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- "My README is outdated, rewrite it"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
- Scans project structure — reads directory tree, identifies project type
- Reads key config files — detects language, framework, package manager, test runner, CI/CD
- Analyzes source code — identifies entry points, CLI commands, exported APIs, environment variables
- Checks existing docs — reads existing README, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, LICENSE
- 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:
| Type | Detected From |
|---|---|
| Node.js | package.json, tsconfig.json, npm/yarn |
| Python | pyproject.toml, setup.py, requirements |
| Rust | Cargo.toml |
| Go | go.mod, go.sum |
| Java/Kotlin | pom.xml, build.gradle |
| .NET/C# | *.csproj, *.sln, NuGet.config |
| Docker | Dockerfile, compose.yaml |
| Generic | Makefile, shell scripts, any project |
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