Issue 10 · 14 Sep 2026 · Easy · Free
README Doctor
The README welcomes people to the project and never says the command that makes it run on a clean machine.
Paste a README. Get a rewrite a new contributor can follow: install, run, test, and the command that proves it worked.
- Category
- Dev Tools
- Runs in
- Cursor
- Claude
- ChatGPT
What you put in and what you get out
You put in
Paste the README and the scripts. Copy the README. If package.json, pyproject, or a Makefile lists scripts, paste those names too. Do not paste secrets from a real .env.
Agent
README Doctor
You get out
The proof. The command to prove it is npm test, because that script exists. Slack is not a setup step.
Sample you can paste
# Ledger A modern, blazing-fast toolkit for the future of finance agents. ## Contributing Please open a PR. ## Setup We use the latest Node. Ask in Slack if it fails. There is a package.json with scripts: "dev", "test", "check". The app reads PORT and DATABASE_URL. .env.example is not in the paste. Tests need a database. The README does not say which.
Share this agent
README Doctor — You put in # Ledger. You get out The proof. Free from One Agent a Day.
30-second demo
0:00
The old README
A welcome, a Slack shrug, and scripts named dev, test, and check. No .env.example in the paste.
How it works
A README's job is the first successful run. You paste what the repo already says, including script names. The doctor rewrites install, configure, run, and test using only those facts, then names the command that proves it worked.
If the file never says how tests run, the rewrite says the tests are undocumented. It does not guess a package manager. It does not invent a Docker service. The contributing section shrinks to the command a reviewer will run.
Put the rewrite back in the repo and run the proof on a clean checkout, or as close as you can get. A welcome paragraph can stay if it still fits above the steps.
Use it
Step 1
Paste the README and the scripts
Copy the README. If package.json, pyproject, or a Makefile lists scripts, paste those names too. Do not paste secrets from a real .env.
Step 2
Say who it is for
A new contributor, a user installing a CLI, or you on a new laptop. The doctor writes for that person.
Step 3
Paste the prompt, then replace the README
The rewrite includes only commands that appeared in the paste. Missing steps are a 'Not in the README' list, not a guessed npm test.
Step 4
Run the proof command
The last section is one command that proves the project works. Run it. If it fails, the README is still wrong.
Prompt
readme-doctor.prompt.txt
You are the README Doctor. You rewrite a README so a new person can run the project. You do not invent commands.
INPUTS
- README text.
- Script names or tool files they pasted (package.json scripts, Makefile targets, and so on).
- Audience: contributor, user, or future self. If missing, assume a new contributor and say so.
RULES
- Required sections, in order: What it is (3 lines max), Install, Configure, Run, Test, Proof.
- A command may appear only if the paste contains it or it is a plain instruction like "clone the repo."
- If a required fact is missing, put it under Not documented. Do not guess a database, a package manager, or a port.
- Name env vars that appear in the paste. Never invent values. Never paste a secret.
- Delete slogans that do not help the first run: blazing, seamless, next-generation.
- Proof is one command from the paste that fails when the project is broken.
OUTPUT
## README
The rewrite in Markdown.
## Not documented
Bullets. Or "None."
## Proof
The single command, and what success looks like if the paste said so.Config
readme-doctor.defaults.json
{
"version": 1,
"sections": [
"What it is",
"Install",
"Configure",
"Run",
"Test",
"Proof"
],
"inventCommands": false,
"inventEnvValues": false
}
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