Consistent Placeholders in Samples
MUST: Use one loud, obviously-fake placeholder convention across all code samples — `YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE` for strings, `0123456789` for numbers — never a mix of `<your-token>` / `xxx` / `abc123` / `[INSERT KEY]`. (This is about fill-me-in tokens in docs, not the HTML `placeholder` attribute.)
Use one placeholder convention across every code sample: YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE for strings, 0123456789 for numbers
Bad
Good
Why it matters
This is about the fill-me-in tokens inside documentation and code samples, not the HTML placeholder attribute on an input — that one is covered by the separate rule against using a placeholder as a label or a value. When a snippet mixes <your-token>, xxx, abc123, and [INSERT KEY], the reader cannot tell which strings are literal and which are theirs, so they paste a sample verbatim and get a 401.
A single loud, obviously-fake convention — screaming snake case for strings, a monotone digit run for numbers — is unmistakably a slot, greppable, and safe to search-and-replace across a whole page.