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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.

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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

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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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