(Example created using rdme)

rdme

Generate perfect READMEs from your terminal using AI.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Key Features
• Setup & Installation
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Configuration (API Key)
• Usage
  • Generate a new README
  • Generate to a specific output path
  • Initialize a configuration file
  • Update an existing README
  • Watch for changes (Coming Soon)
• API (rdme config file)
• Contributing
• License

Overview

rdme is an innovative command-line interface (CLI) tool designed to streamline and automate the creation of high-quality README.md files for your software projects. Leveraging the power of artificial intelligence, specifically Google Gemini, rdme intelligently scans a given project's structure, identifies its core technologies, dependencies, and purpose, and then generates a comprehensive, well-structured, and contextually relevant README. Its primary goal is to save developers time and ensure consistent, professional documentation for their open-source projects and internal tools, without manual effort.

Key Features

• AI-Powered Generation: Utilizes Google Gemini to deeply understand project context and craft highly relevant and informative documentation.
• Intelligent Project Analysis: Automatically detects programming languages (JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go, PHP), frameworks (Next.js, React, Vue.js, Express, NestJS, Fastify), dependencies, and common project files (e.g., package.json, docker-compose.yml, .env.example).
• Configurable Output: Offers granular control over the generated README's structure and content through a .rdmerc.json configuration file, allowing users to specify desired sections, badges, and a table of contents.
• rdme init Command: Provides a convenient way to initialize a default .rdmerc.json configuration file in any project.
• rdme update Command: Enables effortless regeneration and updating of an existing README, ensuring it stays current with project changes or configuration modifications.
• rdme watch Command: A planned future feature that will automatically regenerate the README in response to file system changes (currently a placeholder).
• CLI Integration: A straightforward and efficient command-line interface for quick README generation and management.

Setup & Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js: Version 16.0.0 or higher.
• Google Gemini API Key: rdme requires access to the Google Gemini API to perform its AI-powered analysis and generation.

Installation

You can install rdme globally using npm or yarn, making it accessible from any directory:

npm install -g rdme
# OR
yarn global add rdme

Alternatively, you can use npx to run it without a global installation:

npx rdme

Configuration (API Key)

rdme requires a GEMINI_API_KEY to access the AI generation capabilities.

1. Obtain a Google Gemini API Key: Visit the Google AI Studio to generate your API key.

2. Set the API Key: rdme looks for the GEMINI_API_KEY environment variable. You can set it in two primary ways:

   • Using a .env file (recommended for projects): Create a file named .env in your project's root directory (where you run rdme) and add your key:

     GEMINI_API_KEY="YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY_HERE"

   • Setting it in your shell (temporary): For a single session or temporary use:

     export GEMINI_API_KEY="YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY_HERE"

Usage

Generate a new README

Navigate to your project's root directory and simply run:

rdme

This command will scan your project and generate a README.md file in the current directory.

Generate to a specific output path

If you want the README to be saved elsewhere (e.g., docs/PROJECT_README.md), use the --output option:

rdme --output docs/PROJECT_README.md

Initialize a configuration file

To customize the sections, badges, and table of contents in your generated README, create a .rdmerc.json file:

rdme init

This command will create a .rdmerc.json in your project root with default settings. You can then edit this file to suit your preferences.

Example .rdmerc.json:

{
  "sections": [
    "description",
    "features",
    "installation",
    "usage",
    "api",
    "contributing",
    "license"
  ],
  "badges": true,
  "toc": true
}

Update an existing README

If you've made changes to your project, or updated your .rdmerc.json configuration, you can regenerate and update the README:

rdme update

Note: This command will overwrite the existing README.md.

Watch for changes (Coming Soon)

A future feature will allow rdme to automatically regenerate your README when it detects changes in your project files:

rdme watch

API (rdme config file)

The .rdmerc.json file allows you to customize rdme's behavior. Place this file in your project's root directory.

| Property | Type | Description | Default Value (if not specified) | | :---------- | :-------- | :---------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------- | | sections | Array<string> | An array of strings defining the order and inclusion of README sections. Supported sections include: description, features, installation, usage, api, contributing, license. | All standard sections (as defined by rdme init) | | badges | boolean | Set to true to include standard project badges (e.g., npm version, license). | true | | toc | boolean | Set to true to include a Table of Contents at the beginning of the README. | true |

Example:

{
  "sections": [
    "description",
    "features",
    "installation",
    "usage",
    "contributing",
    "license"
  ],
  "badges": true,
  "toc": false
}

Contributing

We welcome contributions to rdme! If you're interested in improving this tool, please consider:

1. Forking the repository.
2. Cloning your fork: git clone https://github.com/yourusername/rdme.git
3. Installing dependencies: npm install
4. Creating a new branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name
5. Making your changes and committing them.
6. Pushing to your fork: git push origin feature/your-feature-name
7. Opening a Pull Request with a clear description of your changes.

Before submitting, please ensure your code adheres to the project's style and passes any existing tests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.