Crafting Effective READMEs

Overview

READMEs answer questions your audience will have. Different audiences need different information - a contributor to an OSS project needs different context than future-you opening a config folder.

Always ask: Who will read this, and what do they need to know?

User Input

User request: $ARGUMENTS

If $ARGUMENTS is non-empty, extract the task type (creating, adding, updating, reviewing) and project type (OSS, personal, internal, config) from it. Skip Step 1 and proceed to Step 2. Only ask clarifying questions if the task or project type is entirely unclear.

If $ARGUMENTS is empty, begin at Step 1.

Quick Workflow

Copy this checklist:

code

README Progress:
- [ ] Task identified: Creating / Adding / Updating / Reviewing
- [ ] Audience identified: _____
- [ ] Project type: OSS / Personal / Internal / Config
- [ ] Template selected from templates/
- [ ] Draft complete
- [ ] Asked: "Anything else to highlight?"

Process

Step 1: Identify the Task

Ask: "What README task are you working on?"

Task	When
Creating	New project, no README yet
Adding	Need to document something new
Updating	Capabilities changed, content is stale
Reviewing	Checking if README is still accurate

Step 2: Task-Specific Questions

Creating initial README:

•What type of project? (see Project Types below)
•What problem does this solve in one sentence?
•What's the quickest path to "it works"?
•Anything notable to highlight?

Adding a section:

•What needs documenting?
•Where should it go in the existing structure?
•Who needs this info most?

Updating existing content:

•What changed?
•Read current README, identify stale sections
•Propose specific edits

Reviewing/refreshing:

•Read current README
•Check against actual project state (package.json, main files, etc.)
•Flag outdated sections
•Update "Last reviewed" date if present

Step 3: Always Ask

After drafting, ask: "Anything else to highlight or include that I might have missed?"

Project Types

Type	Audience	Key Sections	Template
Open Source	Contributors, users worldwide	Install, Usage, Contributing, License	`assets/templates/oss.md`
Personal	Future you, portfolio viewers	What it does, Tech stack, Learnings	`assets/templates/personal.md`
Internal	Teammates, new hires	Setup, Architecture, Runbooks	`assets/templates/internal.md`
Config	Future you (confused)	What's here, Why, How to extend, Gotchas	`assets/templates/xdg-config.md`

Ask the user if unclear. Don't assume OSS defaults for everything.

Essential Sections (All Types)

Every README needs at minimum:

•Name - Self-explanatory title
•Description - What + why in 1-2 sentences
•Usage - How to use it (examples help)

</instructions>

Examples

<example> **Task:** Creating README for OSS CLI tool

Before (typical first draft):

markdown

# mytool
A tool for doing stuff with files.

## Installation
npm install mytool

## Usage
mytool [options]

After (audience-focused):

markdown

# mytool
Convert CSV files to JSON with one command. Handles messy data, encoding issues, and files up to 2GB.

## Quick Start
```bash
npm install -g mytool
mytool input.csv > output.json

Common Use Cases

bash

# Skip header row
mytool --skip-header data.csv

# Handle non-UTF8 encoding
mytool --encoding latin1 legacy.csv

code


**Why better:** Shows the problem it solves, demonstrates real scenarios, gives copy-paste commands.
</example>

<example>
**Task:** Updating README after adding new feature

**Before (buried in wall of text):**
```markdown
## Features
This tool does X, Y, Z. It also now supports authentication via OAuth which can be configured using environment variables or a config file.

After (scannable, actionable):

markdown

## Features
- **X** - Does this
- **Y** - Does that
- **Z** - Does the other thing
- **OAuth auth** (new in v2.0) - See [Authentication](#authentication)

## Authentication
Set `MYTOOL_OAUTH_TOKEN` or add to `~/.mytoolrc`:
```yaml
auth:
  provider: oauth
  token: your-token

code


**Why better:** New feature is discoverable, has its own section, shows exactly how to use it.
</example>

<example>
**Task:** Config folder README (for future-you)

**Before (no README or unhelpful):**
```markdown
# Config
My config files.

After (answers future-you's questions):

markdown

# Neovim Config

## What's Here
- `init.lua` - Entry point, loads everything else
- `lua/plugins/` - Plugin configs (lazy.nvim)
- `lua/keymaps.lua` - All custom keybindings

## Key Choices
- **Why lazy.nvim?** Fastest loader, good defaults
- **Why no LSP here?** Using Mason, see `lua/plugins/lsp.lua`

## Gotchas
- Run `:Lazy sync` after pulling changes
- `<leader>` is space (set in init.lua line 12)

Why better: Future-you at 2am will thank past-you for the "Gotchas" section. </example>

References

File	Purpose
`references/section-checklist.md`	Which sections to include by project type
`references/style-guide.md`	Common README mistakes and prose guidance
`references/art-of-readme.md`	Philosophy: cognitive funneling, brevity, key elements
`references/make-a-readme.md`	Section-by-section guidance for what to include
`references/standard-readme-spec.md`	Formal spec for standardised README format
`references/standard-readme-example-minimal.md`	Minimal compliant README example
`references/standard-readme-example-maximal.md`	Full-featured README example
`assets/templates/`	Ready-to-use templates: oss, personal, internal, xdg-config