# Code Style. YAML

Use this page to configure formatting  options for YAML files. When you change these settings, the Preview pane shows how this will affect your code.

## Tabs and Indents

| Indent |  In this field, specify the number of spaces to be inserted for each indent level.  |
| Keep indents on empty lines | If this checkbox is selected, IntelliJ IDEA retains indents on empty lines as if they contained some code. If the checkbox is cleared, IntelliJ IDEA deletes  spaces on empty lines. |
|  Indent sequence value  |  If selected, YAML sequence values are indented relative to the parent key item.  |

## Wrapping and braces

In this tab, customize the exceptions, brace placement and alignment options that IntelliJ IDEA will apply to various code constructs on [reformatting the source code](reformat-and-rearrange-code.html). Check the results in the Preview pane.

> **Note:**
> Alignment takes precedence over indentation options.

|  Visual guides  |                       In this field, specify multiple right margins. You can leave a default value or enter the number of spaces for your margin. If you want to specify several margins, enter numbers separated by comma.  |
|    Keep when reformatting    |     Use the checkboxes to configure exceptions that IntelliJ IDEA will make when reformatting the source code. For example, by default, the Line breaks checkbox is selected.       If your code contains lines that are shorter than a standard convention, you can convert them by disabling the Line breaks checkbox before reformatting.     |
|     Alignment options     |    |
| Align values in maps |    Use this list to specify how IntelliJ IDEA should align key-value pairs. The available options are:        * Do not align: the attributes in sequential lines will be not aligned.    * On colon: the attributes in sequential lines will be aligned against the colon.    * On value: the attributes in sequential lines will be aligned against the value.    |
|  Sequence value  |     Use these options to specify formatting for the YAML sequence values:        * Sequence on new line: if selected, each new sequence inside a nested sequences block is put on a separate line: ```YAML - - - nested sequences block ``` Otherwise, nested sequences will be kept on a single line: ```YAML - - - nested sequences block ```    * Block mapping on new line: if selected, block mappings inside a sequence are put on a separate line: ```YAML - key: value ``` Otherwise, they are kept on a single line: ```YAML - key: value ```    * Automatically insert hyphen on enter: if selected, IntelliJ IDEA will automatically hyphenate the next sequence value when you press `Enter` (Windows), `⏎` (macOS), `⏎` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⏎` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Enter` (XWin), `Enter` (GNOME), `Enter` (KDE), `Enter` (Emacs), `Enter` (Sublime Text), `⏎` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Enter` (NetBeans), `Enter` (Visual Studio), `⏎` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Enter` (Eclipse), `⏎` (Eclipse (macOS)).    |

## Set from

The link appears in the upper-right corner of the page, when applicable.  Click this link and choose the language to be used as the base for the current language code style.

To return to the initial set of code style settings and discard the changes, click Reset.

## See also

### Procedures

[Code style schemes](configuring-code-style.html)

### Language and Framework-Specific Guidelines

[Style Sheets](style-sheets.html)

### External Links

[YAML](http://www.yaml.org/)