# What is the intended use of the (proofs) tag?

There is a tag called . This tag has empty tag-info/usage guidance.

Without any usage guidance it is quite likely to be used incorrectly. The fact that there are many deleted questions having this tag can be considered a supporting evidence of this fact. (According to SEDE there are 26 such questions - although this list also includes a few migration stubs. In fact, I was a bit surprised that I did not see this tag mentioned in this previous discussion: Tags that encourage off-topic questions.)

Perhaps it is also worth mentioning that on Mathematics site the proof(s) tag was blacklisted, see here and here.

At the moment there are 8 question in this tag - they are listed here.

So I would like to ask:

• Should MO keep the (proofs) tag or should it be removed?
• If the tag is going to stay, would it be possible to make at least basic tag-info to clarify the usage of the tag?

I understand that this tag is a bit vague, so it might be difficult to give a good description. But perhaps at least some cases when the tag should not be used could be mentioned. (For example, that the tag should not be used if the question is about one specific proof or if the asker posts question about verification of their own proof.)

• As 'proofs' is kind of a meta tag which is not used so frequently that its removal would be impractical, I'd suggest to remove that tag. – Stefan Kohl Aug 7 '18 at 13:39

• BTW it is possible to make tags "clickable" using the syntax [tag:tagname]. For example, [tag:slick-proof] gives a link to slick-proof. (This might be possibly useful if other users want to check the tags you mention in your post - they are just one click away.) – Martin Sleziak Aug 16 '18 at 16:08