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Rewrite a README, turn --help into examples, and explain an API error without the stack-trace fog.

Developer tools fail at the door. The README assumes a setup nobody has, --help lists forty flags with no example a person will copy, and an API error returns a blob that does not say whether you should change the request or wait. This shelf rewrites those surfaces so the next person, who might be you on Friday, can move.

README Doctor rebuilds install, run, test, and the command that proves the project works. The CLI rewriter turns a help dump into three examples and hides the flags that do not matter yet. The API explainer takes a status code and a body and says what broke, what to change, and whether a retry will do anything other than repeat the failure.

The agents quote your input. They do not invent a framework you are not using, a port that was not in the file, or a fix that requires a secret you should not paste. If the README never says how to run the tests, the rewrite says the tests are undocumented instead of guessing npm test.

Swipe sideways

Dev Tools7 Oct 2026 · #33API Error ExplainerPaste a status code and the response body. Get what broke, what to change in the request, and whether a retry will help.InRequest I sent: POST /api/refundsOutRetryMedium
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0:00 The callPOST /api/refunds returned 401 bad signature twice. The body says the prefix should be sha256=. They may have signed with the example placeholder.
0:08 What brokeThe server rejected the signature. The status is not a transient outage. The prefix note is a hint about the header format.
0:16 The changeSign the raw body with the real secret, prefix the header with sha256=, and keep the same idempotency key so a later success does not double-apply.
0:24 RetryDo not retry the same bytes. Retry once after the header changes. Forging a signature for someone else's API is out of scope.
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Dev Tools26 Sep 2026 · #22CLI Help RewriterPaste --help output. Get three copy-paste examples, the flags that matter, and the ones that should stay hidden.In$ ledger --helpOutHiddenEasy
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0:00 The dumpledger refund needs --order, optional --dry-run. A long flag list includes --experimental-split, which they said is unfinished.
0:08 Three examplesA dry run, a real refund with --order, and a json version. Each uses the binary name ledger.
0:16 Flags that matter--order, --dry-run, --json. Timeout stays in the dictionary because it has a default, not in the first example.
0:24 Hidden--experimental-split is listed under do-not-feature. No invented subcommand.
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Dev Tools14 Sep 2026 · #10README DoctorPaste a README. Get a rewrite a new contributor can follow: install, run, test, and the command that proves it worked.In# LedgerOutThe proofEasy
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0:00 The old READMEA welcome, a Slack shrug, and scripts named dev, test, and check. No .env.example in the paste.
0:08 The rewriteInstall, copy env, run dev, run test. DATABASE_URL is named because the paste named it.
0:16 The holeNot in the README: which database, and the contents of .env.example. The doctor does not invent Postgres.
0:24 The proofThe command to prove it is npm test, because that script exists. Slack is not a setup step.
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Questions about Dev Tools

Will README Doctor push a commit?

No. It returns Markdown. You paste it back, trim what does not match the repo, and commit it yourself.

What if our CLI is huge?

Paste the help for one command, not the entire manual. The prompt is told to refuse a wall of flags and ask you to narrow it.

Does the API explainer call the API?

No. It reads the status and the body you paste. Strip tokens and customer data before you paste a production response.

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