.editorconfig Generator — indent, charset, line endings, per-glob overrides

Real-world use cases

• Stop the tabs-vs-spaces diff churn on a shared repo

  Two devs on the same Python repo — one editor on tabs, one on 4 spaces — and every PR turns into a whitespace-only diff that buries the real change. Drop a `.editorconfig` at the repo root with `[*]` set to `indent_style = space`, `indent_size = 4`, commit it, and both editors snap to the same indentation the moment anyone opens a file. Reviewers stop scrolling past phantom diffs. Build this in 30 seconds: pick the Python preset, confirm 4-space, copy, paste into `.editorconfig`, push.

• Keep CRLF off a cross-platform team

  A Windows contributor commits a file and suddenly every line shows as changed because their editor wrote CRLF where the Linux team uses LF. Set `end_of_line = lf` in the global `[*]` section and `insert_final_newline = true`, and every editor with the EditorConfig plugin normalises line endings on save — before Git ever sees the file. Pair it with `* text=auto eol=lf` in `.gitattributes` for the belt-and-suspenders version, but the `.editorconfig` is what fixes it inside the editor itself.

• Turn off trailing-whitespace trimming for Markdown only

  Your global rule trims trailing whitespace — correct for code, wrong for Markdown, where two trailing spaces mean a hard line break. Add a `[*.md]` override section with `trim_trailing_whitespace = false` and your prose keeps its line breaks while every `.js` and `.py` file still gets cleaned. This is the canonical EditorConfig override and the reason per-glob sections exist; this generator ships it as a one-click preset.

• Match a Makefile's hard tab requirement

  Makefiles break if recipe lines start with spaces — GNU Make demands a literal tab. If your global config forces spaces, every Makefile you touch silently corrupts. Add `[Makefile]` and `[*.mk]` sections with `indent_style = tab` so the editor inserts real tabs there while the rest of the repo stays on spaces. The Makefile preset here wires this for you; without it the failure is invisible until `make` errors with "missing separator".

• Onboard a contributor with zero setup instructions

  An open-source contributor clones your repo in an editor you've never heard of. Instead of a CONTRIBUTING.md paragraph about indentation they'll skim past, the `.editorconfig` at your repo root configures their editor automatically the first time they open a file — assuming their editor has the (near-universal) plugin. Generate the file once, commit it, and the indentation/charset/line-ending policy travels with the repo for every future contributor, no docs required.

Common pitfalls

• Putting a narrow glob like `[*.md]` above the global `[*]` section. EditorConfig applies later sections last, so a broad `[*]` placed after your override will clobber it. Keep `[*]` first and narrow globs below — this generator always emits them in that order.

• Forgetting `root = true` at the top. Without it, EditorConfig keeps walking up parent directories and merges any `.editorconfig` it finds — including a stray one in your home folder or a monorepo parent — so settings you never wrote can leak in. Set it on your project's top-level file.

• Writing `indent_size = 2` but leaving `indent_style = tab`. With tabs, `indent_size` only affects how wide a tab is *displayed*; it does not insert spaces. If you actually want two-space indentation, set `indent_style = space` as well, or your file still indents with tabs.

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