Report · marked 25 Aug 2026

balena-io/etcher

An agent can work here, but it will waste turns finding its footing.

TypeScript · 34,228 stars · 152 files · branch master

64 /100 B

Instructions 3/27Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing. Losing marks on agent instruction file and instruction quality.Setup 8/20Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on deterministic install and environment config.Verification loop 25/25Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Full marks.Context economy 19/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on 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

Agent instruction file

Add an AGENTS.md at the root: what the project is, how to install, how to run, how to test, and the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong.

Instruction quality

Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.

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.

The full marking

Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.

Instructions 3/27 F

Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing.

✗Agent instruction file 0/12

None found. Every agent that opens this repo starts from zero.

Add an AGENTS.md at the root: what the project is, how to install, how to run, how to test, and the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong.

Looked for AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, .cursorrules

✗Instruction quality 0/12

Nothing to judge, since there are no instructions.

Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.

✓README as an entry point 3/3

README has a clear getting-started section.

Setup 8/20 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.

package.json scripts (prettify, lint, test, package, start, make…)

✗Environment config 0/4

Nothing documents the environment this needs. An agent will get a runtime error it can't diagnose.

Add a .env.example listing every variable with a safe placeholder value. It's the cheapest possible fix and it unblocks the whole first run.

✓Pinned runtime version 2/2

The language runtime version is pinned.

Found .nvmrc

✗Reproducible environment 0/2

No container or devcontainer definition.

A Dockerfile or devcontainer removes an entire class of 'it won't install' failures.

Verification loop 25/25 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

21 test files against 92 source files.

e.g. .github/actions/test/action.yml, tests/.eslintrc.yml, tests/data/wmic-output.txt

✓Test command is discoverable 7/7

An agent can find and run `npm run test`.

✓Continuous integration 4/4

2 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.

✓Lint and format rules 3/3

.eslintrc.js encodes the house style.

✓Static type checking 3/3

Strict type checking is on, which catches a whole class of agent mistakes before they run.

Context economy 19/20 A+

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 55 patterns.

✓File sizes fit in context 6/6

No source file is large enough to crowd out a context window.

✗Repository weight 4/5

About 100.8MB 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 — drafted for balena-io/etcher

# AGENTS.md

Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives, safely and easily.

## Setup

```
npm install
```

## Commands

```
npm run start      # run the app
npm run test       # run the test suite, must pass before any commit
npm run lint       # lint
npm run prettify
npm run package
npm run make
npm run wdio
```

## Layout

- `lib/`     65 source files
- `tests/`   17 source files
- `typings/` 4 source files

## Conventions

- Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `.github/actions/test/action.yml`.
- TypeScript runs in strict mode. Type errors are the fastest feedback available, so do not weaken it.
- CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/flowzone.yml`, and keep it green.
- TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here.

## Gotchas

- 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/balena-io/etcher.md

Show the mark

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[![agent ready](https://agentreadme.com/badge/balena-io/etcher.svg)](https://agentreadme.com/balena-io/etcher)

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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.

Open an issue, already filled in