readmeai

Designed for simplicity, customization, and developer productivity.

Quick Links

• Intro
• Demo
• Features
• Quickstart
• Configuration
• Example Gallery
• Contributing Guidelines

[!IMPORTANT] Explore the Official Documentation for a complete list of features, customization options, and examples.

Introduction

ReadmeAI is a developer tool that automatically generates README files using a robust repository processing engine and advanced language models. Simply provide a URL or path to your codebase, and a well-structured and detailed README will be generated.

Why Use ReadmeAI?

This project aims to streamline the process of creating and maintaining documentation across all technical disciplines and experience levels. The core principles include:

• 🔵 Automate: Generate detailed and structured README files with a single command.
• ⚫️ Customize: Select from a variety of templates, styles, badges, and much more.
• 🟣 Flexible: Switch between OpenAI, Ollama, Anthropic, and Gemini anytime.
• 🟠 Language Agnostic: Compatible with a wide range of languages and frameworks.
• 🟡 Best Practices: Ensure clean and consistent documentation across all projects.
• 🟢 Smart Filtering: Intelligent file analysis with customizable .readmeaiignore patterns.
• ⛔️ Offline Mode: Create README files offline, without using a LLM API service.

Demo

Run from your terminal:

readmeai-cli-demo

Features

Customize Your README

Let's begin by exploring various customization options and styles supported by ReadmeAI:

Header Styles

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai-streamlit \  --logo custom \  --badge-color FF4B4B \  --badge-style flat-square \  --header-style classic

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository https://github.com/olliefr/docker-gs-ping \  --badge-color 00ADD8 \  --badge-style for-the-badge \  --header-style modern \  --navigation-style roman

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository https://github.com/rumaan/file.io-Android-Client \  --badge-style plastic \  --badge-color blueviolet \  --logo PURPLE \  --header-style COMPACT \  --navigation-style NUMBER \  --emojis solar

Banner Styles

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository https://github.com/emcf/thepipe \  --badge-style flat-square \  --badge-color 8a2be2 \  --header-style console \  --navigation-style accordion \  --emojis water

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository https://github.com/FerrariDG/async-ml-inference \  --badge-style plastic \  --badge-color 43a047 \  --header-style BANNER

And More!

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository 'https://github.com/eli64sreadme-ai-streamlit' \  --badge-style FLAT-SQUARE \  --badge-color E92063 \  --header-style COMPACT \  --navigation-style ACCORDION \  --emojis RAINBOW \  --logo ICE

CLI Command: $ readmeai --repository https://github.com/jwills/buenavista \  --align LEFT \  --badge-style FLAT-SQUARE \  --logo CUSTOM

Generated Sections & Content

꩜ Expand to view more!

Project Introduction This section captures your project's essence and value proposition. The prompt template used to generate this section can be viewed here.

Features Table Detailed feature breakdown and technical capabilities. The prompt template used to generate this section can be viewed here.

Project Structure Visual representation of your project's directory structure. The tree is generated using pure Python and embedded in a code block.
Project Index Summarizes key modules of the project, which are also used as context for downstream prompts.toml.

Getting Started Guides Dependencies and system requirements are extracted from the codebase during preprocessing. The parsers handle most of the heavy lifting here.
Installation, Usage, & Testing Setup instructions and usage guides are automatically created based on data extracted from the codebase.

Community & Support Development roadmap, contribution guidelines, license information, and community resources. A return button is also included for easy navigation.
Contribution Guides Instructions for contributing to the project, including resource links and a basic contribution guide. Graph of contributors is also included for open-source projects.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

ReadmeAI requires Python 3.9 or higher, and one of the following installation methods:

Requirement	Details
• Python ≥3.9	Core runtime
Installation Method (choose one)
• pip	Default Python package manager
• pipx	Isolated environment installer
• uv	High-performance package manager
• docker	Containerized environment

Supported Repository Platforms

To generate a README file, provide the source repository. ReadmeAI supports these platforms:

Platform	Details
File System	Local repository access
GitHub	Industry-standard hosting
GitLab	Full DevOps integration
Bitbucket	Atlassian ecosystem

Supported LLM API Services

ReadmeAI is model agnostic, with support for the following LLM API services:

