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A shortcut used in a form it lacks

A shortcut is used as a div (::: name), a span ([text]{.name}) or a heading (# Title {.name}), and renders only the forms it can. A use in another form stops the build rather than render nothing in silence.

What it looks like

A line with [Quoted]{.pullquote} inline.

ERROR: shortcut 'pullquote' has no span form
  │ [Quoted]{.pullquote}
  A shortcut renders the forms it has templates for.
  Use it as a div.
  See https://keystone.knight-owl.dev/errors/shortcut-form/#another-form-has-a-template

[Centered]{.align style=center}

ERROR: shortcut 'align' has no span form
  │ [Centered]{.align style="center"}
  With no template, a shortcut renders the forms its chain declares.
  Use it as a div.
  See https://keystone.knight-owl.dev/errors/shortcut-form/#its-chain-doesnt-declare-that-form

# Preface {.font style=italic}

ERROR: shortcut 'font' has no heading form
  │ # Preface {#preface .font style="italic"}
  With no template, a shortcut renders the forms its chain declares.
  Use it as a div or a span.
  See https://keystone.knight-owl.dev/errors/shortcut-form/#its-chain-doesnt-declare-that-form

What it means

Another form has a template

pullquote has a template for a div — its rules, its quote and its attribution — and none for a span. A shortcut with a template renders only its templates' forms, so it has nothing to render as a span or a heading.

Write it as a div

Put ::: pullquote and ::: around the text. A shortcut of your own can take a span: template beside its body:, where its handler renders spans; see Writing shortcuts.

Its chain doesn't declare that form

A shortcut with no template renders the forms the system shortcut it builds on declares: align aligns blocks, so it has no span form, and font styles text, not headings.

Use a form it declares

The system shortcut reference shows each shortcut's forms. To style a heading's text, put the span inside it — # [Preface]{.font style=italic}; see Writing shortcuts.