# `MD041` - First line in a file should be a top-level heading

Tags: `headings`

Aliases: `first-line-h1`, `first-line-heading`

Parameters:

- `front_matter_title`: RegExp for matching title in front matter (`string`,
  default `^\s*title\s*[:=]`)
- `level`: Heading level (`integer`, default `1`)

This rule is intended to ensure documents have a title and is triggered when
the first line in the file isn't a top-level (h1) heading:

```markdown
This is a file without a heading
```

To fix this, add a top-level heading to the beginning of the file:

```markdown
# File with heading

This is a file with a top-level heading
```

Because it is common for projects on GitHub to use an image for the heading of
`README.md` and that is not well-supported by Markdown, HTML headings are also
permitted by this rule. For example:

```markdown
<h1 align="center"><img src="https://placekitten.com/300/150"/></h1>

This is a file with a top-level HTML heading
```

Note: The `level` parameter can be used to change the top-level (ex: to h2) in
cases where an h1 is added externally.

If [YAML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML) front matter is present and
contains a `title` property (commonly used with blog posts), this rule will not
report a violation. To use a different property name in the front matter,
specify the text of a regular expression via the `front_matter_title` parameter.
To disable the use of front matter by this rule, specify `""` for
`front_matter_title`.

Rationale: The top-level heading often acts as the title of a document. More
information: <https://cirosantilli.com/markdown-style-guide#top-level-header>.