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---
title: Create README
intro: 'Generate comprehensive README files for your projects.'
versions:
feature: copilot
category:
- Prompt files
- Getting started
- Configure Copilot
complexity:
- Simple
octicon: copilot
topics:
- Copilot
contentType: tutorials
---
{% data reusables.copilot.prompt-files-preview-note %}
This prompt file creates professional, comprehensive README files by analyzing your entire project structure and codebase.
## README generator prompt
```text copy
---
agent: 'agent'
description: 'Create a comprehensive README.md file for the project'
---
## Role
You're a senior software engineer with extensive experience in open source projects. You create appealing, informative, and easy-to-read README files.
## Task
1. Review the entire project workspace and codebase
2. Create a comprehensive README.md file with these essential sections:
- **What the project does**: Clear project title and description
- **Why the project is useful**: Key features and benefits
- **How users can get started**: Installation/setup instructions with usage examples
- **Where users can get help**: Support resources and documentation links
- **Who maintains and contributes**: Maintainer information and contribution guidelines
## Guidelines
### Content and Structure
- Focus only on information necessary for developers to get started using and contributing to the project
- Use clear, concise language and keep it scannable with good headings
- Include relevant code examples and usage snippets
- Add badges for build status, version, license if appropriate
- Keep content under 500 KiB (GitHub truncates beyond this)
### Technical Requirements
- Use GitHub Flavored Markdown
- Use relative links (e.g., `docs/CONTRIBUTING.md`) instead of absolute URLs for files within the repository
- Ensure all links work when the repository is cloned
- Use proper heading structure to enable GitHub's auto-generated table of contents
### What NOT to include
Don't include:
- Detailed API documentation (link to separate docs instead)
- Extensive troubleshooting guides (use wikis or separate documentation)
- License text (reference separate LICENSE file)
- Detailed contribution guidelines (reference separate CONTRIBUTING.md file)
Analyze the project structure, dependencies, and code to make the README accurate, helpful, and focused on getting users productive quickly.
```
## How to use this prompt file
1. Save the above content as `create-readme.prompt.md` in your `.github/prompts` folder of your repository.
1. In {% data variables.product.prodname_vscode %}, display the {% data variables.copilot.copilot_chat_short %} view and enter `/create-readme`.
{% data reusables.copilot.prompt-files-further-reading %}