diff --git a/cmd/root_test.go b/cmd/root_test.go
index eb5068dc..074ab473 100644
--- a/cmd/root_test.go
+++ b/cmd/root_test.go
@@ -2502,19 +2502,19 @@ func TestConcurrentInvocation(t *testing.T) {
 	as.NoError(eg.Wait())
 }
 
-func TestMaxBatchSize(t *testing.T) {
+func TestNoPositionalArgSupport(t *testing.T) {
 	tempDir := test.TempExamples(t)
 	configPath := filepath.Join(tempDir, "/treefmt.toml")
 
 	test.ChangeWorkDir(t, tempDir)
 
-	maxBatchSize := 1
+	noPositionalArgSupport := true
 	cfg := &config.Config{
 		FormatterConfigs: map[string]*config.Formatter{
 			"echo": {
-				Command:      "test-fmt-only-one-file-at-a-time",
-				Includes:     []string{"*"},
-				MaxBatchSize: &maxBatchSize,
+				Command:                "test-fmt-only-one-file-at-a-time",
+				Includes:               []string{"*"},
+				NoPositionalArgSupport: &noPositionalArgSupport,
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index c6b1bc72..79a63103 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -62,8 +62,9 @@ type Formatter struct {
 	Excludes []string `mapstructure:"excludes,omitempty" toml:"excludes,omitempty"`
 	// Indicates the order of precedence when executing this Formatter in a sequence of Formatters.
 	Priority int `mapstructure:"priority,omitempty" toml:"priority,omitempty"`
-	// The maximum number of files we should pass to this Formatter at once.
-	MaxBatchSize *int `mapstructure:"max-batch-size" toml:"max-batch-size"`
+	// Does this formatter violate [rule 1] of the formatter spec?
+	// [rule 1]: https://treefmt.com/latest/reference/formatter-spec/#1-files-passed-as-arguments
+	NoPositionalArgSupport *bool `mapstructure:"no-positional-arg-support" toml:"no-positional-arg-support"`
 }
 
 // SetFlags appends our flags to the provided flag set.
diff --git a/docs/site/getting-started/configure.md b/docs/site/getting-started/configure.md
index 81c16005..77f55adb 100644
--- a/docs/site/getting-started/configure.md
+++ b/docs/site/getting-started/configure.md
@@ -450,7 +450,6 @@ command = "deadnix"
 options = ["-e"]
 includes = ["*.nix"]
 priority = 2
-max-batch-size = 1024
 ```
 
 ### `command`
@@ -473,13 +472,12 @@ An optional list of [glob patterns](#glob-patterns-format) used to exclude certa
 
 Influences the order of execution. Greater precedence is given to lower numbers, with the default being `0`.
 
-### `max-batch-size`
+### `no-positional-arg-support`
 
-Invoke the formatter with no more than this many files at once. If there are
-more files to format, treefmt will invoke the formatter multiple times in
-smaller batches. Defaults to 1024.
+If `true`, `treefmt` will invoke the formatter with no more than 1 file at a time.
 
-This is useful for [non-compliant](https://treefmt.com/latest/reference/formatter-spec/#1-files-passed-as-arguments) formatters which can only format 1 file at a time.
+Enable this if the formatter can only format 1 file at a time (a violation of
+[rule 1 of the formatter spec](https://treefmt.com/latest/reference/formatter-spec/#1-files-passed-as-arguments)).
 
 ## Same file, multiple formatters?
 
diff --git a/format/formatter.go b/format/formatter.go
index 35cada7a..870fb4b8 100644
--- a/format/formatter.go
+++ b/format/formatter.go
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ const (
 var (
 	ErrInvalidName = errors.New("formatter name must only contain alphanumeric characters, `_` or `-`")
 	// ErrCommandNotFound is returned when the Command for a Formatter is not available.
-	ErrCommandNotFound = errors.New("formatter command not found in PATH")
+	ErrCommandNotFound        = errors.New("formatter command not found in PATH")
+	ErrNoPositionalArgSupport = errors.New(
+		"formatter cannot format multiple files at once (it violates rule 1 of the formatter specification)",
+	)
 
 	nameRegex = regexp.MustCompile("^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$")
 )
@@ -50,12 +53,12 @@ func (f *Formatter) Name() string {
 	return f.name
 }
 
-func (f *Formatter) MaxBatchSize() int {
-	if f.config.MaxBatchSize == nil {
-		return BatchSize
+func (f *Formatter) HasNoPositionalArgSupport() bool {
+	if f.config.NoPositionalArgSupport == nil {
+		return false
 	}
 
-	return *f.config.MaxBatchSize
+	return *f.config.NoPositionalArgSupport
 }
 
 func (f *Formatter) Priority() int {
@@ -90,8 +93,8 @@ func (f *Formatter) Hash(h hash.Hash) error {
 }
 
 func (f *Formatter) Apply(ctx context.Context, files []*walk.File) error {
-	if len(files) > f.MaxBatchSize() {
-		return fmt.Errorf("formatter cannot format %d files at once (max batch size: %d)", len(files), f.MaxBatchSize())
+	if len(files) > 1 && f.HasNoPositionalArgSupport() {
+		return ErrNoPositionalArgSupport
 	}
 
 	start := time.Now()
diff --git a/format/scheduler.go b/format/scheduler.go
index b4e23b96..6adb4bb0 100644
--- a/format/scheduler.go
+++ b/format/scheduler.go
@@ -145,7 +145,12 @@ func (s *scheduler) schedule(ctx context.Context, key batchKey, batch []*walk.Fi
 		for _, name := range key.sequence() {
 			formatter := s.formatters[name]
 
-			for chunk := range slices.Chunk(batch, formatter.MaxBatchSize()) {
+			maxBatchSize := len(batch)
+			if formatter.HasNoPositionalArgSupport() {
+				maxBatchSize = 1
+			}
+
+			for chunk := range slices.Chunk(batch, maxBatchSize) {
 				if err := formatter.Apply(ctx, chunk); err != nil {
 					formatErrors = append(formatErrors, err)
 				}
diff --git a/nix/devshells/default.nix b/nix/devshells/default.nix
index 36b8d771..c94c3175 100644
--- a/nix/devshells/default.nix
+++ b/nix/devshells/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {pkgs, ...}:
 pkgs.mkShellNoCC {
   env = {
-    GOROOT = "${pkgs.go_1_24}/share/go";
+    GOROOT = "${pkgs.go_1_26}/share/go";
     CGO_ENABLED = "0";
   };