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:
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.