Beautify GitHub Readme

Beautify GitHub README

Turn a repository homepage or a requested SVG asset into a concise, theme-specific visual story. Treat SVG as the visual layer and Markdown as the content layer.

Workflow

1. Confirm the mode before editing

Use exactly one execution mode:

• README mode — improve the whole README: information order, copy hierarchy, proof, Markdown, and visual system.
• Asset-only mode — create only the requested static SVG or visual asset set. Static SVG is the default. Only after the user explicitly opts into meaningful motion, optionally deliver a GitHub-safe GIF while keeping the SVG as the editable fallback. Do not rewrite, reorder, or embed anything in the README unless the user explicitly adds that scope.

If the mode is not explicit, ask one compact question before making changes:

Would you like me to improve the whole README or only create visual assets? If asset-only, tell me whether you need a hero, section headers, workflow, badge, motion graphic, or a coordinated set.

When a hero, badge, workflow, or diagram has meaningful motion and the user has not specified static or animated output, ask one compact follow-up:

Should this stay as a static SVG, or would you like a GitHub-safe GIF animation with the SVG kept as the editable fallback?

GIF is opt-in and never the default. If the user declines, does not answer, or has no meaningful motion case, continue with static SVG only. Do not ask when motion would be purely decorative or the user already chose the output. Read-only inspection is allowed before the answer when it helps understand the repository. Do not interpret “use this Skill,” a repository path, or “beautify it” as permission to modify the whole README. Once the user chooses asset-only mode, expanding into README edits requires new authorization.

If the user explicitly asks only for an audit, audit without editing and do not force the two-mode question.

2. Inspect before designing

• Read the existing README, repository tree, package metadata, screenshots, examples, design tokens, logo, and real outputs.
• In asset-only mode, inspect only the context needed to design the requested assets. Reading the README for context does not authorize changing it.
• For a GitHub URL, inspect the current remote page and default branch before proposing changes.
• Identify the audience, the problem solved, the clearest proof, the shortest path to first use, and any claims that lack evidence.
• Preserve unrelated user changes. Start read-only; do not commit, push, rename, or publish without explicit authorization.

3. Extract the project story

Write these before drawing:

Audience:
One-sentence value:
Primary proof:
First successful action:
Visual theme:

Do not invent adoption, benchmarks, compatibility, testimonials, or features. Prefer a real screenshot, output, diagram, or generated artifact over decorative stock imagery.

4. Define a theme-specific visual system

Read references/visual-direction.md. Freeze a compact art-direction spec:

Palette: background / foreground / primary / accent / muted
Typography: system font stack / scale / weight contrast
Shape: radius / stroke / grid / spacing
Motif: one recurring project-specific visual cue
Composition: calm / editorial / technical / playful / cinematic

Derive the motif from the project. A terminal tool may use prompts and cursor marks; an icon system may use keylines and cutouts; a research project may use coordinates and evidence labels. Never apply the same yellow-grid template to every repository.

Before designing the hero, read references/project-native-hero.md. Build the title from project content rather than treating it as a banner placed above the proof. Choose the typography, composition, and right-side material from the repository itself.

5. Execute only the selected mode

README mode

Decide how deeply the README needs to change:

• Full redesign — restructure the story and build a new visual system.
• Visual refresh — preserve the information architecture while replacing weak or inconsistent presentation.

Use the smallest change inside README mode that can produce a meaningful improvement. Rebuild the reading order only when the selected scope requires it. A strong default is:

1. Hero: name + plain-language value.
2. Proof: screenshots, outputs, or a showcase wall.
3. What it is: one short explanation.
4. Why it is different: mechanism, not slogans.
5. How it works: a short process or architecture.
6. How to use: install + first command.
7. Limits, compatibility, license, or contribution details when relevant.

Put the example before the long explanation. Remove repeated promises and internal implementation detail that does not help adoption.

Asset-only mode

• Confirm the requested asset type, whether the user wants one asset or a coordinated set, and whether a meaningful motion candidate should stay static or become a GIF. Derive exact copy and style from the repository when they are unambiguous; ask only for missing decisions that would materially change the result.
• Create the assets under assets/readme/ or another user-approved path and provide rendered previews.
• Default to pure, maintainable SVG for title systems, section headers, diagrams, badges, and deterministic decorative modules.
• For approved animation, keep the SVG source, read references/motion-production.md, and derive a GitHub-safe GIF with the bundled scripts/render_motion_gif.py workflow. Do not generate the GIF unless the user opted in.
• Keep one shared visual grammar across a set, but give every asset a specific communication job.
• Do not change README text, reading order, embeds, or links. Offer an embed snippet separately when useful; only insert it after explicit approval.

6. Build the visual layer

Read references/github-readme-canvas.md and references/svg-production.md before creating assets.

• Use SVG for the hero, section banners, diagrams, and deterministic design modules.
• Use PNG/WebP for screenshots, generated art, photo material, and complex compositing. Use GIF only for approved motion that must play directly on GitHub.
• Keep body copy, commands, tables, links, and details in Markdown.
• Prefer a 1200-wide SVG viewBox, width="100%" embeds, system fonts, semantic alt text, and rounded containers.
• Use one reusable component grammar, but vary the art direction by repository theme.
• When a showcase contains several artifacts, arrange them with controlled scale, overlap, rotation, and whitespace; keep reading order obvious.
• Let the hero absorb a real project diagram, screenshot, code fragment, output, specimen, or artifact when it makes the first screen more useful. Do not separate the title and proof by habit.
• When the user explicitly wants attribution in a repository they own, design a compact project-native README MADE WITH SVG instead of leaving a plain promotional sentence. Keep it near the footer and link it to this Skill. Never add this credit to a third-party repository without the maintainer's explicit request.
• In README mode, when proof would become unreadable inside the hero, use a concise SVG title followed immediately by a larger proof board. When a few artifacts remain legible and define the product, integrate title and proof into one composed raster hero. Let proof legibility decide, not a fixed template. In asset-only mode, keep the requested SVG source and propose any raster or animated derivative as a separate, optional deliverable.

Do not rasterize the whole README. Do not use scripts, foreignObject, remote fonts, essential animation, or CSS that GitHub strips. GitHub does not play animation embedded inside SVG; use a GIF plus static SVG fallback instead. Avoid decorative borders and heavy shadows unless the theme genuinely calls for them.