README Engineering

Technology-agnostic methodology for producing README.md files that are professional, accurate, and scannable. Do not assume any specific language, framework, database, or deployment platform unless the project provides that information as evidence.

Core principle

A README is not a dump of technical information — it is the information architecture for the project. Order content the way a new reader naturally asks questions:

What is this? → Why does it exist? → What can it do? → How does it work?
→ How do I run it? → How do I use it? → How do I configure it?
→ How do I develop it? → How do I operate it? → What are its limitations?
→ Where is it going?

Optimize for progressive disclosure: never expose deep implementation detail before the project's purpose and capabilities are established.

Step 1 — Identify the audience(s)