UseConsistentIndentation.md

description	Use consistent indentation
ms.date	07/21/2026
ms.topic	reference
title	UseConsistentIndentation

UseConsistentIndentation

Severity Level: Warning

Default state: Disabled

Description

This rule detects inconsistent indentation patterns within a source file. Indentation should be consistent throughout your script.

Example

Noncompliant

function Get-ItemName {
    param(
      [string]$Path
    )

    if ($Path) {
      Get-Item $Path |
      Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name
    }
}

Compliant

function Get-ItemName {
    param(
        [string]$Path
    )

    if ($Path) {
        Get-Item $Path |
            Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name
    }
}

Configure rule

    Rules = @{
        PSUseConsistentIndentation = @{
            Enable = $true
            IndentationSize = 4
            PipelineIndentation = 'IncreaseIndentationForFirstPipeline'
            Kind = 'space'
        }
    }

Parameters

Enable

This parameter controls whether ScriptAnalyzer checks the code against this rule. It accepts a boolean value. To enable this rule, set this parameter to $true. The default value is $false.

IndentationSize

This parameter controls the indentation size when Kind is set to space. It accepts an integer value. To use four spaces per indentation level, set this parameter to 4. The default value is 4.

PipelineIndentation

This parameter controls pipeline indentation for multi-line statements. It accepts a string value. The default value is IncreaseIndentationForFirstPipeline.

Acceptable values are:

• IncreaseIndentationForFirstPipeline: Indent once after the first pipeline and keep this indentation. Example:

  foo |
      bar |
      baz

• IncreaseIndentationAfterEveryPipeline: Indent more after the first pipeline and keep this indentation. Example:

  foo |
      bar |
          baz

• NoIndentation: Don't increase indentation. Example:

  foo |
  bar |
  baz

• None: Don't change any existing pipeline indentation.

Kind

This parameter controls which indentation character ScriptAnalyzer expects. It accepts a string value. To use spaces for indentation, set this parameter to space. The default value is space.

When Kind is set to space, ScriptAnalyzer uses the value of IndentationSize for each indentation level. When Kind is set to tab, ScriptAnalyzer uses a tab character (\t) per indentation level. If you provide an invalid value, ScriptAnalyzer uses space.