Report · marked 25 Aug 2026
stanfordnlp/dspy
An agent will struggle here, mostly for fixable reasons.
Python · 37,595 stars · 567 files · branch main
54
/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
6/20Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on discoverable commands and environment config.Verification loop
22/25Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on static type checking.Context economy
15/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on file sizes fit in context and repository weight.Navigability
9/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Losing marks on repository description.
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
Discoverable commands
Declare the handful of commands that matter in package.json scripts, a Makefile, or a justfile. Naming them turns guesswork into a lookup.
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 6/20 D
Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.
✓Deterministic install
6/6
uv.lock pins the dependency tree.
Found uv.lock
✗Discoverable commands
0/6
No declared commands. An agent has to infer how to build and run this from the file tree.
Declare the handful of commands that matter in package.json scripts, a Makefile, or a justfile. Naming them turns guesswork into a lookup.
✗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
0/2
No pinned runtime version.
Add a .nvmrc, .python-version, or equivalent so the agent's toolchain matches yours.
✗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 22/25 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
137 test files against 284 source files.
e.g. .github/workflows/build_utils/test_version.py, tests/README.md, tests/__init__.py
✓Test command is discoverable
7/7
An agent can find and run `pytest`.
✓Continuous integration
4/4
5 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.
✓Lint and format rules
3/3
pyproject.toml encodes the house style.
✗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 15/20 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 49 patterns.
✗File sizes fit in context
4/6
1 source file is 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.
tests/adapters/test_chat_adapter.py — 117KB
✗Repository weight
2/5
About 181MB 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 DSPy: The framework for programming—not prompting—language models ## Setup ``` uv sync ``` ## Commands ``` pytest # run the test suite ruff check . # lint ``` ## Layout - `dspy/` 157 source files - `tests/` 117 source files - `docs/` 8 source files ## Conventions - Tests live alongside the code they cover, following `.github/workflows/build_utils/test_version.py`. - CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/build_and_release.yml`, and keep it green. - TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here. ## Gotchas - `tests/adapters/test_chat_adapter.py` is 117KB. It will not fit comfortably in context, so read it in parts. --- 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/stanfordnlp/dspy.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.