✦ Sample Prompt
Standardize README.md files across all repositories. For each repo:
1. If no README exists, create one
2. Ensure the following sections exist (add missing ones, don't remove existing content):
- ## Overview, Brief description of what this service does (infer from code if missing)
- ## Getting Started, Local setup and run instructions (infer from package.json scripts,
Makefile, docker-compose, etc.)
- ## Testing, How to run tests (infer from test scripts or test directories)
- ## Deployment, How this service is deployed (infer from CI/CD configs, Dockerfiles)
- ## Team, Owning team and contact info (infer from CODEOWNERS if available)
- ## Related Docs, Links to any /docs directory, wiki, or Confluence
Analyze the actual codebase to fill in section content. Use code analysis,
not generic placeholder text. If a section can't be populated from code
analysis, use "[TODO: Add <section> details]" as placeholder.The Problem
README files are the front door to every repository. When they're inconsistent (some have setup instructions, some don't, some list owners, most don't) developers waste time figuring out how to run, test, and deploy services they don't own. New hires suffer the most: every repo they open has a different structure (or no README at all), and they can't tell if the setup instructions are current or three years stale.
Standardizing READMEs doesn't mean making them identical, it means ensuring every repo answers the same fundamental questions in the same predictable structure.
What Tidra Does
- Reads each repository's README.md (or detects its absence)
- Analyzes the codebase to infer content for missing sections, reads package.json for setup commands, CI configs for deployment steps, test directories for testing instructions
- Adds missing sections with inferred content, preserving all existing README content and structure
- Creates PRs with the additions clearly marked and any TODO items for sections that need manual input
Before & After
diff
README.md
# payments-service
Handles payment processing for the Acme platform.
+
+ ## Getting Started
+
+ ```bash
+ npm install
+ npm run dev
+ ```
+
+ Requires Node.js 22+ and a running PostgreSQL instance.
+ See `.env.example` for required environment variables.
+
+ ## Testing
+
+ ```bash
+ npm test # Unit tests
+ npm run test:e2e # End-to-end tests
+ ```
+
+ ## Deployment
+
+ Deployed via GitHub Actions on merge to `main`.
+ See `.github/workflows/deploy.yml` for pipeline details.
+
+ ## Team
+
+ Owned by **@payments-team**. Slack: #payments-eng
Customization Tips
- Template: If your org has an internal README template with additional required sections (e.g., Architecture, SLAs, Runbook links), include the full template in the prompt.
- Badges: Add status badges (CI, coverage, security scan) at the top of the README by including badge markdown in the prompt.
- Linking: Pair this with the service catalog metadata wave to cross-reference README content with catalog entries.