EditorConfig

tidy reads .editorconfig for the four properties that describe layout. They sit under a tidy.json, so a tidy config always wins, and over the defaults.

No package to install and nothing to turn on: if an .editorconfig applies to a file, tidy uses it.

Properties

Property	Sets	Notes
`indent_style`	`tabs`	`tab` means indent with tabs; anything else means spaces.
`indent_size`	`indent`	`indent_size = tab` also sets `tabs`.
`tab_width`	`indent`	Used when indenting with tabs; otherwise `indent_size` wins.
`max_line_length`	`width`	`off` means no limit.
`end_of_line`	`eol`	`lf`, `crlf` or `cr`.

Every other property — charset, trim_trailing_whitespace, insert_final_newline and the rest — is ignored. The last two describe what tidy does anyway.

.editorconfig

root = true

[*]
indent_style = tab
end_of_line = lf

[*.{json,yml,yaml}]
indent_style = space
indent_size = 2

[*.md]
max_line_length = 80

With that file and no tidy.json, tidy indents with tabs, writes LF endings, indents JSON and YAML with two spaces, and fits Markdown to 80 columns.

How the two stack

.editorconfig

[*]
indent_size = 4
max_line_length = 100

tidy.json

{
  "indent": 2
}

The indent is 2, from tidy.json. The width is 100, from .editorconfig, because tidy.json says nothing about it.

Put differently: .editorconfig is a weaker layer, not a separate one. You can keep your editor settings where they are and use tidy.json only for what EditorConfig cannot say — quotes, semicolons, Markdown markers, and the per-language sections.

Which files it applies to

Standard EditorConfig rules: the nearest .editorconfig applies, and tidy keeps walking up until one says root = true. Sections stack, with later and nearer ones winning, the same way your editor reads them.

Turning it off

Shell

$ tidy up . --no-config

--no-config turns off both .editorconfig and the tidy.json search. There is no flag that turns off only one.

The .editorconfig itself

.editorconfig files are INI, and tidy formats INI, so it formats them too:

Shell

$ tidy up .editorconfig