From 3b6f36df0d65da779bd8cf492aff470c7354457b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: jf nz <talon_usable_9k@icloud.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2026 08:52:43 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Document YAML sequence indentation with a safe dumper

---
 docs/handlers.rst  | 65 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 tests/test_docs.py |  5 ++++
 2 files changed, 70 insertions(+)

diff --git a/docs/handlers.rst b/docs/handlers.rst
index b82002d..6d3f540 100644
--- a/docs/handlers.rst
+++ b/docs/handlers.rst
@@ -11,3 +11,68 @@ Customizing input and output
 .. autoclass:: frontmatter.default_handlers.JSONHandler
 
 .. autoclass:: frontmatter.default_handlers.TOMLHandler
+
+Indenting YAML sequences
+------------------------
+
+With the YAML handler, keyword arguments to :py:func:`frontmatter.dumps`
+are passed through ``YAMLHandler.export`` to ``yaml.dump``. For example,
+``indent=4`` indents nested mappings by four spaces. By default, PyYAML writes
+block sequences without extra indentation: the ``-`` aligns with the key
+above it. Increasing ``indent`` alone does not change these indentless sequences.
+
+To indent sequence items too, pass a subclass of ``yaml.SafeDumper`` that
+disables indentless sequences. Use this Python dumper explicitly, even when
+LibYAML is installed: ``yaml.CSafeDumper`` does not call the Python
+``increase_indent`` method. Subclassing ``yaml.SafeDumper`` retains safe
+serialisation, without support for arbitrary Python objects.
+
+.. doctest:: yaml-indentation
+    :options: -NORMALIZE_WHITESPACE
+
+    >>> import frontmatter
+    >>> import yaml
+    >>> class IndentedSafeDumper(yaml.SafeDumper):
+    ...     def increase_indent(self, flow=False, indentless=False):
+    ...         return super().increase_indent(flow, False)
+    >>> post = frontmatter.loads("""\
+    ... ---
+    ... date: 2023-05-12
+    ... title: Sample
+    ... tags:
+    ...     - test
+    ...     - sample
+    ... nested:
+    ...     tags:
+    ...         - nested
+    ... ---
+    ...
+    ... # Title 1
+    ... """)
+    >>> text = frontmatter.dumps(
+    ...     post, Dumper=IndentedSafeDumper, indent=4, sort_keys=False
+    ... )
+    >>> print(text)
+    ---
+    date: 2023-05-12
+    title: Sample
+    tags:
+        - test
+        - sample
+    nested:
+        tags:
+            - nested
+    ---
+    <BLANKLINE>
+    # Title 1
+    >>> reloaded = frontmatter.loads(text)
+    >>> reloaded.metadata == post.metadata and reloaded.content == post.content
+    True
+
+``YAMLHandler`` uses block style by default. ``sort_keys=False`` keeps the
+metadata's current key order. The same options can be passed to
+:py:func:`frontmatter.dump` when writing a file, or to ``YAMLHandler.export``
+when exporting metadata alone.
+
+This chooses a new output format; it does not preserve the source's exact
+formatting, comments or quoting.
diff --git a/tests/test_docs.py b/tests/test_docs.py
index 9d08afa..91d4278 100644
--- a/tests/test_docs.py
+++ b/tests/test_docs.py
@@ -15,3 +15,8 @@ def test_handler_docs():
     doctest.testmod(
         frontmatter.default_handlers, extraglobs={"frontmatter": frontmatter}
     )
+
+
+def test_handler_recipes():
+    result = doctest.testfile("../docs/handlers.rst")
+    assert result.failed == 0