Provider	Best For	Details
OpenAI	General use	Industry-leading models
Anthropic	Advanced tasks	Claude language models
Google Gemini	Multimodal AI	Latest Google technology
Ollama	Open source	No API key needed
Offline Mode	Local operation	No internet required

Installation

ReadmeAI is available on PyPI as readmeai and can be installed as follows:

 Pip

Install with pip (recommended for most users):

❯ pip install -U readmeai

 Pipx

With pipx, readmeai will be installed in an isolated environment:

❯ pipx install readmeai

 Uv

The fastest way to install readmeai is with uv:

❯ uv tool install readmeai

 Docker

To run readmeai in a containerized environment, pull the latest image from [Docker Hub][dockerhub-link]:

❯ docker pull zeroxeli/readme-ai:latest

 From source

Click to build readmeai from source

• Clone the repository:

  ❯ git clone https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai
  

• Navigate to the project directory:

  ❯ cd readme-ai
  

• Install dependencies:

  ❯ pip install -r setup/requirements.txt
  

Alternatively, use the [setup script][setup-script] to install dependencies:

 Bash

• Run the setup script:

  ❯ bash setup/setup.sh
  

Or, use poetry to build and install project dependencies:

 Poetry

• Install dependencies with poetry:

  ❯ poetry install
  

Additional Optional Dependencies

[!IMPORTANT] To use the Anthropic and Google Gemini clients, extra dependencies are required. Install the package with the following extras:

• Anthropic:

  ❯ pip install "readmeai[anthropic]"
  

• Google Gemini:

  ❯ pip install "readmeai[google-generativeai]"
  

• Install Multiple Clients:

  ❯ pip install "readmeai[anthropic,google-generativeai]"
  

Usage

Set your API key

When running readmeai with a third-party service, you must provide a valid API key. For example, the OpenAI client is set as follows:

❯ export OPENAI_API_KEY=<your_api_key>

# For Windows users:
❯ set OPENAI_API_KEY=<your_api_key>

Click to view environment variables for - Ollama, Anthropic, Google Gemini

Ollama

Refer to the Ollama documentation for more information on setting up the Ollama server.

To start, follow these steps:

• Pull your model of choice from the Ollama repository:

  ❯ ollama pull llama3.2:latest
  

• Start the Ollama server and set the OLLAMA_HOST environment variable:

  ❯ export OLLAMA_HOST=127.0.0.1 && ollama serve
  

Anthropic

• Export your Anthropic API key:

  ❯ export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<your_api_key>
  

Google Gemini

• Export your Google Gemini API key:

  ❯ export GOOGLE_API_KEY=<your_api_key
  

Using the CLI

Running with a LLM API service

Below is the minimal command required to run readmeai using the OpenAI client:

❯ readmeai --api openai -o readmeai-openai.md -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai

[!IMPORTANT] The default model set is gpt-3.5-turbo, offering the best balance between cost and performance.When using any model from the gpt-4 series and up, please monitor your costs and usage to avoid unexpected charges.

ReadmeAI can easily switch between API providers and models. We can run the same command as above with the Anthropic client:

❯ readmeai --api anthropic -m claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620 -o readmeai-anthropic.md -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai

And finally, with the Google Gemini client:

❯ readmeai --api gemini -m gemini-1.5-flash -o readmeai-gemini.md -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai

Running with local models

We can also run readmeai with free and open-source locally hosted models using the Ollama:

❯ readmeai --api ollama --model llama3.2 -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai

Running on a local codebase

To generate a README file from a local codebase, simply provide the full path to the project:

❯ readmeai --repository /users/username/projects/myproject --api openai

Adding more customization options:

❯ readmeai --repository https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai \
           --output readmeai.md \
           --api openai \
           --model gpt-4 \
           --badge-color A931EC \
           --badge-style flat-square \
           --header-style compact \
           --navigation-style fold \
           --temperature 0.9 \
           --tree-depth 2
           --logo LLM \
           --emojis solar

Running in offline mode

ReadmeAI supports offline mode, allowing you to generate README files without using a LLM API service.

