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naereen/badges

★ 4,605MakefileAudience · developerComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A copy-paste reference of hundreds of README badges showing build status, license, language, and more, with ready-to-use Markdown and reStructuredText code for each one.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((badges))
    Badge Sources
      shields.io
      forthebadge.com
      Platform integrations
    Topics
      GitHub stats
      License types
      Language badges
    Formats
      Markdown
      reStructuredText
    Use Cases
      README decoration
      Status indicators
Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

Code map

Detail Auto

An interactive map of this repo's files and how they connect — its source is parsed live in your browser. Click Visualize to build it.

filefunction / class

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Copy a license badge (MIT, GPL, Creative Commons) into your project README in seconds.

USE CASE 2

Find the right shields.io badge for PyPI download counts, version numbers, or Python version compatibility.

USE CASE 3

Add GitHub stats badges for stars, forks, open issues, or latest release to any open-source project README.

Tech stack

MarkdownMakefilereStructuredText

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

In plain English

This repository is a reference list of small status badges you can paste into a GitHub or Bitbucket README file. Badges are the small colored labels that appear at the top of many open-source project pages, often showing things like build status, license type, test coverage, or which programming language a project uses. This repository collects hundreds of them with the exact Markdown code needed to display each one. The list is organized by topic. There are sections for general-purpose badges, GitHub-specific badges (stars, forks, contributors, open issues, pull requests, latest release), license badges (MIT, GPL, Creative Commons variants), and language-specific sections for Python, Go, Rust, JavaScript, and others. There is also a section for package registry badges covering PyPI download counts, version numbers, and Python version compatibility. Each entry shows what the rendered badge looks like alongside the code block you would copy into your README. Badges come from two main services: shields.io, which generates badges dynamically based on data it fetches from various sources, and forthebadge.com, which offers a set of fixed decorative badges with a larger, bolder style. Other sources include platform-specific integrations for tools like Read the Docs, Zenodo, Discord, and JetBrains. The repository also includes a reStructuredText version of the same list for projects that use that format instead of Markdown. Contributions are encouraged, and the README notes that people can add their own badges. This is a reference and copy-paste resource rather than a piece of runnable software. The full README is longer than what was shown.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Give me the Markdown for a MIT license badge using shields.io from the naereen/badges collection.
Prompt 2
What shields.io badges can I use to show Python version compatibility for my PyPI package?
Prompt 3
Show me how to add a GitHub stars badge and a build-passing badge to my project README using naereen/badges.
Prompt 4
Give me the reStructuredText version of a build-passing badge from naereen/badges.
Prompt 5
What forthebadge.com options exist for adding a fun decorative badge to my README?
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