue
- Color-coded categories: Instantly see what type of issue it is
- Indent - Indentation problems (shows exact space count)
- Spacing - Bracket/brace spacing
- Line too long - Exceeds print width
- Semicolon - Missing or extra semicolons
- Quotes - Wrong quote style
- Comma - Trailing comma issues
- Insert / Delete - Lines to add or remove
- Format - General formatting
- Actionable descriptions: Clear message explaining what to fix
- Fix command: Shows how to auto-fix at the end

Installation

`bash
npm install prettier-pretty-check --save-dev


or


bun add prettier-pretty-check --dev
`

Usage

Use it exactly like Prettier - it's a transparent wrapper that passes all arguments through:

`bash


Check files (enhanced output)

npx prettier-pretty-check --check "src/*/.{js,ts}"

Format files (passes through to Prettier unchanged)

npx prettier-pretty-check --write "src/*/.{js,ts}"
`

$3

`json
{
"scripts": {
"format": "prettier-pretty-check --write \"src/*/.{js,ts}\"",
"format:check": "prettier-pretty-check --check \"src/*/.{js,ts}\""
}
}
`

$3

All Prettier options and plugins work as expected:

`bash
npx prettier-pretty-check --check "*/.java" --plugin=prettier-plugin-java
`

GitHub Actions

The output format is compatible with GitHub Actions problem matchers. Add this to your workflow:

`yaml
- name: Add Prettier matcher
run: echo "::add-matcher::node_modules/prettier-pretty-check/problem-matcher.json"

- name: Check formatting
run: npx prettier-pretty-check --check "src/*/.{js,ts}"
`

This will show formatting errors as annotations directly on your PR.

How it works

1. When --check is not present: passes everything through to Prettier unchanged
2. When --check is present:
- Runs Prettier with --list-different to find unformatted files
- For each file, compares original vs formatted output
- Parses the diff to extract meaningful diagnostics
- Outputs in standard file:line:col: error: message (rule)` format

Requirements

- Node.js 18+
- Prettier must be installed in your project

License

MIT