README Templates

One Generic Template Fits Nothing Properly

You copy a template and half of it does not apply. Your CLI tool has no API section, your dataset has no install command, and you spend twenty minutes deleting headings. Every README template here is built for one project type instead.

Six starting points. Pick the one that matches, edit it in place, download the file.

They are all deliberately short. Cutting is easier than writing, and every one of these expects you to delete something.

Which README MD Template Matches Your Project?

Notice how little those overlap. A CLI README organised like a library README buries the command list under an API section that does not exist.

For a monorepo we use the minimal template at the root and a real README inside each package. A root file documenting five packages turns into a directory listing.

What Goes in an Open Source README Template That Others Skip

Three sections we include on purpose because they are usually missing:

• Known limitations on the dataset template. Researchers read it first, and leaving it out is how data gets misused.
• Exit codes on the CLI template. Anyone scripting your tool needs them, and almost no README documents them.
• What I would change on the portfolio template. Reviewers read it more closely than the code.

That last one makes people nervous. In our experience it is the section that separates a project that looks finished from one that shows judgement — as long as the answer is specific rather than vague self-criticism.

Why Every README Example Here Uses Absolute Image URLs

Relative paths look tidier and they break the moment your README leaves the repository.

npm, PyPI and every package aggregator render your README from their own domain. A path like docs/screenshot.png resolves against their site and finds nothing.

So the templates use full raw.githubusercontent.com URLs. Slightly uglier in the source, correct everywhere the file travels.

Same reasoning applies to badges, which are absolute by nature. Our badge generator builds them with a live preview.

Start From a Minimal README Template and Add Only What You Need

The most common mistake is starting from the biggest template and filling gaps. You end up with empty option tables and a Contributing section that says "PRs welcome".

An empty table is worse than no table. It signals the documentation was abandoned partway, which is a worse impression than brevity.

Our advice: take the minimal template, ship it, and add sections when somebody actually asks a question. That way every section exists because a real person needed it.

The reasoning behind the cuts is in what belongs in a README.

Templates or a Generator?

A template is a starting point you edit. A generator asks questions and assembles the file for you. Both are reasonable and they suit different moments.

Use a template when you know the shape you want and would rather write the prose yourself. Use the README generator when you want badges, tech icons and install blocks built from a form.

For your GitHub profile rather than a repository, the profile README maker handles that separate file.

Setting up a fresh repository? Pair this with a gitignore template generator so the first commit is clean.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Short Version

Pick the README template matching your project type, edit it, delete two sections, commit it. A CLI and a library genuinely need different files.

Start smaller than feels right. Adding a section later is easy; nobody ever went back to trim one.