Report · marked 26 Aug 2026
jqlang/jq
An agent will struggle here, mostly for fixable reasons.
C · 35,481 stars · 428 files · branch master
45
/100
C
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
10/20Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on deterministic install and environment config.Verification loop
12/22Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on test command is discoverable and lint and format rules.Context economy
14/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on file sizes fit in context.Navigability
6/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Losing marks on repository description and license.
Higher is better. Accent marks what is costing you most.
Fix these first
01
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.
02
Instruction quality
Instructions earn their keep by naming exact commands. 'Run the tests with `pnpm test`' beats three paragraphs of philosophy.
03
Test command is discoverable
Add a `test` script or a `test` target that runs the whole suite with no arguments. The convention is the interface — an agent tries `npm test` and `make test` before it tries reading your CI config.
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 10/20 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.
scripts/ directory
✗Environment config
2/4
Env vars are mentioned in the README but there's no example file to copy.
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
0/2
No pinned runtime version.
Add a .nvmrc, .python-version, or equivalent so the agent's toolchain matches yours.
✓Reproducible environment
2/2
dockerfile gives a known-good environment.
Verification loop 12/22 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
50 test files against 87 source files.
e.g. src/jq_test.c, tests/base64.test, tests/base64test
✗Test command is discoverable
0/7
There's no obvious way to run the tests. Even if tests exist, an agent won't reliably find the entry point.
Add a `test` script or a `test` target that runs the whole suite with no arguments. The convention is the interface — an agent tries `npm test` and `make test` before it tries reading your CI config.
✓Continuous integration
4/4
7 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 C compiler type checks every build.
Context economy 14/20 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 52 patterns.
✗File sizes fit in context
0/6
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.
vendor/decNumber/decNumber.c — 388KB
vendor/decNumber/decBasic.c — 179KB
src/parser.c — 138KB
✓Repository weight
5/5
About 8.1MB 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 Command-line JSON processor ## Setup ``` # TODO: the install command. No lockfile was found, so this could not be inferred. ``` ## 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 - `src/` 42 source files - `vendor/` 30 source files - `tests/` 8 source files - `docs/` 5 source files - `scripts/` 1 source file ## Conventions - Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `src/jq_test.c`. - CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/ci.yml`, and keep it green. - TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here. ## Gotchas - Generated output is committed (`build/`). Search will return the compiled copy, so edit the source, not that. - `vendor/decNumber/decNumber.c` is 388KB. 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/jqlang/jq.md
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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.