Transform a project into a professional open-source repository by adding LICENSE, README, CONTRIBUTING, CODE_OF_CONDUCT, SECURITY, and GitHub issue/PR templates. Don't use for documentation overhauls, landing-page generation, or registry publishing.
Transform a project into a professional open-source repository by adding LICENSE, README, CONTRIBUTING, CODE_OF_CONDUCT, SECURITY, and GitHub issue/PR templates. Don't use for documentation overhauls, landing-page generation, or registry publishing.
If origin is missing, pull is unavailable, or rebase/stash conflicts occur, stop and ask the user before continuing.
Workflow
Before proceeding, check Edge Cases below for a non-MIT LICENSE, a monorepo, no detectable language, a private/internal repo, or a dirty/detached HEAD — handle the matching case first if it applies.
0. Create Feature Branch
Before making any changes:
Check the current branch - if already on a feature branch for this task, skip
Check the repo for branch naming conventions (e.g., feat/, feature/, etc.)
Create and switch to a new branch following the repo's convention, or fallback to: feat/oss-ready
1. Analyze Project
Identify:
Primary language(s) and tech stack
Project purpose and functionality
Existing documentation to preserve
Package manager (npm, pip, cargo, etc.)
2. Create/Update Core Files
README.md - Enhance with:
Project overview and motivation
Key features list
Quick start (< 5 min setup)
Prerequisites and installation
Usage examples with code
Project structure
Technology stack
Contributing link
License badge
CONTRIBUTING.md - Include:
How to contribute overview
Development setup
Branching strategy (feature branches from main)
Commit conventions (Conventional Commits)
PR process and review expectations
Coding standards
Testing requirements
LICENSE - Default to MIT unless specified. Copy from assets/LICENSE-MIT.
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md - Use Contributor Covenant. Copy from assets/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.
SECURITY.md - Vulnerability reporting process. Copy from assets/SECURITY.md.
3. Create GitHub Templates
Copy from assets/.github/:
ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md
ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
4. Create Documentation Structure
docs/
├── ARCHITECTURE.md # System design, components
├── DEVELOPMENT.md # Dev setup, debugging
├── DEPLOYMENT.md # Production deployment
└── CHANGELOG.md # Version history
Adapt the check names to match what the step actually validates. Use √ for pass, × for fail, and — to add brief context. The "Criteria" line summarizes how many acceptance criteria were met. The "Result" line gives the overall verdict.
Analysis (step 1 of 4)
◆ Analysis (step 1 of 4 — project profiling)
··································································
Language detected: √ pass — TypeScript (primary)
Project type identified: √ pass — CLI tool
Existing docs found: √ pass — README.md (partial), no LICENSE
[Criteria]: √ 3/3 met
____________________________
Result: PASS
Repeat this format for each subsequent step (Core Files, GitHub Setup, Documentation), adapting the check names to what that step actually validates.
Guidelines
Adapt to project's actual tech stack
Include working examples from the actual codebase
Acceptance Criteria
The skill is complete when every item below can be verified with test -f, grep, or a quick visual check. Treat this as a checklist the agent must assert before reporting success.
LICENSE exists at repo root and contains a valid SPDX identifier (e.g., MIT, Apache-2.0). Verify: grep -E "MIT License|Apache License" LICENSE.
README.md exists, is at least 40 lines, and includes sections for Installation, Usage, and License. Verify: grep -iE "^#+ (install|usage|license)" README.md | wc -l returns >= 3.
CONTRIBUTING.md exists and references the issue tracker plus a branching/PR workflow. Verify: grep -iE "issue|pull request|branch" CONTRIBUTING.md.
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md exists and mentions the Contributor Covenant. Verify: grep -i "contributor covenant" CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.
SECURITY.md exists and lists at least one vulnerability-reporting contact (email or form URL). Verify: grep -E "@|https?://" SECURITY.md.
.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.md and .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/feature_request.md both exist with YAML frontmatter (name:, about:).
.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md exists and contains a checklist (- [ ]).
.gitignore exists and excludes the language-appropriate build/temp artefacts (e.g., node_modules/, dist/, __pycache__/, target/).
Project metadata file (package.json, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml, or go.mod) declares license, description, and repository fields where the format supports them.
No previously committed files were deleted; only additions and non-destructive enhancements were made.
Expected Output
After a successful run on a TypeScript CLI project that started with only a partial README.md, the agent emits a final report shaped like this:
The agent must list the manual-review items explicitly so the user can finish what cannot be automated. Assert that the file tree printed by the agent matches what is actually on disk before declaring PASS.
Edge Cases
The skill should detect and handle these inputs explicitly rather than fail silently:
Existing LICENSE with a non-MIT identifier — never overwrite. Read it, log the detected license, and skip the LICENSE step.
Monorepo with multiple package.json files — update only the root metadata file unless the user names a sub-package.
Repo with no detectable language (empty repo or only docs) — pause and ask the user which template stack to assume.
Existing CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md or SECURITY.md — diff against the template; only append a missing section, never replace user content.
Private/internal projects — confirm with the user before adding public-facing files like SECURITY.md or community templates.
Pre-existing .github/ workflows or templates — preserve them; merge only the missing files.
Non-English README — keep the existing language; do not translate, only add structurally missing sections in the same language.
Detached HEAD or dirty working tree — abort with the sync warning above; never force changes onto an unstable branch.
