Readme Beautifier
Overview
Take a README whose structure is messy or whose formatting is inconsistent, and deliver a version with clear structure, consistent formatting, and a professional look.
Core Principles
- Content unchanged — nothing added, nothing removed: do not invent information, do not delete valid content; improve only at the structure and formatting level.
- Faithful to the original meaning: preserve the author's intent and tone; do not rewrite for style.
- Minimal change: prefer a small fix over a big one; prefer adjusting formatting over rewriting.
- Respect the original; never force-fit: keep every reasonable choice the original already made (section order, whether to include badges / a TOC / spaces between Chinese and English), and do not proactively add what is missing — apply the checklist below under this principle instead of restating it per item.
Workflow
1. Read the README → understand what the project is and who it is for 2. Diagnose problems → check every item in the checklist below 3. Plan the changes → list what to change and why 4. Apply the beautification 5. Deliver the summary
Deliver steps 4 and 5 in the format defined under "Output" below.
Checklist
Ordered from highest to lowest priority. Fix an item only when the problem actually exists.
1. Heading hierarchy
- Use h1 exactly once, for the project name.
- Keep levels consecutive — never skip (h1 → h3 is wrong).
- Align granularity across same-level headings (do not have one h2 be "Install" and another h2 be "How to mount config files with a Docker volume").
2. One-line description
- If the original contains a one-line project description, place it directly under the project name; a blockquote or plain paragraph both work.
- If none exists, report that as an out-of-scope content gap. Do not invent one.
3. Section structure
- Give every section a single clear responsibility; do not mix topics.
- A common sensible order: what it is → quick start → usage → configuration → directory layout → contributing → license.
- Preserve empty sections and flag them as out-of-scope content gaps; deleting or filling them changes content.
4. List formatting
- Keep item markers uniform within one list (all
-or all*, never mixed). - Keep nesting indentation consistent (2 spaces or 4 spaces, never mixed).
- Use
1.auto-numbering for ordered lists instead of manual numbers (avoids renumbering when items are inserted). - Surround lists with blank lines.
5. Code blocks
- Tag every code block with a language (
bash /yaml / ```text, etc.). - Wrap inline code in backticks: commands, file names, variable names, package names.
- Strip unnecessary
$prefixes from command examples (unless input must be distinguished from output). - Put multi-line commands in code blocks, not inline code.
6. Tables
- Align columns (pixel-perfect alignment is not required, but they should look tidy).
- Make headers meaningful.
- If a table has only two columns of short content, consider whether a list fits better.
- If a list carries three or more parallel dimensions of information, consider whether a table fits better.
7. Links and references
- Make link text meaningful (no "click here", no "link").
- Check for obviously broken link formats (
[text]()empty links,[text](TODO)placeholders). - Check that relative vs absolute paths are used sensibly.
8. Whitespace and separation
- Put a blank line before headings.
- Put a blank line between paragraphs.
- Never allow more than two consecutive blank lines.
- Spaces between Chinese and English: if the original mostly has them, fill in the gaps for consistency; if it mostly does not, follow the original.
- Put a blank line between lists and paragraphs.
- End the file with a single newline (no trailing blank lines, no missing newline).
9. Badges
- Tidy badges only if the original has them: gather them right below the project name and above the one-line description.
- Separate badges with spaces, no line breaks.
10. Table of contents (TOC)
- Suggest adding a TOC when there are more than 6 sections, but do not add one unless the user also authorizes content additions.
- If the original already has a TOC with broken anchors, repair it rather than delete it.
Do not
- Do not add decorative elements: no emoji, no horizontal rules, no fancy ASCII art, unless the original already has them.
- Do not change technical content: do not alter commands, configuration options, or the logic of code examples.
- Do not translate: do not turn Chinese into English or the reverse.
- Do not add content: if a "Contributing" section is missing, do not auto-create one — only mention in the summary that it could be added.
- Do not rename the file: the output stays README.md, never something else.
Use a different skill when
This skill handles only formatting and structure, never whether the content is correct. Content-level problems are out of scope — this skill never changes meaning. When the user says "check my README", distinguish the intent:
- The user wants to confirm the README matches the code / config / API, or whether it is stale → use hai-audit-docs.
- The user wants an internal-consistency / stale-content audit of the docs themselves (internal contradictions, no code comparison) → use hai-audit-docs.
- The user wants the content rewritten around the current conclusions because the doc drifted through rounds of discussion → use hai-rewrite-doc.
- The user wants the layout beautified, the formatting unified, the structure straightened out → this skill.
Output
When the user targets a local file, edit that file and return its path plus a short summary; do not repeat a long README in chat. When the README was pasted without a writable target, return the full beautified content followed by the summary.
Use references/output-template.md for both file and pasted-content delivery shapes and for the
already-clean case.
Do not duplicate its output schema here.
Edge cases
- Very short README (< 10 lines): only fix formatting; do not pad the length.
- Very long README (> 300 lines): fix structural problems first; fix only the most glaring formatting problems.
- Multilingual README: beautify only the current file; do not touch other language versions.
- README is already good: do not force changes; reply using the "check summary" format at the end of references/output-template.md.
