Readme reviewer

readme-reviewer

When to use

• Reviewing a newly created or rewritten README
• Validating a README matches the actual repository
• Auditing README quality across repos
• Checking for hallucinated setup, commands, or features

Do NOT use when:

• Only proofreading grammar or formatting
• Writing a README from scratch → use readme-writing or readme-writing-package

Goal

Ensure the README is correct (no invented content), aligned with the repo, useful for the intended audience, and has a strong quickstart path.

Core principles

• Evidence over assumption — verify every claim against the repo
• Commands must exist — check Taskfile.yml, Makefile, package.json scripts
• Examples must match real APIs — compare against source code
• Quickstart quality matters more than completeness
• A clean-looking README can still be technically wrong

Procedure

1. Identify README type and audience

Determine repo type (package, app, CLI, internal, framework) and target audience (consumers, contributors, team). Check if README structure matches this type.

2. Cross-check against repository

Inspect truth-defining files:

• package.json / composer.json — name, scripts, dependencies
• Dockerfile / docker-compose.yml — runtime setup
• Taskfile.yml / Makefile — available commands
• CI workflows — what gets tested
• Source entrypoints — actual public API
• Config files, tests, existing docs

Verify: install steps exist, commands work, features are implemented, dependencies are real.

3. Validate installation and setup

Check:

• Install command is correct and complete
• Required post-install steps are documented
• No hidden setup assumptions
• Environment/config requirements are listed

Flag: missing steps, incorrect steps, implied-but-unwritten steps.

4. Validate usage examples

Check:

• First example is minimal and realistic
• Example matches actual API (verify against source)
• Example does not rely on undocumented setup
• Example is not overly complex or abstract

Flag: pseudo-code, oversized examples, API mismatches.

5. Validate compatibility and requirements

Check:

• Runtime versions stated (PHP, Node, etc.)
• Framework compatibility is explicit
• Dependencies are declared

Flag: missing compatibility, vague claims ("works with most versions"), unconfirmed broad support.

6. Evaluate structure and clarity

Check:

• Strong first screen (what + why + quickstart visible before scrolling)
• Logical section order for repo type
• No unnecessary sections (padded boilerplate)
• No missing critical sections

Common issues: architecture before installation, no quickstart, buried usage instructions, generic template sections.

7. Detect hallucinations

Explicitly search for:

• Commands not present in repo
• Features not implemented
• Setup steps not supported by scripts/configs
• Assumptions about environment or tools

Classify each finding:

• Confirmed incorrect — verifiably wrong
• Likely incorrect — no evidence found, needs verification
• Unclear — cannot confirm or deny, needs human input

8. Check scope, size, and splitting

• README not overloaded with deep technical detail
• Complex content belongs in /docs, not README
• Important onboarding info not missing due to over-condensation

Size checks:

• < 150 lines — healthy
• 150–300 lines — expect a Table of Contents; flag if missing
• 300–500 lines — flag as overloaded; deep content should be in /docs/
• > 500 lines — flag as broken entry point; hard split required

Structure checks:

• ToC present if > 150 lines or > 6 top-level (##) sections
• Multi-platform install (> 5 variants) uses a table with deep links, not stacked blocks
• <details> used only for secondary, bulky content — never for install, first example, or requirements
• No duplication between README and /docs/ (same content in two places drifts)
• Each /docs/ file linked from README is self-contained (not just a fragment)

→ See docs/guidelines/docs/readme-size-and-splitting.md for full thresholds, splitting strategies, and anti-patterns.

9. Validate every link and detect orphans — MANDATORY

For every internal link in the README:

1. Resolve the path. test -f files, test -d directories. Strip #anchor and ?query before the check.
2. For every anchor link (file.md#section), grep the target file for the heading slug. Missing slug = broken anchor.
3. Group findings:
   • broken — target does not exist (❌ Critical)
   • anchor-broken — file exists, anchor does not (⚠️ Major)
   • path-drift — target moved but a valid path exists elsewhere (⚠️ Major, propose the corrected path)

For every documentation file referenced by the README, check whether it has any other references in the repo (grep -r over AGENTS.md, docs/, dist/agent-src*/, .augment/, packages/). Files referenced only by this README are single-use — note them so they can be moved or inlined later.

For every doc under /docs/ that the README does not link, check whether anything else in the repo links it. Files with zero inbound references are orphan-candidates — surface them, never delete silently.

10. Currency check — drift detection

The README may have been correct at write-time but drifted since. Compare the README's claims to the live repository:

• Counts (badges like "Skills: 218") — recount from the source tree and flag any drift > 0
• Commands — every documented task, npm run, npx, or bash call must exist in Taskfile.yml, package.json scripts, or the named script file at its claimed path
• Profiles / user-types / packs — list members against the live directory listing
• Version pins — runtime, framework, peer-dep versions stated in README vs. the manifest's engines / require / dependencies
• Visual identity — banner / hero image references resolve to real files (not 404s in GitHub rendering)

Output format

1. Produce three subsections in order: Summary, Findings, Confidence; no prose outside them.
2. Findings table must use the severity vocabulary (❌ Critical / ⚠️ Major / ℹ️ Minor) and cite the exact section name.
3. Close the report with a Confidence block that separates confirmed-correct, needs-verification, and unclear-due-to-missing-context.

1. Summary

Field	Value
Repo type	{type}
Audience	{audience}
Overall	{short assessment}

2. Findings

#	Severity	Section	Issue	Fix
1	❌ Critical	Install	Command X does not exist	Replace with Y
2	❌ Critical	Profile grid	Link .agent-src.uncondensed/profiles/ 404s	Repoint to packages/core/.agent-src.uncondensed/profiles/
3	⚠️ Major	Badges	"Skills: 218" — live count is 207	Update badge or note drift
4	⚠️ Major	Usage	Example uses deprecated API	Update to current API
5	ℹ️ Minor	Structure	Requirements buried below usage	Move above install
6	ℹ️ Minor	Docs	docs/foo.md only linked by README	Either inline or keep as standalone

Severity levels:

• ❌ Critical — breaks onboarding or is factually incorrect
• ⚠️ Major — confusing, incomplete, or misleading
• ℹ️ Minor — clarity improvement, formatting, structure

3. Confidence

• What is confirmed correct
• What needs human verification
• What is unclear due to missing context

Gotcha

• Model tends to trust the README instead of verifying against the repo
• Model may miss subtle mismatches between examples and real APIs
• Model may focus on wording/style instead of correctness
• A well-formatted README with wrong commands is worse than ugly but correct
• Model may accept "looks reasonable" compatibility without checking CI matrix

Do NOT

• Do NOT assume README is correct without checking the repo
• Do NOT ignore missing or broken setup steps
• Do NOT accept vague compatibility statements as valid
• Do NOT focus only on wording while missing structural/correctness issues
• Do NOT overlook mismatches between examples and actual source code
• Do NOT soften findings — state issues clearly with severity