readme-updater

README Updater Skill

Keep your README current with project changes.

When I Activate

- ✅ New features added
- ✅ Project structure changes
- ✅ Dependencies added/removed
- ✅ Setup instructions change
- ✅ User mentions README or documentation
- ✅ Configuration files modified

What I Update

### README Sections

**Installation:**
- New dependencies
- Setup steps
- Prerequisites
- Environment variables

**Features:**
- New capabilities
- Functionality changes
- Feature deprecation

**Usage:**
- API changes
- New examples
- Updated screenshots

**Configuration:**
- New options
- Environment variables
- Config file changes

Examples

### New Feature Addition

```bash

You add authentication:

git diff

+ JWT middleware

Features

- ✨ User authentication with JWT  # NEW
- 🔐 Role-based access control    # NEW
- User management
- Dashboard
```

### New Dependency

```bash

You add: npm install stripe

Installation

```bash
npm install
npm install stripe  # Added for payment processing
```

Environment Variables

```bash
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=your_stripe_key  # Required for payments
```
```

### Setup Instructions

```bash

You modify docker-compose.yml

Development Setup

```bash

1. Clone repository

git clone [url]

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Start services (UPDATED)

docker-compose up -d  # Now includes Redis cache

4. Run migrations

npm run migrate
```
```

Detection Logic

### Change Analysis

I detect these changes automatically:
- **package.json** → Update dependencies section
- **New routes** → Update API documentation
- **.env.example** → Update environment variables
- **docker-compose.yml** → Update setup instructions
- **New features** → Update features list

### Section Mapping

```yaml
Code Change → README Section:
  - New API endpoint → Usage / API Reference
  - New dependency → Installation
  - New env var → Configuration
  - New feature → Features list
  - Architecture change → Architecture section
```

Intelligent Updates

### Keep Structure

I maintain your README structure:
- Preserve emoji style
- Keep formatting consistent
- Maintain tone and voice
- Respect existing organization

### Add Missing Sections

```markdown

Suggested additions:

Prerequisites

- Node.js 18+
- Docker (for development)
- PostgreSQL 14+

Environment Variables

```bash
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost/mydb
API_KEY=your_api_key
```

Testing

```bash
npm test
```
```

### Update Examples

```markdown

Before:

```javascript
const result = api.getUsers();
```

After (API changed):

```javascript
const result = await api.getUsers({ page: 1, limit: 10 });
```
```

Version Compatibility

I track version-specific documentation:

```markdown

Requirements

- Node.js 18+ (updated from 16+)
- TypeScript 5.0+ (new requirement)
- React 18+ (unchanged)
```

Changelog Integration

I can sync with CHANGELOG.md:

```markdown

Recent Changes

See [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) for detailed version history.

### Latest (v2.1.0)
- ✨ Added user authentication
- 🔧 Fixed memory leak in data processing
- 📝 Updated API documentation
```

Screenshot Management

```markdown

Screenshots

![Dashboard](screenshots/dashboard.png)
*Updated: 2025-10-24 - New authentication panel*

![User Profile](screenshots/profile.png)
*New feature - user profile management*
```

Relationship with @docs-writer

**Me (Skill):** Keep README current with code changes
**@docs-writer (Sub-Agent):** Comprehensive documentation strategy

### Workflow
1. I detect changes
2. I suggest README updates
3. For full docs → Invoke **@docs-writer** sub-agent
4. Sub-agent creates complete documentation

Sandboxing Compatibility

**Works without sandboxing:** ✅ Yes
**Works with sandboxing:** ✅ Yes

- **Filesystem**: Writes to README.md
- **Network**: None required
- **Configuration**: None required

Best Practices

1. **Keep it current** - Update README with every feature
2. **Be specific** - Include version numbers, prerequisites
3. **Add examples** - Show actual usage, not just API
4. **Include troubleshooting** - Common issues and solutions
5. **Badge status** - Keep build/coverage badges current

README Templates

### Basic Structure

```markdown

Project Name

Brief description

Features

- Feature 1
- Feature 2

Installation

```bash
npm install
```

Usage

```javascript
// Example
```

Configuration

Environment variables needed

Contributing

How to contribute

License

MIT
```

### Comprehensive Structure

```markdown

Project Name

> Tagline

[Badges]

Table of Contents

- Features
- Installation
- Usage
- API Reference
- Configuration
- Development
- Testing
- Deployment
- Contributing
- License

[Sections with detailed content]
```

Integration

### With /docs-gen Command

```bash
/docs-gen --format markdown

3. API reference (via api-documenter)

```

### With CI/CD

```yaml

.github/workflows/docs.yml

- name: Update README
  run: |
    # Skill suggests updates based on changes
    # Review and commit
```

Customization

Add company-specific README standards:

```bash
cp -r ~/.claude/skills/documentation/readme-updater \
      ~/.claude/skills/documentation/company-readme-updater

- Badge standards

```

Related Tools

- **api-documenter skill**: API documentation
- **@docs-writer sub-agent**: Comprehensive docs
- **git-commit-helper skill**: Commit messages for updates
- **/docs-gen command**: Full documentation generation