Command Line Reference¶

This guide provides a comprehensive reference for the readme-ai CLI, including all available options and their descriptions.

Core Options¶

Option	Short	Values	Default	Description
`--version`	`-V`	-	-	Show the version and exit
`--help`	-	-	-	Show help message and exit
`--repository`	`-r`	`TEXT`	-	Repository URL (GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket) or local path (required)
`--output`	`-o`	`TEXT`	`README.md`	Output file path for the generated README

LLM Configuration¶

Option	Short	Values	Default	Description
`--api`	-	`anthropic` `gemini` `ollama` `openai` `offline`	`openai`	LLM API service provider
`--base-url`	-	`TEXT`	-	Base URL for the LLM API service
`--model`	`-m`	`TEXT`	varies by provider	LLM model to use
`--context-window`	`-cw`	`INTEGER`	-	Maximum tokens for model’s context window
`--rate-limit`	`-rl`	`1-25`	-	Requests per minute for the LLM API
`--temperature`	`-t`	`0.0-2.0`	`0.7`	Temperature for text generation
`--top-p`	-	`0.0-1.0`	`1.0`	Top-p sampling probability
`--system-message`	`-sm`	`TEXT`	-	Custom system message for the LLM

Styling Options¶

Layout and Alignment¶

Option	Short	Values	Default	Description
`--align`	`-a`	`center` `left` `right`	`left`	Alignment for README header sections
`--header-style`	`-hs`	`ASCII` `ASCII_BOX` `BANNER` `CLASSIC` `CLEAN` `COMPACT` `CONSOLE` `MODERN`	`CLEAN`	README header style template
`--navigation-style`	`-ns`	`ACCORDION` `BULLET` `NUMBER` `ROMAN`	`BULLET`	Navigation menu style for table of contents

Visual Elements¶

Option	Short	Values	Default	Description
`--badge-color`	`-bc`	`TEXT`	-	Primary color for badge icons (hex code or name)
`--badge-style`	`-bs`	`default` `flat` `flat-square` `for-the-badge` `plastic` `skills` `skills-light` `social`	`flat`	Visual style of badge icons
`--logo`	`-l`	`ANIMATED` `BLACK` `BLUE` `GRADIENT` `ORANGE` `METALLIC` `PURPLE` `RAINBOW` `TERMINAL` `CUSTOM` `LLM`	`GRADIENT`	Project logo style
`--logo-size`	`-ls`	`TEXT`	-	Project logo size

Content Enhancement¶

Option	Short	Values	Default	Description
`--emojis`	`-e`	`default` `minimal` `ascension` `fibonacci` `harmony` `prism` `quantum` `monochrome` `unicode` `atomic` `cosmic` `crystal` `earth` `fire` `forest` `nature` `water` `gradient` `rainbow` `solar` `fun` `vintage` `zen` `random`	`default`	Emoji theme for header sections
`--tree-max-depth`	`-td`	`INTEGER`	`3`	Maximum depth of directory tree

File Processing¶

ReadmeAI automatically filters files during analysis to focus on relevant code and documentation.

Default Exclusions¶

The following file types and directories are excluded by default:

Development artifacts: __pycache__/, .pytest_cache/, node_modules/, .tox/
Build outputs: dist/, build/, htmlcov/
Version control: .git/, .svn/, .hg/
IDE files: .vscode/, .idea/
Binary files: *.exe, *.dll, *.so, *.pyc
Media files: *.jpg, *.png, *.mp4, *.gif
Archive files: *.zip, *.tar, *.gz

Custom File Exclusions¶

Create a .readmeaiignore file in your repository root to define custom exclusion patterns:

# .readmeaiignore
*.log
temp/
!important.log
**/cache/

Pattern Support: - Exact filenames: config.yaml - Wildcards: *.log, temp* - Directories: logs/ (trailing slash) - Recursive: **/node_modules/ - Negation: !important.log (include despite other rules) - Comments: # This is a comment

Using Short Options

Many commands have short versions (e.g., -r instead of --repository). Use these for quicker typing in the terminal.

Default Values

When an option is not specified, readme-ai will use sensible defaults optimized for most use cases.

Custom Ignore Patterns

For detailed guidance on ignore patterns, see the File Exclusion Guide.