# Expert-Level Markdown File Comparison Checklist

## Basic Setup
- [ ] Confirm File A name
- [ ] Confirm File B name
- [ ] Confirm intended renderer/platform
- [ ] Confirm comparison purpose
- [ ] Confirm whether one file is expected to be canonical
- [ ] Confirm whether both files are meant to represent the same document

## File Identity and Scope
- [ ] Compare filenames and naming conventions
- [ ] Compare version indicators
- [ ] Compare target audience
- [ ] Compare use case / publication context
- [ ] Compare renderer assumptions
- [ ] Determine whether either file is draft, archive, export, or canonical source

## Document Purpose and Intent
- [ ] Compare stated or implied purpose
- [ ] Confirm both files solve the same communication problem
- [ ] Check whether function changed materially
- [ ] Check whether additions/removals changed intended use

## Front Matter and Metadata
- [ ] Check whether front matter exists in both files
- [ ] Validate front matter syntax
- [ ] Compare metadata keys
- [ ] Compare metadata values
- [ ] Check title consistency
- [ ] Check description consistency
- [ ] Check author consistency
- [ ] Check date consistency
- [ ] Check tags/categories consistency
- [ ] Check slug/permalink consistency
- [ ] Check draft/published status consistency
- [ ] Check for stale or conflicting metadata
- [ ] Check metadata semantic accuracy against body content

## Title and Heading Hierarchy
- [ ] Compare top-level title
- [ ] Verify H1 usage
- [ ] Compare heading depth and nesting
- [ ] Check for skipped heading levels
- [ ] Check for duplicate headings
- [ ] Compare section ordering
- [ ] Check anchor stability / heading-derived links
- [ ] Evaluate heading clarity and parallelism

## Section Presence and Coverage
- [ ] Compare section presence
- [ ] Identify missing sections in File A
- [ ] Identify missing sections in File B
- [ ] Check whether omissions are material
- [ ] Check whether additions improve completeness
- [ ] Compare appendices, notes, references, glossaries, FAQs, changelogs

## Content Fidelity and Meaning
- [ ] Compare semantic meaning
- [ ] Check for paraphrases that alter intent
- [ ] Check for added assumptions
- [ ] Check for harmful omissions
- [ ] Compare requirement language: must / should / may
- [ ] Check for lost caveats or nuance
- [ ] Check for contradictions
- [ ] Check whether definitions remain precise

## Accuracy and Factual Consistency
- [ ] Compare names, dates, numbers, versions, and claims
- [ ] Check whether examples remain factually correct
- [ ] Check for outdated references
- [ ] Check for internal inconsistencies
- [ ] Check whether one file contains corrected facts

## Technical Completeness
- [ ] Compare prerequisites
- [ ] Compare dependencies
- [ ] Compare assumptions
- [ ] Compare setup/configuration steps
- [ ] Compare validation steps
- [ ] Compare troubleshooting content
- [ ] Compare rollback/fallback guidance
- [ ] Check whether any critical technical detail is missing

## Structure and Flow
- [ ] Compare order of ideas
- [ ] Check logical progression
- [ ] Check section transitions
- [ ] Check whether one version reads more coherently
- [ ] Check whether lists/examples/notes appear in useful positions

## Paragraph and Sentence Quality
- [ ] Compare paragraph focus
- [ ] Compare paragraph length and density
- [ ] Check sentence clarity
- [ ] Check grammar and punctuation
- [ ] Check ambiguity
- [ ] Compare concision
- [ ] Check whether edits improved precision

## Terminology and Consistency
- [ ] Compare terminology usage
- [ ] Check naming consistency
- [ ] Check capitalization consistency
- [ ] Check jargon appropriateness
- [ ] Check whether synonyms create confusion

## Voice, Tone, and Style
- [ ] Compare tone
- [ ] Check audience fit
- [ ] Check professionalism / warmth / authority balance
- [ ] Check whether tone shifts unintentionally
- [ ] Check style guide compliance
- [ ] Check heading capitalization style
- [ ] Check formatting consistency

## Markdown Syntax
- [ ] Validate heading syntax
- [ ] Validate list syntax
- [ ] Validate nested list syntax
- [ ] Validate emphasis syntax
- [ ] Validate link syntax
- [ ] Validate image syntax
- [ ] Validate blockquote syntax
- [ ] Validate code fence syntax
- [ ] Check fence closure
- [ ] Check inline code formatting
- [ ] Check escapes and special characters
- [ ] Check line breaks and parser-sensitive constructs
- [ ] Check HTML embedded in markdown for validity

## Renderer Compatibility
- [ ] Identify markdown flavor assumptions
- [ ] Check CommonMark compatibility
- [ ] Check GFM compatibility
- [ ] Check static-site-generator compatibility
- [ ] Check portability across renderers
- [ ] Check nonstandard extension usage
- [ ] Check whether extension usage is intentional and supported

## Lists, Tables, Links, and Media
- [ ] Compare ordered/unordered lists
- [ ] Check list parallelism
- [ ] Check table structure
- [ ] Check table cell consistency
- [ ] Check table rendering safety
- [ ] Compare links
- [ ] Validate URLs and relative paths
- [ ] Check internal anchors
- [ ] Check link text clarity
- [ ] Compare images/media references
- [ ] Check alt text
- [ ] Check captions
- [ ] Check media path validity

## Code Blocks and Inline Code
- [ ] Compare code block content
- [ ] Check syntax labels
- [ ] Check indentation
- [ ] Check copy/paste safety
- [ ] Check placeholder consistency
- [ ] Check command/path formatting
- [ ] Check for smart quotes or wrapped code corruption

## Footnotes, References, and Callouts
- [ ] Compare footnotes/endnotes
- [ ] Validate citation integrity
- [ ] Check note/warning/caution consistency
- [ ] Check callout severity consistency
- [ ] Check blockquote meaning preservation

## Accessibility
- [ ] Check semantic heading order
- [ ] Check descriptive link text
- [ ] Check meaningful alt text
- [ ] Check table readability
- [ ] Check linear readability for screen readers
- [ ] Check semantic structure over purely visual styling

## Security and Privacy
- [ ] Check for secrets or tokens
- [ ] Check for internal URLs
- [ ] Check for PII or sensitive data
- [ ] Check redactions/masking
- [ ] Check whether either file is unsafe to publish

## Localization / Searchability / Maintainability
- [ ] Check translation friendliness
- [ ] Check date/number/unit clarity
- [ ] Check search keyword usefulness
- [ ] Check heading discoverability
- [ ] Check duplication that increases maintenance burden
- [ ] Check structural maintainability
- [ ] Check plain-text readability
- [ ] Check diff cleanliness

## Publication Readiness
- [ ] Check reviewer friendliness
- [ ] Check unresolved TODO markers
- [ ] Check publication blockers
- [ ] Check deployment/build readiness
- [ ] Check whether File A is publication-ready
- [ ] Check whether File B is publication-ready

## Final Decision
- [ ] Identify preferred file
- [ ] Identify critical differences
- [ ] Identify non-critical differences
- [ ] Decide: merge / replace / reconcile / reject
- [ ] Assign reviewer confidence level
- [ ] Record final recommendation

**DAS ENDE**