---
title: "no-summary-beat"
description: "Flags closing sentences that recap a paragraph without adding information."
sidebar:
  label: "no-summary-beat"
  badge: "Soft"
search:
  tags: [rule, inferential, style]
---

| Property | Value |
| -------- | ----- |
| Kind | Soft rule |
| Engine | `inferential` |
| Tier | `inferential` |
| Severity | `warning` |
| Intent | `style` |
| Scope | `text` |

:::note
This is a style rule. It reports findings and participates in `--fix`, but never moves the [human-likeness score](/docs/concepts/scoring).
:::

## Why

A summary beat announces the paragraph's point after the analysis is complete instead of carrying the analysis forward.

## Examples

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Column>
    **Flagged**

    The notice omitted the required date, so the agency could not verify when the appeal period began. The upshot is simple.
  </Column>
  <Column>
    **Better**

    The notice omitted the required date, so the agency could not verify when the appeal period began. The appeal was therefore timely.
  </Column>
</Columns>

## Rubric

This rule is evaluated by the optional [AI judge](/docs/guides/judge) against the criteria below.

Flag a paragraph's closing sentence when it merely recaps the paragraph
with a phrase such as "the upshot is simple", "that is the point", "the
lesson is clear", or "this is the tension", without adding a fact, result,
qualification, or next step. Do not flag a conclusion that adds a concrete
holding, consequence, number, exception, or recommendation. Do not flag
padded elaboration merely because a sentence follows another one: padded
elaboration restates the previous sentence, while a summary beat recaps
the paragraph as a whole.

### Should flag

- The notice omitted the required date, and the agency could not verify when the appeal period began. The upshot is simple.
- The parties disputed the clause's meaning, and the court adopted the narrower reading. That is the point.
- The record contains conflicting accounts and no neutral witness. That is the tension.
- The rule has exceptions, but none applies here. The lesson is clear.

### Should pass

- The notice omitted the required date, and the agency could not verify when the appeal period began. The appeal was therefore timely.
- The parties disputed the clause's meaning, and the court adopted the narrower reading. That reading excludes consequential damages.
- The record contains conflicting accounts and no neutral witness. The court should resolve the dispute at trial.
- The rule has exceptions, but none applies here. The motion is denied.

## Turning it off

```sh
lawlint --disable no-summary-beat draft.md
```

Or durably, in `.lawlint/config.json` — see [Configuration](/docs/reference/configuration).