Report · marked 25 Aug 2026
alibaba/nacos
Solid foundations, held back in a few specific places.
Java · 33,300 stars · 6,763 files · branch develop
78
/100
A-
Instructions
25/27Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing. Losing marks on instruction quality.Setup
6/14Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on deterministic install and pinned runtime version.Verification loop
19/22Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on lint and format rules.Context economy
13/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on file sizes fit in context and repository weight.Navigability
10/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Full marks.
Higher is better. Accent marks what is costing you most.
Fix these first
01
Deterministic install
Commit the lockfile your package manager generates. Without it, an agent's install and your install are different builds, and 'works on my machine' becomes unfalsifiable.
02
File sizes fit in context
A single file that fills the context window forces an agent to work from fragments, and it will confidently edit code it never saw. Splitting the worst offenders pays for itself immediately.
03
Lint and format rules
A formatter config is the cheapest way to stop reviewing whitespace in agent diffs. It moves style from opinion to a command.
The full marking
Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.
Instructions 25/27 A+
Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing.
✓Agent instruction file
12/12
AGENTS.md is present, which is the format the most tools read.
Also found: CLAUDE.md
✗Instruction quality
10/12
Specific enough that an agent can act on it.
Worth fixing: it's 24k characters, which burns context on every single turn.
names the actual commands to run
uses headings, so an agent can skim it
includes copyable code blocks
✓README as an entry point
3/3
README has a clear getting-started section.
Setup 6/14 C
Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.
✗Deterministic install
0/6
No lockfile. An agent installing dependencies may not get what CI got.
Commit the lockfile your package manager generates. Without it, an agent's install and your install are different builds, and 'works on my machine' becomes unfalsifiable.
✓Discoverable commands
6/6
Commands are declared where an agent will look for them.
Makefile
–Environment config
n/a
Not applicable — this reads as a library, with no environment to configure.
✗Pinned runtime version
0/2
No pinned runtime version.
Add a .nvmrc, .python-version, or equivalent so the agent's toolchain matches yours.
–Reproducible environment
n/a
Not applicable — a library doesn't need a container to be worked on.
Verification loop 19/22 A
Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy.
✓Tests exist
8/8
2514 test files against 5953 source files.
e.g. .github/workflows/pr-e2e-test.yml, address/src/test/java/com/alibaba/nacos/address/component/AddressServerGeneratorManagerTest.java, address/src/test/java/com/alibaba/nacos/address/component/AddressServerManagerTests.java
✓Test command is discoverable
7/7
An agent can find and run `make test`.
✓Continuous integration
4/4
10 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.
✗Lint and format rules
0/3
No linter or formatter config. Style is tribal knowledge, so agent output will drift from yours.
A formatter config is the cheapest way to stop reviewing whitespace in agent diffs. It moves style from opinion to a command.
–Static type checking
n/a
Not applicable — the Java compiler type checks every build.
Context economy 13/20 B
Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it.
✓No committed build output
6/6
No generated directories committed.
✓.gitignore hygiene
3/3
.gitignore covers 27 patterns.
✗File sizes fit in context
0/6
44 source files are over 100KB.
A single file that fills the context window forces an agent to work from fragments, and it will confidently edit code it never saw. Splitting the worst offenders pays for itself immediately.
console/src/main/resources/static/console-ui/assets/ts.worker-BH9nVgjN.js — 6846KB
console/src/main/resources/static/next/assets/ts.worker-B0J26iPs.js — 6733KB
console/src/main/resources/static/console-ui/js/main.js — 4229KB
✗Repository weight
4/5
About 105.9MB checked out, which is comfortable.
Here is your AGENTS.md
Drafted from what is actually in this repository: the install
command from your lockfile, the commands you already declare, your real directory layout. Anything
marked TODO needs a person. Save it at the root as AGENTS.md.
# AGENTS.md an easy-to-use dynamic service discovery, configuration and service management platform for building AI cloud native applications. ## Setup ``` # TODO: the install command. No lockfile was found, so this could not be inferred. ``` ## Commands ``` make help make clean make test # run the test suite, must pass before any commit make build-frontend make build-maven make check-maven ``` ## Layout - `console/` 746 source files - `api/` 723 source files - `core/` 622 source files - `ai/` 586 source files - `naming/` 442 source files - `config/` 396 source files ## Conventions - Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `.github/workflows/pr-e2e-test.yml`. - CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/anti-spam.yml`, and keep it green. - TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here. ## Gotchas - `console/src/main/resources/static/console-ui/assets/ts.worker-BH9nVgjN.js` is 6846KB. It will not fit comfortably in context, so read it in parts. - No lockfile is committed, so an install here may not match what CI produced. --- Drafted by agentreadme.com from what is in this repository. Everything marked TODO needs a human. Check it in as AGENTS.md at the root.
Open the raw markdown
or
curl -o AGENTS.md agentreadme.com/draft/alibaba/nacos.md
Show the mark
The badge re-checks daily, so it keeps up as the repository changes. Use mark again to force it now.
[](https://agentreadme.com/alibaba/nacos)Other Java repositories, marked
Think this mark is wrong?
Every deduction above names the file it came from, so this can be settled by looking. If a check missed something, that is a rule worth fixing.