README Doctor
Grades your README and tells you exactly what's missing.
What you're making
Point it at any project and it reads the README like a slightly harsh reviewer. It checks whether a stranger could actually install and run your thing: is there an install command, does it say what the project is in the first two lines, are there dead links, does it explain the licence. You get a score out of a hundred and a short list of fixes.
A linter for project documentation. It parses a README, checks for the sections a newcomer needs, verifies links resolve, and reports a prioritised list of gaps. Straightforward to start and genuinely useful on every repository you own.
Hosting · Free forever
Deploys free on npm, PyPI or GitHub Releases.
Nothing to host. Publishing to a package registry is free and permanent, and anyone can run it with a single command.
Publish to npm — one command and anyone can run it.
Core features · 7
- Parses the README and detects which standard sections exist
- Checks that install and usage instructions are actually present
- Verifies every link resolves and reports the dead ones
- Scores the file and lists fixes in priority order
- Flags a first paragraph that never says what the project is
- Exits with a non-zero code so it can gate a pull request
- Works on any repository without configuration
The interesting part
- Deciding what 'good' means without being dogmatic about structure
- Checking many links quickly without hammering servers
- Distinguishing a genuinely missing section from one titled unusually
Once it works
- Add an auto-fix that scaffolds missing sections
- Check that code samples actually run
- Compare against the conventions of popular repositories