How to add a license section to your README
Generate a clean License section for your README — pick an SPDX license, set the holder and year, and point to your LICENSE file the right way.
Code without a license is, by default, all rights reserved — nobody can legally reuse it. A clear License section tells people what they can do. The License Section Generator writes that section for your README.
Section vs full license text
This is an important distinction. Your repository should have:
- A LICENSE file containing the full legal text of your chosen license.
- A short License section in the README that names the license and links to that file.
This tool generates the second one — the README section. It names the license, adds the copyright holder and year, and points to the LICENSE file. It does not reproduce the full legal text; you add that as a separate LICENSE file from the canonical source.
Choosing a license
The generator supports the common ones, each with a different intent:
- MIT / ISC / BSD — permissive: do almost anything, just keep the notice.
- Apache-2.0 — permissive, with an explicit patent grant.
- GPL-3.0 — copyleft: derivatives must stay open under the same terms.
- MPL-2.0 — file-level copyleft, a middle ground.
- The Unlicense — public-domain dedication.
If you're unsure, choosealicense.com explains the trade-offs in plain language. The choice is yours to make; this tool just formats the result.
Where it fits
Use it as the final section of a README built with the README Generator. Together they give a project both a front door and clear terms of use.
Privacy
Generation is local; your name and project details stay in the browser.
Name the license, link the file, and let people know what they're allowed to do.