Report · marked 25 Aug 2026
ansible/ansible
An agent can work here, but it will waste turns finding its footing.
Python · 70,460 stars · 5,824 files · branch devel
69
/100
B
Instructions
22/27Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing. Losing marks on instruction quality and readme as an entry point.Setup
9/14Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on deterministic install and pinned runtime version.Verification loop
15/25Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on continuous integration and lint and format rules.Context economy
12/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on no committed build output and file sizes fit in context.Navigability
8/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Losing marks on written documentation.
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
Instruction quality
Worth fixing: it never states a build, test, or run command.
03
Continuous integration
A CI workflow doubles as machine-readable documentation: it's the one file that states, unambiguously, the exact commands that must succeed.
The full marking
Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.
Instructions 22/27 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
8/12
Real instructions, with gaps.
Worth fixing: it never states a build, test, or run command.
7,182 characters, a workable length
uses headings, so an agent can skim it
includes copyable code blocks
✗README as an entry point
2/3
README exists but never explains how to get the thing running.
Give the README an Install and a Usage heading with real commands under each. Agents pattern-match on those headings.
Setup 9/14 B
Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.
✗Deterministic install
3/6
Only requirements.txt, which pins loosely at best.
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.
pyproject.toml scripts
–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 15/25 B-
Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy.
✓Tests exist
8/8
4877 test files against 2103 source files.
e.g. hacking/tests/gen_distribution_version_testcase.py, lib/ansible/_internal/ansible_collections/ansible/_protomatter/plugins/test/tagged.py, lib/ansible/_internal/ansible_collections/ansible/_protomatter/plugins/test/tagged.yml
✓Test command is discoverable
7/7
An agent can find and run `pytest`.
✗Continuous integration
0/4
No CI config. Nothing outside a developer's laptop enforces correctness.
A CI workflow doubles as machine-readable documentation: it's the one file that states, unambiguously, the exact commands that must succeed.
✗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
0/3
No static type checking.
A type checker gives an agent an error message instead of a runtime surprise. It's the second-fastest feedback loop after the compiler.
Context economy 12/20 B-
Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it.
✗No committed build output
3/6
Generated output is committed: coverage/.
Add these to .gitignore and `git rm -r --cached` them. Generated files pollute search results, so an agent grepping for a function finds the compiled copy and edits the wrong file.
✓.gitignore hygiene
3/3
.gitignore covers 102 patterns.
✗File sizes fit in context
4/6
3 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.
test/units/module_utils/facts/other/test_ohai.py — 155KB
lib/ansible/modules/user.py — 127KB
test/lib/ansible_test/_util/controller/sanity/validate-modules/validate_modules/main.py — 114KB
✗Repository weight
2/5
About 266MB checked out. Large enough that cloning and searching are both slow.
Large binaries and vendored trees slow every operation an agent performs. Git LFS or a separate assets repo keeps the working tree navigable.
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 Ansible is a radically simple IT automation platform that makes your applications and systems easier to deploy and maintain. Automate everything from code deployment to network configuration to cloud management, in a language that approaches plain English, using SSH, with no agents to install on remote systems. https://docs.ansible.com. ## Setup ``` pip install -r requirements.txt ``` ## Commands ``` # TODO: nothing declares a build or test command, so an agent has to guess. # This is the single most valuable section of this file. Fill it in. ``` ## Layout - `test/` 1473 source files - `lib/` 590 source files - `hacking/` 13 source files - `packaging/` 2 source files ## Conventions - Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `hacking/tests/gen_distribution_version_testcase.py`. - TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here. ## Gotchas - `test/units/module_utils/facts/other/test_ohai.py` is 155KB. 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/ansible/ansible.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/ansible/ansible)Other Python 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.