write-public-readme

write-public-readme is a skill for Codex from zacharygcook/agent-skills. It costs 56 tokens per session (718 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A guide for writing or substantially revising a public repository README. A README is the main documentation page that helps newcomers understand, install, and start using a project.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it for open-source launches, GitHub onboarding, installation and quick-start improvements, command documentation, project positioning, or README reviews.
Why use it?
It organizes information around a capable first-time reader deciding whether to trust and use the project, with the shortest verified path to a first result.

Skill for Codex

Written for Codex: agents/openai.yaml present.

Good fit Use it for open-source launches, GitHub onboarding, installation and quick-start improvements, command documentation, project positioning, or README reviews.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme
Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add zacharygcook/agent-skills --skill write-public-readme
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/zacharygcook/agent-skills

Made for: Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for write-public-readme

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

agentmods 80×15 button for write-public-readme

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/zacharygcook/agent-skills/write-public-readme.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 56 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 718 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00056 $0.00718
Opus 5 $0.00028 $0.00359
Sonnet 5 $0.00011 $0.00144
Haiku 4.5 $0.00006 $0.00072

Measured 11d ago against content hash e01e5311f4e4, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-11, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

write-public-readme scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 11d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

skills/write-public-readme/SKILL.md · 70 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 70 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Write Public README

Treat the README as the product's front door. Optimize for a capable stranger deciding whether to trust, install, and use the project—not for maintainers who already know its internals.

Build the story in reader order

  1. Inspect the repository, current README, license, package metadata, real commands, and screenshots.
  2. Identify the audience, primary outcome, maturity, and shortest verified path to first value.
  3. Lead with the project name, one concrete sentence, and a compact mental model or screenshot only when it materially improves understanding.
  4. Put installation and the human quick start before architecture, implementation details, or exhaustive reference material.
  5. Explain the distinctive workflows and benefits with evidence from the repository.
  6. End with automation/reference commands, deeper documentation, contribution guidance, license, and credits as applicable.

Make installation feel obvious

  • Show the smallest supported path that actually works in a clean repository.
  • Prefer one command per line and commands that fit a normal mobile-width GitHub code block.
  • Do not expose package-layout details, redundant selectors, forced confirmation flags, interpreter spelling, manual file copies, or lifecycle glue when the product can automate them.
  • Do not make humans read the automation interface to get started. Put fully explicit flags and machine-oriented variants in a small section near the end.
  • If the honest command is ugly, improve the installer or CLI instead of cosmetically explaining it.
  • Verify version behavior before adding @latest, pins, -y, or similar ceremony.

Keep the README public-facing

  • Write in plain, confident language. Remove internal history, private context, machine-specific paths, score-chasing rationale, apologies, and implementation archaeology.
  • Prefer a few strong sections over a complete inventory. Link deeper docs rather than duplicating them.
  • Use badges sparingly: build health, package/version, and license should communicate real trust.
  • Use tables only for genuine comparison or exact mappings; avoid wide tables and horizontally scrolling command blocks.
  • Keep examples realistic and copy/paste-ready. Separate shell commands from explanatory comments when comments make copying awkward.
  • State access limitations, supported platforms, maturity, and destructive behavior plainly.

Read the full file on GitHub · 70 lines

Files

What ships with it

1 file beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 11d ago First seen · 70 lines · 56 tokens per session scan A e01e5311f4e4

Subscribe to this mod's changes

write-public-readme is a skill published in the GitHub repository zacharygcook/agent-skills (2 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 56 tokens to every session and 718 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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