No README
Part of Documentation, UX & Accessibility, which counts for 15% of the overall score. When this check fires it deducts 8 points from that category, once per scan, no matter how many places it turns up.
What it detects
No README file was found at the project root.
Why it matters
The README is the first thing anyone opens, including you in six months. Without one, a new collaborator, a reviewer, or a deploy service has no way to tell what the project does, what it needs, or how to start it, so they either guess or give up. It is also the file GitHub renders on the repo page, so an empty repo front page costs you credibility for free.
How to fix it
Create README.md at the repository root with four short sections: a one-paragraph description of what the app does, prerequisites (runtime version, required services), install and run commands that match your actual scripts (npm install / npm run dev, or pip install -r requirements.txt / python main.py), and a list of required environment variables pointing at .env.example. Keep it honest and short; a 30-line README that works beats a long one that drifts out of date.
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