README Generator

Turn your project into a professional, well-documented README.md — no manual writing required.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• "Generate a README for my project"
• "My README is outdated, rewrite it"
• "Create docs for my open-source library"
• "I have a new repo with no documentation"
• "Standardize all READMEs in my org"
• "Add installation and usage sections to my README"
• "Generate API docs for my CLI tool"

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• Need full API reference docs → use an API doc generator
• Need multi-page documentation site → use a docs site generator (Docusaurus, MkDocs)
• Need architecture decision records (ADRs) → use a decisions skill

How It Works

1. Scans project structure — reads directory tree, identifies project type
2. Reads key config files — detects language, framework, package manager, test runner, CI/CD
3. Analyzes source code — identifies entry points, CLI commands, exported APIs, environment variables
4. Checks existing docs — reads existing README, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, LICENSE
5. Generates a comprehensive markdown document

Generated Sections

The README automatically includes the sections that are relevant to your project:

Always Included

• Title & Badges — Project name, description, license, CI status, version
• Description — What the project does and why it exists
• Table of Contents — For longer READMEs
• Installation — Language-appropriate install instructions

Conditional (auto-detected)

• Prerequisites — Runtime requirements (Node, Python, Java, etc.)
• Quick Start — Minimal steps to get running
• Usage / CLI — Commands, flags, examples (detected from CLI tools)
• API — If a library/module is detected
• Configuration — Env vars, config files, dotenv support
• Scripts — npm scripts, Makefile targets, Justfile recipes
• Docker — If Dockerfile or compose files exist
• Testing — How to run tests
• Project Structure — If the layout is non-trivial
• Contributing — If CONTRIBUTING.md or contribution patterns exist
• License — If a license file is detected
• Changelog — Links to CHANGELOG.md or git tags

Examples

Generate from scratch

"Generate a README for the current project"

→ Scans the entire project, produces a complete README.md.

Regenerate existing

"Regenerate the README but keep the custom sections"

→ Merges generated content with preserved custom content from the existing README.

Focus on specific aspects

"Generate a README focusing on the API section — I have a Python library"

→ Deep-dives into module exports, class signatures, and function parameters.

Language/Framework Detection

The skill recognizes and tailors output for:

Badge Support

Auto-includes badges for:

• License (from LICENSE file)
• Language version (from SDK/config files)
• CI status (detects GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI)
• Package version (from registry files if publishable)

Notes

• Preserves custom content — when updating an existing README, content outside generated sections is kept intact
• Follows best practices — output adheres to the Standard README specification
• Project-specific — adapts to CLI tools, libraries, web apps, and monorepos differently
• Open-source ready — output is formatted for publishing to GitHub/GitLab immediately