# declaration-colon-space-before Require a single space or disallow whitespace before the colon of declarations. ```css a { color :pink } /** ↑ * The space before this colon */ ``` The [`fix` option](../../../docs/user-guide/usage/options.md#fix) can automatically fix all of the problems reported by this rule. ## Options `string`: `"always"|"never"` ### `"always"` There _must always_ be a single space before the colon. The following patterns are considered violations: ```css a { color: pink } ``` ```css a { color:pink } ``` The following patterns are _not_ considered violations: ```css a { color : pink } ``` ```css a { color :pink } ``` ### `"never"` There _must never_ be whitespace before the colon. The following patterns are considered violations: ```css a { color : pink } ``` ```css a { color :pink } ``` The following patterns are _not_ considered violations: ```css a { color: pink } ``` ```css a { color:pink } ```