oss-polishlisted

# Open Source Project Polish One-pass workflow to turn a bare repo into a professional, discoverable open source project. Four phases: README → topics/About → commit-history narrative → trending-repo positioning. ## When to use - Preparing a project for public release or first launch - Repo has working code but a bare README, missing topics, or no About description - Want a commit-history narrative (`REPOSITORY_SUMMARY.md` + `THE_STORY_OF_THIS_REPO.md`) - Researching trending repos in a domain for positioning benchmarking **Not for:** open source business model or commercialization strategy (use `oss-strategy`), or general project documentation (use `documentation-audit`). ## Steps ### 1. Analyze project 1. Read entry files (`package.json`, `go.mod`, `Cargo.toml`, `requirements.txt`, `mkdocs.yml`). 2. Scan source dirs for architecture and key features; note tech stack, target users, unique value. 3. Check existing `README.md` and repo metadata. 4. If `README.md` exists, ask: update in place or back up to `README-backup.md` first? Result: a one-paragraph summary of what the project does, who it's for, and what's special. ### 2. Generate README Produce a professional `README.md` with sections in this order: 1. **Title (H1)** — repository name. 2. **Badges** — shields.io format. Order: build status → tech stack → hosting → license. Pick templates from `references/badges.md`. Limit 5–10 for readability. Do NOT add a self-link "GitHub repo" badge — readers are alr