Project Description Present

The root instruction file must describe the project — what it does and who it's for. This anchors the agent's understanding of context and purpose.

Antipatterns

• Jumping straight to commands. A root file that starts with ## Commands and lists CLI invocations but never describes what the project is. The check looks for a heading matching "Description", "About", or "Overview".
• Description buried under a non-matching heading. Writing the project description under ## Background or ## Context does not match the expected heading terms. Use "Description", "About", or "Overview" as the heading.
• Project name as the only heading. A single # My Project heading with commands underneath does not satisfy the check. The file needs a dedicated description section under one of the matching heading terms.

Pass / Fail

Pass

# Reporails CLI

## Overview

AI instruction validator for coding agents.

## Commands

- `uv run ails check .` — validate instruction files

Fail

# Reporails CLI

## Commands

- `uv run ails check .` — validate instruction files
- `uv run ails heal` — interactive auto-fix

Limitations

Checks for a heading containing "Description", "About", or "Overview". Does not evaluate whether the description accurately represents the project.