| name | add-license |
| description | Use when adding or standardizing project license files and README license sections. Defaults to MIT unless the user or repository explicitly asks for another license, creates/updates a root LICENSE from the bundled template, and appends a bottom-of-README Markdown link such as [MIT](LICENSE). |
Add License
Use this skill when adding a license to a repository or normalizing how the
license is presented.
Default to MIT unless the user explicitly asks for another license or the
repository already has clear license requirements.
Workflow
- Inspect the repo root for existing
LICENSE, LICENSE.md, COPYING,
README.md, package metadata, and contribution guidance.
- If there is no license file and MIT is appropriate, create root
LICENSE
from references/mit-license-template.txt.
- Fill the MIT template with the current year and the project owner or author.
Prefer explicit package metadata, existing copyright notices, README author
text, or the GitHub owner/user when available. If ownership is unclear, ask.
- Update package metadata when the ecosystem has a standard license field
and the file already uses that metadata format. For Rust, set
license = "MIT" in Cargo.toml.
- Add or normalize a
## License section at the very bottom of README.md.
The section should be the final content in the file.
README Convention
At the bottom of the README, use exactly this shape for MIT:
## License
[MIT](LICENSE)
Rules:
- Put the section after every other README section.
- Use a Markdown link to the local license file, not plain text.
- Link to
LICENSE when the root file is named LICENSE.
- Do not add prose unless the user asks for it.
- If a README already has a license section elsewhere, move or rewrite it so
the normalized section is at the bottom.
MIT Template
When adding MIT, read and use
references/mit-license-template.txt. Do not write a shortened license.
