diff --git a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
index ec21719b..5c4c95b9 100644
--- a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
+++ b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ pub struct LanguageConfiguration {
     pub file_types: Vec<String>, // filename ends_with? <Gemfile, rb, etc>
     pub roots: Vec<String>,      // these indicate project roots <.git, Cargo.toml>
 
-    // pub path: PathBuf,
-    // root_path for tree-sitter (^)
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub auto_format: bool,
 
     // content_regex
     // injection_regex
diff --git a/helix-term/src/commands.rs b/helix-term/src/commands.rs
index 3cb1288e..edc3dcfd 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/commands.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/commands.rs
@@ -966,7 +966,13 @@ mod cmd {
             editor.set_error("cannot write a buffer without a filename".to_string());
             return;
         }
-        doc.format(view.id); // TODO: merge into save
+        let autofmt = doc
+            .language_config()
+            .map(|config| config.auto_format)
+            .unwrap_or_default();
+        if autofmt {
+            doc.format(view.id); // TODO: merge into save
+        }
         tokio::spawn(doc.save());
     }
 
diff --git a/languages.toml b/languages.toml
index 93cd653e..b93bcb8b 100644
--- a/languages.toml
+++ b/languages.toml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ scope = "source.rust"
 injection-regex = "rust"
 file-types = ["rs"]
 roots = []
+auto-format = true
 
 language-server = { command = "rust-analyzer" }
 indent = { tab-width = 4, unit = "    " }
@@ -61,6 +62,7 @@ scope = "source.go"
 injection-regex = "go"
 file-types = ["go"]
 roots = ["Gopkg.toml", "go.mod"]
+auto-format = true
 
 language-server = { command = "gopls" }
 # TODO: gopls needs utf-8 offsets?