review
Review Repo for Openness
Announce: "I'm using git-repo-prep:review to audit this repo for openness."
Setup
Create a TodoWrite checklist for all audit categories:
- Secrets scan
- Personal info scan
- License check
- Documentation check
- Gitignore check
- CI/CD check
- Metadata check
- Present findings and summary
Mark each task in_progress before starting, completed immediately after.
Scope
This is an openness audit, not a code quality review. Stay focused on what matters for making the repo public. Do NOT comment on error handling, architecture, performance, code style, test coverage quality, or design patterns.
Ecosystem Detection
Detect the ecosystem to tailor checks:
| File | Ecosystem |
|---|---|
package.json |
Node.js |
pyproject.toml / setup.py / setup.cfg |
Python |
Cargo.toml |
Rust |
go.mod |
Go |
*.csproj / *.sln |
.NET |
Gemfile |
Ruby |
pom.xml / build.gradle |
Java/Kotlin |
Audit Categories
Scan every category below. Classify each finding as Critical, Recommended, or Nice-to-have using the severity definitions in this table exactly. Do not invent your own categories, and do not upgrade or downgrade severity — use the column where the issue appears.
| Category | Critical | Recommended | Nice-to-have |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secrets | API keys, passwords, tokens, .env committed | .env in gitignore | git history scan |
| Personal info | Real names/emails in source code | Author field review | Username cleanup |
| License | No LICENSE file | Mismatch between LICENSE file and package metadata; no license section in README | License headers in source files |
| Documentation | No README or empty README | Missing install/usage sections | CONTRIBUTING.md, SECURITY.md, CLAUDE.md |
| Gitignore | Sensitive files tracked/committed | Missing common patterns for ecosystem | IDE/OS files |
| CI/CD | — | No CI pipeline; no tests at all (CI cannot function) | No dependabot, no hooks, no coverage |
| Metadata | — | No repo URL in package metadata | Missing engine/version, keywords, description |
Scanning Process
Work through each category in order.
1. Secrets
- Grep source files for patterns:
sk_live,sk_test,ghp_,AKIA,password\s*=,secret\s*=,token\s*=,api_key,-----BEGIN.*PRIVATE KEY, connection strings with embedded credentials. - Check for
.envfiles in the repo (any level). - Check
.gitignorefor.envand.env.*exclusion patterns. - Look for
.pem,.key, or credential files.
2. Personal Info
- Check author fields in package metadata (
package.jsonauthor,pyproject.tomlauthors,Cargo.tomlauthors). - Grep for email patterns (
\b\S+@\S+\.\S+\b) in source files (not node_modules, not vendor, not lock files). - Look for hardcoded usernames in config or source (
DEFAULT_USER,AUTHOR, usernames in URLs or paths).
3. License
This is the most commonly missed area. Check all three locations and compare:
- LICENSE file — Does it exist? What license does it contain?
- Package metadata — What does the
licensefield say in package.json / pyproject.toml / Cargo.toml? - README — Is there a license section? Does it name the same license?
Flag any mismatch between these three. Flag if any location is missing.
4. Documentation
- README: Does it exist? Is it non-empty? Does it have: project description, installation/getting started, usage, license section?
- CONTRIBUTING.md: Present or missing?
- SECURITY.md: Present or missing?
5. Gitignore
- Does
.gitignoreexist? - Compare against ecosystem best practices:
- Node.js:
node_modules/,.env,dist/,coverage/ - Python:
__pycache__/,*.pyc,.env,*.egg-info/,dist/,.venv/ - Rust:
target/,.env - Go:
vendor/(if not vendoring),.env - General:
.env,.env.*,*.log,.DS_Store,*.pem,*.key
- Node.js:
- Check if any sensitive files are already tracked by git (
git ls-filesfor.env, credentials, keys).
6. CI/CD
- Look for
.github/workflows/,.gitlab-ci.yml,Jenkinsfile,.circleci/, etc. - Check for Dependabot config (
.github/dependabot.yml) or Renovate (renovate.json).
7. Metadata
Check ecosystem-specific metadata completeness:
- Node.js:
repository,engines,keywords,descriptioninpackage.json - Python:
[project.urls],classifiers,requires-python,keywords,descriptioninpyproject.toml - Rust:
repository,keywords,categories,descriptioninCargo.toml - Go: module path matches repo URL, package doc comment
Presenting Findings
Present findings conversationally — do NOT write a report file.
Group by severity, starting with the most urgent:
- Critical — issues that must be fixed before going public
- Recommended — issues that should be addressed for a quality release
- Nice-to-have — improvements for polish
For each finding:
- Describe the issue concisely.
- Explain why it matters for openness (one sentence).
- Offer to fix it right now.
Summary
End with a tally: "X critical, Y recommended, Z nice-to-have findings."
If critical findings exist, recommend addressing them before release. If none, say the repo looks ready and suggest tackling recommended items for polish.