❯ readmeai --api offline -o readmeai-offline.md -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai

 Docker

Run the readmeai CLI in a Docker container:

❯ docker run -it --rm \
    -e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY \
    -v "$(pwd)":/app zeroxeli/readme-ai:latest \
    --repository https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai \
    --api openai

 Streamlit

Try readme-ai directly in your browser on Streamlit Cloud, no installation required.

See the readme-ai-streamlit repository on GitHub for more details about the application.

[!WARNING] The readme-ai Streamlit web app may not always be up-to-date with the latest features. Please use the command-line interface (CLI) for the most recent functionality.

 From source

Click to run readmeai from source

 Bash

If you installed the project from source with the bash script, run the following command:

• Activate the virtual environment:

  ❯ conda activate readmeai
  

• Run the CLI:

  ❯ python3 -m readmeai.cli.main -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai
  

 Poetry

• Activate the virtual environment:

  ❯ poetry shell
  

• Run the CLI:

  ❯ poetry run python3 -m readmeai.cli.main -r https://github.com/eli64s/readme-ai
  

Testing

The pytest and nox frameworks are used for development and testing.

Install the dependencies with uv:

❯ uv pip install --dev --group test --all-extras

Run the unit test suite using Pytest:

❯ make test

Using nox, test the app against Python versions 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, and 3.12:

❯ make test-nox

[!TIP] _{Nox is an automation tool for testing applications in multiple environments. This helps ensure your project is compatible with across Python versions and environments.}

Configuration

Customize your README generation with a variety of options and style settings supported such as:

Option	Description	Default
--align	Text alignment in header	center
--api	LLM API service provider	offline
--badge-color	Badge color name or hex code	0080ff
--badge-style	Badge icon style type	flat
--header-style	Header template style	classic
--navigation-style	Table of contents style	bullet
--emojis	Emoji theme packs prefixed to section titles	None
--logo	Project logo image	blue
--logo-size	Logo image size	30%
--model	Specific LLM model to use	gpt-3.5-turbo
--output	Output filename	readme-ai.md
--repository	Repository URL or local directory path	None
--temperature	Creativity level for content generation	0.1
--tree-max-depth	Maximum depth of the directory tree structure	2

Run the following command to view all available options:

❯ readmeai --help

Visit the Official Documentation for a complete guide on configuring and customizing README files.

Example Gallery

This gallery showcases a diverse collection of README examples generated across various programming languages, frameworks, and project types.

Tech	Repository	README	Project Description
Python	README-Python.md	readmeai	ReadmeAI's core project
Apache Flink	README-Flink.md	pyflink-poc	PyFlink proof of concept
Streamlit	README-Streamlit.md	readmeai-streamlit	Web application interface
Vercel & NPM	README-Vercel.md	github-readme-quotes	Deployment showcase
Go & Docker	README-DockerGo.md	docker-gs-ping	Containerized Golang app
FastAPI & Redis	README-FastAPI.md	async-ml-inference	ML inference service
Java	README-Java.md	minimal-todo	Minimalist To-Do app
PostgreSQL & DuckDB	README-PostgreSQL.md	buenavista	Database proxy server
Kotlin	README-Kotlin.md	android-client	Mobile client application
Offline Mode	README-Offline.md	litellm	Offline functionality demo

Community Contribution

Share Your README Files

We invite developers to share their generated README files in our Show & Tell discussion category. Your contributions help:

• Showcase diverse documentation styles
• Provide real-world examples
• Help improve the ReadmeAI tool

Find additional README examples in our examples directory on GitHub.

Roadmap

• Release readmeai 1.0.0 with robust documentation creation and maintenance capabilities.
• Extend template support for various project types and programming languages.
• Develop Vscode Extension to generate README files directly in the editor.
• Develop GitHub Actions to automate documentation updates.
• Add badge packs to provide additional badge styles and options.
  • Code coverage, CI/CD status, project version, and more.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read the Contributing Guide to get started.

• 💡 Contributing Guide: Learn about our contribution process and coding standards.
• 🐛 Report an Issue: Found a bug? Let us know!
• 💬 Start a Discussion: Have ideas or suggestions? We'd love to hear from you.

Acknowledgments

A big shoutout to the projects below for their awesome work and open-source contributions:

🎗 License

Copyright © 2023-2025 readme-ai.
Released under the MIT license.