How Repocheck Works

Repocheck helps you understand whether a repository is ready for real-world use — not by running your code, but by checking for risk signals and missing safeguards.

Think of Repocheck as a pre-flight checklist for your codebase.

? What Repocheck Is (and Is Not)

check What Repocheck Is

✅ A read-only CLI tool
✅ A risk and readiness analyzer
✅ A signal-based checker
✅ Safe to run on any repository
✅ Designed for local use and CI pipelines

close What Repocheck Is NOT

❌ It does not compile your code
❌ It does not run tests
❌ It does not execute scripts
❌ It does not claim your code is "error-free"

Repocheck focuses on what is missing or risky, not on proving correctness.

Step 1: Local-Only Scanning

When you run:

repocheck scan .

Repocheck scans the repository on your machine.

No files are uploaded
No telemetry is sent
No background network calls are made
Your code never leaves your system

All scanning happens locally.

Step 2: Static, Read-Only Analysis

Repocheck works by reading files, not executing them.

It:

Walks through the repository structure
Reads configuration files
Looks at metadata and file contents
Applies deterministic rules

It Does Not:

Build the project
Run CI jobs
Execute code paths

This makes Repocheck fast, safe, predictable, and CI-friendly.

Step 3: Signal-Based Checks

Instead of trying to detect bugs, Repocheck looks for signals that commonly cause problems in real projects.

Documentation & Onboarding

Missing documentation is a high onboarding risk.

Is there a README.md?
Are setup and run instructions present?
Are environment variables documented?

Dependency & Hygiene

Dependency issues often lead to security problems and legal risk.

Dependency files (e.g. go.mod, package.json)
Abandoned or outdated dependencies
Risky or missing license information
Accidental secrets in the repository
Presence of .env.example and .gitignore

CI/CD Readiness

Repocheck checks for CI readiness, not CI correctness.

Common CI configuration files (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.)
Test or build script signals
Evidence that the repo is intended to be automated

Step 4: Readiness Scoring & Actionable Findings

Based on the signals it finds, Repocheck calculates a Readiness Score. The score is deterministic, explainable, and broken down by category.

Every issue Repocheck reports:

Points to a specific file or missing element
Explains why it matters
Suggests what to fix next

There is no black box and no AI guessing. This helps teams quickly understand where to focus first.

CI-Friendly by Design

Repocheck can run in CI using strict mode:

repocheck scan . --ci

In CI mode, output is machine-readable, and exit codes reflect risk level. Builds can fail when readiness drops, making Repocheck a powerful quality gate.