readme-writing
Made by JeffCraft professional README.md files for GitHub open source projects. Generates hero sections, installation instructions, feature tables, and architecture diagrams. Use when creating or revising a README, documenting a CLI tool, library, or open source project, or when user asks about README structure, badges, or project documentation.
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What's New with this Skill
1Updates, enhancements, and release notes for this skill.
New: README Writing, convert scanners into users in under 60 seconds
A README is a sales pitch, an onboarding guide, and a reference manual compressed into one document. Most fail because they bury the value proposition under installation steps, explain what the tool IS instead of what problem it SOLVES, lack concrete examples, miss the curl one-liner that lets impatient users start without reading anything, and don't show how the tool compares to alternatives. The skill is a structured revision prompt and a pre-publish checklist.
- Hero section: illustration, badges, one-line description, curl install. The goal is to turn scanners into users in under 60 seconds
- TL;DR shape: The Problem / The Solution / Why Use X? feature table. "This is a tool that..." is the anti-pattern; "solves X by doing Y" is the fix
- Quick example shows the tool working in 5–10 commands, and every feature claim needs an example. Show, don't tell
- Comparison table vs at least 2 alternatives, plus an honest Limitations section. Hiding limitations means users discover them painfully
- Pre-publish checklist: 3+ install methods, every command with examples, troubleshooting for the top 5 errors, FAQ with 5+ questions, copy-paste-ready code blocks, no broken links or badges
- Prompt library beyond the full revision: a new-README-from-scratch prompt, section-specific prompts (hero, TL;DR, comparison, installation, commands, architecture, troubleshooting, FAQ), audit prompts, and special cases like monorepos
- AGENTS.md blurb template: a condensed tool reference (what it does, how to use it, where things are stored, the gotchas) that agents can read without loading the full README
The structure has 14 sections. Hero (illustration, badges, one-line description, curl install). TL;DR ("The Problem" / "The Solution" / "Why Use X?" feature table). Quick example (5–10 commands showing the core workflow). Design philosophy (3–5 principles with explanations). Comparison table vs alternatives. Installation (curl one-liner, package managers, from source). Quick start. Command reference. Configuration. Architecture diagram (ASCII is fine). Troubleshooting (top 5 errors with fixes). Limitations. FAQ. About Contributions.