Editing your siteOwnable CMS

Fix-It Bot

Automatically format and lint your Ownable content and YAML configs at scale — and keep long-lived sites clean, consistent, and build-ready.

Fix-It Bot is an Ownable CMS tool that scans your site and automatically fixes common formatting + lint issues in Markdown and YAML — the stuff that slowly accumulates over months/years and eventually turns into broken builds, inconsistent pages, and "why is this frontmatter different again?" debugging sessions.

Plus early access

Fix-It Bot is currently in early access for Ownable Plus. If it saves you time (or sanity), upgrading is the best way to support Ownable and keep these tools improving.

Scale cleanup across your site

Run one scan to normalize formatting across content, data, and config — instead of manually fixing files one-by-one.

Stop “random build failures”

Catch YAML + Markdown issues early, and auto-fix what’s safe to fix before Hugo tries to build your site.

Standardize team edits

Keep frontmatter and Markdown consistent across contributors, editors, and collaboration workflows.

Friendly for non-YAML authors

Surfaces issues with file + line numbers and gives you “Open” + “Copy” actions to resolve anything that needs a human.

What it scans (and what it changes)

Fix-It Bot scans Ownable’s core “editing surface area”:

  • Content: Markdown content under /content
  • Data & config: YAML under /data and /config

And it focuses on formatting + lint correctness:

  • YAML: normalize scalars/quoting and apply consistent formatting
  • Markdown: format with consistent rules, apply safe lint auto-fixes, and keep files build-friendly

Git-first workflow

Fix-It Bot edits files on disk. Commit first, run Fix-It Bot, then review the diff.

Who it’s for (real-world use cases)

Your site has been evolving for years, and now:

  • Frontmatter is inconsistent (indentation, quoting, lists, spacing)
  • Markdown is “almost right” but looks different page-to-page
  • Tiny issues accumulate until a deploy suddenly fails

Fix-It Bot brings things back to a consistent baseline without you doing a manual cleanup sprint.

When you have hundreds/thousands of pages:

  • Manual cleanup doesn’t scale
  • Small formatting drift becomes hard to spot in reviews
  • You need a quick, repeatable “make it consistent” pass

Fix-It Bot is designed to scan across your project and report what it changed.

If multiple people touch the site:

  • Everyone has a slightly different Markdown style
  • Frontmatter ends up with inconsistent quoting/list styles
  • PR reviews waste time on formatting debates

Fix-It Bot helps you standardize content files so code review focuses on meaning, not whitespace.

If YAML/Markdown isn’t your day job:

  • Validation errors are frustrating and vague
  • Fixing a single broken key can take ages
  • You want “tell me what to change” guidance

Fix-It Bot auto-fixes the easy stuff and clearly lists what still needs attention.

What Fix-It Bot does (and what it avoids)

It does

  • Formats YAML (consistent indentation, safe quoting, normalization)
  • Formats Markdown (headings/lists/spacing, trailing whitespace, line endings)
  • Lints Markdown and applies safe auto-fixes when possible
  • Reports results clearly: files scanned, issues found, auto-fixed count, fix rate, and more
  • Flags manual issues with severity and (when available) line numbers

It avoids (by design)

  • Skipping Markdown bodies that contain Hugo shortcodes ({{< ... >}}, {{% ... %}}) to avoid breaking them
  • Skipping Markdown files without YAML frontmatter (---) — Ownable content typically includes frontmatter, but this prevents accidental edits to “random” Markdown files
  • Rewriting your prose or “AI-editing” your content — it focuses on formatting + lint correctness

Early access (expect fast iteration)

Fix-It Bot is actively evolving. If you hit an edge case (or want a rule tweak that fits your workflow), Plus users help shape what ships next.

When to run Fix-It Bot

Use Fix-It Bot right before you push a release. You’ll reduce “surprise” build failures caused by small YAML/Markdown issues.

After big changes (theme upgrade, content migration, moving between templates), run Fix-It Bot once to re-standardize the repo.

Make it a routine: one person runs Fix-It Bot before a PR merge, or run it whenever multiple authors have edited content.

Run Fix-It Bot in Studio

  1. Open Studio

    In VS Code, open your Ownable site folder and open Ownable CMS.

  2. Go to Tools → Fix-It Bot

    In the CMS, open the Tools page and expand Fix-It Bot.

  3. Choose scan options

    Pick what to fix and which files to scan (content vs data/config vs everything).

  4. Run the scan

    Click Run Fix-It Bot and watch progress as it scans your files.

  5. Review the results

    • Check how many issues were auto-fixed
    • Expand “Issues requiring attention” for anything manual
    • Use Open to jump straight to the file/line in VS Code

Scan options (what they mean)

Scans YAML files under your project and applies formatting + lint auto-fixes.

Typical wins:

  • indentation consistency
  • safer quoting for YAML-breaking characters
  • more predictable structure

Fixes YAML frontmatter at the top of your content files.

Great for:

  • standardizing metadata across authors
  • preventing “one broken frontmatter key broke the build”

Formats and lints the Markdown body.

Notes:

  • If a page contains Hugo shortcodes, Fix-It Bot will skip body formatting/linting for that file to stay safe.

Choose what to scan:

  • All files: content + data/config
  • Content only: everything under /content
  • Data & config only: everything under /data and /config

What “issues requiring attention” means

Fix-It Bot will auto-fix what it can, and then list anything that still needs a human.

Common reasons:

  • YAML parsing/linting found something ambiguous or risky to change automatically
  • Markdown linting rules surfaced a structural issue that needs intent (for example, heading levels)
  • Markdown body was skipped because it includes Hugo shortcodes

Examples (before → after)

YAML frontmatter cleanup

---
title: My Post
tags:[hugo, hugoblox] # inconsistent spacing
summary: A title: with a colon # needs quoting
---

Becomes:

---
title: My Post
tags: [hugo, hugoblox]
summary: "A title: with a colon"
---

Markdown hygiene at scale

Fix-It Bot can normalize the kinds of issues that quietly accumulate:

  • trailing whitespace
  • inconsistent list spacing
  • line endings across different OS/editor setups

Get Fix-It Bot (Plus)

Unlock Fix-It Bot with Ownable Plus

Early access to Fix-It Bot + support ongoing development. Intro pricing is currently $8/month.

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On this page

What it scans (and what it changes)Who it’s for (real-world use cases)What Fix-It Bot does (and what it avoids)It doesIt avoids (by design)When to run Fix-It BotRun Fix-It Bot in StudioScan options (what they mean)What “issues requiring attention” meansExamples (before → after)YAML frontmatter cleanupMarkdown hygiene at scaleGet Fix-It Bot (Plus)