README Section Guard

A lightweight GitHub Action that ensures required sections exist in your README file.

Useful for enforcing consistency across repositories by checking for sections like Usage, Contributing, and License.

🚀 Quick Start

Create a workflow file such as .github/workflows/readme-check.yml:

name: README Check

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  readme-check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Validate README sections
        uses: brandonhimpfen/readme-section-guard@v1
        with:
          required-sections: 'Usage,Contributing,License'

⚙️ Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
readme-path	Path to the README file	No	README.md
required-sections	Comma-separated list of required sections	No	Usage,Contributing,License
case-sensitive	Match headings with case sensitivity	No	false
fail-on-missing-readme	Fail if README does not exist	No	true

🧪 Examples

Require standard open source sections

- uses: brandonhimpfen/readme-section-guard@v1
  with:
    required-sections: 'Installation,Usage,Contributing,License'

Check a README in a custom location

- uses: brandonhimpfen/readme-section-guard@v1
  with:
    readme-path: 'docs/README.md'
    required-sections: 'Overview,Usage,Support'

🔍 How It Works

The action scans the README file and looks for Markdown headings that match the required section names.

For example, the section Usage will match:

## Usage

Supports heading levels # through ######.

❌ Failure Behavior

The action will fail the workflow if:

• A required section is missing
• The README file is missing (if enabled)

💡 Why Use This?

• Enforce documentation standards across repos
• Improve contributor experience
• Ensure required sections are never skipped
• Keep projects consistent at scale

📄 License

MIT License