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Package readme on NuGet.org

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Include a readme file in your NuGet package to make your package details richer and more informative for your users!

This is likely one of the first elements users will see when they view your package details page on NuGet.org and is essential to making a good impression!

Important

NuGet.org only supports readme files in Markdown and images from a limited set of domains. See our allowed domains for images and supported Markdown features to ensure your readme renders correctly on NuGet.org.

What should my readme include?

Consider including the following items in your readme:

  • An introduction to what your package is and does - what problems does it solve?
  • How to get started with your package - are there any specific requirements?
  • Links to more comprehensive documentation if not included in the readme itself.
  • At least a few code snippets/samples or example images.
  • Where and how to leave feedback such as link to the project issues, Twitter, bug tracker, or other platform.
  • How to contribute, if applicable.

Keep in mind, high quality readmes can come in a wide variety of formats, shapes, and sizes! If you already have a package available on NuGet.org, chances are that you already have a readme.md or other documentation file in your repository that would be a great addition to your NuGet.org details page.

Note

Read through our blog on writing a high-quality README for some best practices.

Preview your readme

To preview your readme file before it's live on NuGet.org, upload your package using the Upload Package web portal on NuGet.org and scroll down to the "Readme File" section of the metadata preview. It should look something like this:

Readme File preview

Consider taking time to review and preview your readme file for image compliance and supported formatting to make sure it gives a great first impression to potential users! To correct mistakes on your package readme once it's published to NuGet.org, you will need to push an updated package version with the fix. Making sure everything looks good in advance may save you headache down the road.

Allowed domains for images and badges

Due to security and privacy concerns, NuGet.org restricts the domains from which images and badges can be rendered to trusted hosts.

NuGet.org allows all images, including badges, from the following trusted domains to be rendered:

  • api.codacy.com
  • app.codacy.com
  • api.codeclimate.com
  • api.dependabot.com
  • api.travis-ci.com
  • api.reuse.software
  • app.fossa.com
  • app.fossa.io
  • avatars.githubusercontent.com
  • badge.fury.io
  • badgen.net
  • badges.gitter.im
  • buildstats.info
  • caniuse.bitsofco.de
  • camo.githubusercontent.com
  • cdn.jsdelivr.net
  • cdn.syncfusion.com
  • ci.appveyor.com
  • circleci.com
  • codecov.io
  • codefactor.io
  • coveralls.io
  • dev.azure.com
  • flat.badgen.net
  • github.com/.../workflows/.../badge.svg
  • gitlab.com
  • img.shields.io
  • i.imgur.com
  • isitmaintained.com
  • opencollective.com
  • raw.github.com
  • raw.githubusercontent.com
  • snyk.io
  • sonarcloud.io
  • travis-ci.com
  • travis-ci.org
  • wakatime.com
  • user-images.githubusercontent.com

If you feel that another domain should be added to the allow-list, please feel free to file an issue and it will be reviewed by our engineering team for privacy and security compliance. Images with relative local paths and images hosted from unsupported domains will not be rendered and will produce a warning on the readme file preview and package details page that is only visible to the package owners.

Supported Markdown features

Markdown is a lightweight markup language with plain text formatting syntax. NuGet.org readmes support CommonMark compliant Markdown through the Markdig parsing engine.

NuGet.org currently supports the following Markdown features:

We also support syntax highlighting, You can add an language identifier to enable syntax highlighting in your code spans.