README Files That Actually Work

A bad README is the fastest way to lose a contributor. This builds one for your repo in order: one-line description, badges row, a Why This Exists paragraph that names the problem first, a quick-start that goes zero to working in under five minutes, and config notes. Give it the project, language and users.

Generate a README for the {PROJECT_NAME} repository. The project is {PROJECT_DESCRIPTION}. Primary users are {PRIMARY_USERS} and the main programming language is {LANGUAGE}.

Include in order: a one-line project description, a badges row (build status, licence, version), a 'Why this exists' paragraph (problem before solution), a quick-start section that gets a user from zero to working in under five minutes, a configuration reference table (key, type, default, description), a contributing guide with the PR process, and a licence statement.

Write for GitHub Markdown. Every code block must specify its language for syntax highlighting. Every command must be copy-pasteable without modification. Flag any section where you need the author to supply information you do not have.