# Clarify following empty list items in 0.31.2

**URL:** <https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599>\
**Category:** Spec\
**Created:** [February 5, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599 "2024-02-05T13:44:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![igormironchik](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/igormironchik/32/2850_2.png) [@igormironchik](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/igormironchik)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599/1 "2024-02-05T13:44:13Z")

</div>

You removed a following sentence:

> If a line containing a single `-` can be interpreted as an   
> empty [list items], it should be interpreted this way   
> and not as a [setext heading underline].

Ok. Now I need your clarification on the following cases.

```markdown
* Text
  -
    Text

```

you do:

```html
<ul>
<li>
<h2>Text</h2>
Text</li>
</ul>

```

And:

```markdown
- List
text
-

```

```html
<ul>
<li>List
text</li>
<li></li>
</ul>

```

What is it? Why it’s so?

You shouldn’t have deleted this sentence.

As I remember you had problems in implementation of CommonMark 0.30 with empty list items, and as I guess you just decided to solve your algorithmic problems by human words. Lol, it’s a bad idea.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![notriddle](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/notriddle/32/1237_2.png) [@notriddle](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/notriddle)\
**Post date:** [February 21, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599/2 "2024-02-21T22:32:35Z")

</div>

```markdown
- List
text
-

```

There is no such thing as a lazy settext header. Only paragraphs can be lazy.

Consider two other, similar situations: lazy continuations that end with a single equal sign (that look like a level 1 settext header) and lazy continuations that end with a single `-` coming out of a quote block instead of a list.

```markdown
- List
text
=

> quote
text
-

> quote
text
=

```

[dingus link](https://spec.commonmark.org/dingus/?text=-%20List%0Atext%0A%3D%0A%0A%3E%20quote%0Atext%0A-%0A%0A%3E%20quote%0Atext%0A%3D%0A)

None of these are settext headers. The ones with a `-` form lists, but the ones with `=` are just text, not headers, so there’s no ambiguity here.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![igormironchik](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/igormironchik/32/2850_2.png) [@igormironchik](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/igormironchik)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 6:11am UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599/3 "2024-02-22T06:11:38Z")

</div>

Ok. I agree with above examples about lazy paragraphs, but:

```markdown
* Text
  -
    Text

```

Why here I should consider second list item as a setext heading?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![igormironchik](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/igormironchik/32/2850_2.png) [@igormironchik](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/igormironchik)\
**Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 7:27am UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599/4 "2024-02-22T07:27:45Z")

</div>

Ok, guys, you decided so, let it be so, and doesn’t matter why. Stop considering this topic.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![notriddle](https://cdn.commonmark.org/user_avatar/talk.commonmark.org/notriddle/32/1237_2.png) [@notriddle](https://talk.commonmark.org/u/notriddle)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://talk.commonmark.org/t/clarify-following-empty-list-items-in-0-31-2/4599/5 "2024-02-24T03:27:22Z")

</div>

[https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#list-items](https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#list-items)

> 1. When the first list item in a [list](https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#list) interrupts a paragraph—that is, when it starts on a line that would otherwise count as [paragraph continuation text](https://spec.commonmark.org/0.31.2/#paragraph-continuation-text)—then (a) **the lines _Ls_ must not begin with a blank line** , and (b) if the list item is ordered, the start number must be 1.