Repo Beautify

Repo Beautify

Turn a repository's storefront (README + GitHub metadata + package manifest) into something that looks professional AND stays truthful. Beautification has three layers, in order: facts, content, visuals.

Hard Rules (apply to every step)

1. Fact ledger. Every claim in the output must cite one of: the scan JSON, an existing file path in the repo, a command output you ran, or a live API result. If a claim has no ledger entry, it does not go in. This covers badges, install commands, roadmap items, architecture diagrams, screenshots, and feature lists alike.
2. Never fabricate. No badge, install command, or section for anything that does not exist. A fake badge is worse than no badge. "Probably published to npm" is not a fact; the scan's registry_published field is.
3. Re-skinning must not lose docs. Inventory the old README's sections first; map every substantive section (CLI flags, config, formats, caveats) into the new structure (collapsibles are fine, deletion is not). Diff the two inventories before finishing; any drop must be deliberate and stated.
4. Scale to the project. A 50-line script does not need a 300-line README or a star-history chart.

Workflow

1. Scan and verify facts

Run scripts/scan_repo.sh . It emits the fact ledger JSON: manifest data and missing fields, license, owner/repo, current AND default branch, latest tag, package manager, CI, registry publish status, GitHub description/topics/visibility, community files (CHANGELOG / CONTRIBUTING / CODEOFCONDUCT / SECURITY / FUNDING), demo assets.

Interpretation rules:

• registry_published: unpublished → install instructions MUST use the Git URL form (npm install -g github:owner/repo). unknown_network / unknown_tool_missing → STOP and confirm with the user before writing any install command; do not guess.
• github_api_status != ok → do not infer public/private or description/topics from blanks; say the check was inconclusive.
• Empty github_description / github_topics are storefront bugs to fix in step 5.
• socialify, star-history, github-readme-stats render only for public repos (github_private: false, verified, not assumed).

2. Pick a style (with the user, not for them)

Read references/readme-structure.md for the catalog and tradeoffs. Built-in templates:

• assets/template-classic.md: Best-README-Template lineage; conservative, contributor-oriented.
• assets/template-visual.md: gradient hero, typing animation, badges, social card, mermaid, star history; launch/brand-oriented.

If the user has not chosen, EITHER ask with a one-line tradeoff summary, OR generate both and build a comparison page with scripts/build_compare.py --repo OWNER/REPO --manifest variants.json --out compare.html so they pick in the browser.

3. Generate the README

Read references/visual-services.md for exact URL recipes and pitfalls. For the top banner, prefer a self-hosted animated hero SVG over banner services: ten styles ship in assets/heroes/ (previews in assets/heroes/previews/); let the user pick by name or suggest 2-3 matching the project's temperament. The cookbook's "Self-hosted hero SVG" section has the catalog and the filling rules. Content rules:

• Lead with the problem the project solves, concretely (a "before" snippet beats adjectives).
• Quick Start uses the verified install command from the ledger, nothing else.
• Mermaid diagram only when the project has real topology; derive nodes from the actual structure. GitHub renders ```mermaid natively.
• Long prompt collections / CLI references go into `` collapsibles.
• ALL values substituted into service URLs (project name, taglines, colors) must be URL-encoded; CJK, spaces, &, # in a query param break the image.
• Link CHANGELOG / CONTRIBUTING / SECURITY only if the ledger says they exist; a Roadmap section requires an actual roadmap source (issues enabled + open issues, or a roadmap doc).

4. Validate before showing the user

• No leftover placeholders ({{...}}, TODO, template repo names).
• Badge evidence check: HTTP 200 is NOT enough (static badges always return 200). Each badge needs a ledger entry: CI badge → workflow file exists; version badge → registry says published; license badge → license file present.
• Mermaid: validate with npx -y @mermaid-js/mermaid-cli -i diagram.mmd -o /tmp/out.svg when npx is available; otherwise trace node IDs and arrows manually and say so.
• Install commands are copy-paste runnable against the verified registry state.
• Optional render check (serve locally + screenshot). Known artifact: headless screenshots freeze SVG-in-img CSS animations at t=0, so capsule-render/typing-svg text can look missing in screenshots while fine in real browsers. Verify via `curl | grep ' --history

It checks tracked files AND every line ever added in git history for secret formats, risky filenames (.env, *.pem, id_rsa...), absolute home paths, private network references, and personal author emails; it delegates to `gitleaks` when installed. Triage every finding with `references/publish-safety.md`. Two non-negotiables: a secret found anywhere in history means rotate-then-purge (deleting it from the tip is not enough), and BLOCKER findings stop the publish until resolved.

### 7. Chinese edition (on request, or when the audience justifies it)

Generate `README.zh-CN.md` in the same repo following `references/bilingual-readme.md`: localize prose and headings, keep every command/config/mermaid code block byte-identical, reuse the hero SVG, never translate project names, commands, paths, or URLs. Add the language switcher line to BOTH files. Then validate:

```bash
python3 scripts/check_bilingual.py README.md README.zh-CN.md

Fix any reported drift in the markdown (never by loosening the checker). Re-run this check whenever README.md changes later.

8. Versioning

README-only changes are docs-only (no version bump). If the manifest was touched (step 5), bump PATCH and add a Keep-a-Changelog entry.

Failure modes seen in the wild

• shields.io dynamic GitHub badges occasionally render "unable to select next GitHub token from pool"; transient, ignore.
• star-history is nearly empty for 0-star repos; keep it as a footer element, never present it as traction.
• GitHub proxies all README images through camo and caches aggressively; URL changes can take hours to appear. Cache-bust with any new query param.
• GitHub sanitizes raw HTML: scripts/styles stripped, many attributes dropped; `` works but nested markdown inside often needs surrounding blank lines.
• Accessibility: decorative images get alt=""; informative images get an alt that states what they show. Never encode load-bearing information only in a generated image.
• Two heavy instruction sets injected at once dilute each other; when another large design skill is active, load only one.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: LaughingisLaughing
• Source: LaughingisLaughing/repo-beautify
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.