Criteria for a List to Be Considered Awesome: The Official sindresorhus/awesome Manifesto

To be considered awesome, a curated list must contain only personally recommended items with explanatory descriptions, display the official Awesome badge, adopt a CC0 license, include contribution guidelines, and satisfy submission prerequisites including a 30-day maturity period.

The sindresorhus/awesome repository enforces strict quality standards for all submitted lists. According to the Awesome manifesto defined in awesome.md and supplementary creation guidelines in create-list.md, authors must satisfy specific criteria spanning content curation, document structure, and community governance. These rules ensure that every list in the collection maintains exceptional utility and long-term viability.

Core Content Quality Standards

Only Truly Awesome Items

Every entry must represent something you can personally recommend after thorough research. According to awesome.md lines 9-10, you should "rather leave stuff out than include too much," ensuring high signal-to-noise ratio through selective curation.

Explain Why Each Item Is Awesome

Each entry requires a descriptive comment justifying its inclusion. The manifesto at awesome.md lines 55-58 mandates that maintainers "comment on why something is awesome," providing readers with immediate value propositions without requiring external clicks.

Clear List Purpose and Grammatical Correctness

The README must open with a concise description defining the list's scope and coverage, as required by awesome.md lines 59-62. Additionally, awesome.md lines 63-66 enforce grammatical correctness throughout the document and pull request descriptions.

Structural and Formatting Requirements

Display the Official Awesome Badge

Place the official badge at the top of your README next to the title. As specified in awesome.md lines 15-25, you may use the plain, flat, or flat-2 style:

# Awesome My‑Toolset

[![Awesome](https://awesome.re/badge.svg)](https://awesome.re)

A curated collection of the best tools for XYZ.

Consistent Styling and Organization

Maintain uniform formatting with a table of contents and categorized entries. According to awesome.md lines 79-82, descriptions should end with periods, and the overall structure must follow established conventions for scannability.

Legal and Community Standards

Appropriate License

Use a permissive CC0 license for maximum content reuse freedom. The manifesto at awesome.md lines 67-72 specifically discourages MIT, BSD, or GPL for pure-content lists, as software licenses create unnecessary friction for curated collections.

## License

This list is released under the Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal license. See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.

Contribution Guidelines

Include a CONTRIBUTING.md file or reference customized guidelines. As documented in awesome.md lines 73-77, this practice orientates future contributors toward your preferred submission format and quality standards.

## Contributing

We welcome improvements! Please read our [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) before opening a pull request.

Respect Community Opinion

Maintain collaborative governance by remaining willing to reconsider decisions if community consensus emerges against your choices. This requirement from awesome.md lines 83-86 ensures lists evolve to serve collective needs rather than individual preferences.

Submission Prerequisites

Avoid Duplication

Before creating a new list, search the existing collection. According to create-list.md lines 3-5, if a similar list exists, you must contribute to it "instead of making your own."

30-Day Maturity Period

Wait at least 30 days after initial creation before submitting a pull request. As stated in create-list.md lines 5-6, this cooling-off period allows content to stabilize and demonstrates long-term maintenance commitment.

Practical Implementation Guide

Meeting the awesome list criteria requires implementing specific formatting patterns. Here is a compliant structure incorporating all requirements:

# Awesome Developer Tools

[![Awesome](https://awesome.re/badge.svg)](https://awesome.re)

A curated list of essential developer utilities for modern web development.

## Table of Contents

- [Editors](#editors)
- [CLI Tools](#cli-tools)

## Editors

- [SuperEditor](https://github.com/example/super-editor) – A lightweight code editor with built‑in linting. *(Why it’s awesome: sub‑second startup, zero‑config setup)*

## CLI Tools

- [FastDeploy](https://github.com/example/fast-deploy) – Automated deployment scripts. *(Why it’s awesome: works with any CI/CD provider)*

## Contributing

Please read the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for details on our submission process.

## License

This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal](LICENSE) license.

Summary

• Quality over quantity: Include only personally recommended items with explanatory descriptions per awesome.md lines 9-10 and 55-58.
• Visual compliance: Display the official Awesome badge and maintain grammatical correctness as required by awesome.md lines 15-25 and 63-66.
• Legal clarity: Adopt CC0 licensing and include contribution guidelines according to awesome.md lines 67-77.
• Submission readiness: Wait 30 days post-creation and verify no duplicate lists exist before submitting, following create-list.md lines 3-6.

Frequently Asked Questions

What license should I use for an awesome list?

Use CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) for maximum permissiveness. The manifesto at awesome.md lines 67-72 specifically recommends CC0 over MIT, BSD, or GPL for content lists, as software licenses create unnecessary legal barriers for curated content reuse.

How long should I wait before submitting my list to the awesome repository?

You must wait at least 30 days after creating the list. According to create-list.md lines 5-6, this maturity period ensures the list has stabilized and demonstrates your commitment to long-term maintenance before community review.

Why does every item need a description explaining why it is awesome?

Descriptive comments fulfill the "comment on why something is awesome" requirement from awesome.md lines 55-58. These explanations save readers time by communicating value propositions directly, preventing the list from becoming a bare link dump that requires external investigation.

Can I submit a list that covers the same topic as an existing awesome list?

No. The guidelines in create-list.md lines 3-5 explicitly require searching existing lists first. If a similar list exists, you should contribute to it rather than fragmenting the ecosystem with a competing collection.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}