Improve readme with extended information

LICENSE.txt

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 MIT License
 
-Copyright (c) 2024 Picnic Technologies BV
+Copyright (c) 2024-2025 Picnic Technologies BV
 
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
 

README.md

@@ -7,38 +7,213 @@
 [![PyPI - Python Version](https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/dbt-score.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/dbt-score)
 [![PRs Welcome](https://img.shields.io/badge/PRs-welcome-brightgreen.svg)](https://makeapullrequest.com)
 
-![dbt-score-output](images/dbt-score-output.png)
+**A comprehensive linter for dbt metadata that helps maintain high-quality data
+models at scale.**
 
-## What is `dbt-score`?
+```shell
+dbt-score lint
+🥉 orders (score: 2.7)
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score.rules.generic.columns_have_description: Columns lack a description: customer_id, customer_name.
+  WARN (high) dbt_score.rules.generic.has_description: Model lacks a description.
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score.rules.generic.has_owner: Model lacks an owner.
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score.rules.generic.sql_has_reasonable_number_of_lines: SQL query too long: 238 lines (> 200).
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score_rules.custom_rules.has_test: Model lacks a test.
+```
 
-`dbt-score` is a linter for dbt metadata.
+## What is dbt-score?
 
-[dbt][dbt] (Data Build Tool) is a great framework for creating, building,
-organizing, testing and documenting _data models_, i.e. data sets living in a
-database or a data warehouse. Through a declarative approach, it allows data
-practitioners to build data with a methodology inspired by software development
-practices.
+`dbt-score` is a powerful linting tool designed to evaluate and score [dbt][dbt]
+(Data Build Tool) models based on metadata quality. It helps data teams maintain
+consistent standards across dbt projects by programmatically enforcing best
+practices for documentation, testing, naming conventions, and more.
 
-This leads to data models being bundled with a lot of metadata, such as
-documentation, data tests, access control information, column types and
-constraints, 3rd party integrations... Not to mention any other metadata that
-organizations need, fully supported through the `meta` parameter.
+### Key Features
 
-At scale, with hundreds or thousands of data models, all this metadata can
-become confusing, disparate, and inconsistent. It's hard to enforce good
-practices and maintain them in continuous integration systems. This is
-where`dbt-score` plays its role: by allowing data teams to programmatically
-define and enforce metadata rules, in an easy and scalable manner.
+- 🔍 **Comprehensive Linting**: Evaluates dbt entities against configurable
+  rules for documentation, tests, naming, and structure
+- 📊 **Scoring System**: Provides numerical scores (0-10) for individual models
+  and overall project health
+- 🎯 **Flexible Configuration**: Customizable rules, severity levels, and
+  scoring thresholds via `pyproject.toml`
+- 🚀 **CI/CD Integration**: Fail builds when quality standards aren't met
+- 📈 **Progress Tracking**: Visual badges and scoring to track data quality
+  improvements over time
+- 🔧 **Extensible**: Create custom rules tailored to organization-specific needs
+
+## Quick Start
+
+### Installation
+
+```shell
+pip install dbt-score
+```
+
+> **Note**: Install `dbt-score` in the same environment as `dbt-core`.
+
+### Basic Usage
+
+Run `dbt-score` from your dbt project root:
+
+```bash
+# Basic linting
+dbt-score lint
+
+# Also show passing tests
+dbt-score lint --show all
+
+# Lint specific models
+dbt-score lint --select +my_model+
+
+# Auto-generate manifest (via `dbt parse`) and lint
+dbt-score lint --run-dbt-parse
+```
+
+### Example Output
+
+```
+dbt-score lint --show all
+🥉 orders (score: 2.7)
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score.rules.generic.columns_have_description: Columns lack a description: customer_id, customer_name.
+  WARN (high) dbt_score.rules.generic.has_description: Model lacks a description.
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score.rules.generic.has_owner: Model lacks an owner.
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score.rules.generic.sql_has_reasonable_number_of_lines: SQL query too long: 238 lines (> 200).
+  WARN (medium) dbt_score_rules.custom_rules.has_test: Model lacks a test.
+
+🥇 customers (score: 10.0)
+  OK    dbt_score.rules.generic.columns_have_description
+  OK    dbt_score.rules.generic.has_description
+  OK    dbt_score.rules.generic.has_owner
+  OK    dbt_score.rules.generic.sql_has_reasonable_number_of_lines
+  OK    dbt_score_rules.custom_rules.has_test
+
+Project score: 6.3 🥈
+```
+
+## Configuration
+
+Configure `dbt-score` via `pyproject.toml` in the dbt project root:
+
+```toml
+[tool.dbt-score]
+# Fail CI if project score falls below threshold
+fail_project_under = 7.5
+fail_any_item_under = 8.0
+
+# Disable specific rules
+disabled_rules = ["dbt_score.rules.generic.columns_have_description"]
+
+# Configure badges
+[tool.dbt-score.badges]
+first.threshold = 10.0
+first.icon = "🥇"
+second.threshold = 8.0
+second.icon = "🥈"
+third.threshold = 6.0
+third.icon = "🥉"
+wip.icon = "🏗️"
+
+# Customize rule severity and parameters
+[tool.dbt-score.rules."dbt_score.rules.generic.sql_has_reasonable_number_of_lines"]
+severity = 1
+max_lines = 300
+```
+
+## Why Use dbt-score?
+
+As dbt projects grow to hundreds or thousands of models, maintaining consistent
+metadata becomes increasingly challenging:
+
+- **Inconsistent Documentation**: Some models are well-documented, others lack
+  basic descriptions
+- **Missing Tests**: Critical models without proper data quality tests
+- **Naming Inconsistencies**: Models that don't follow established conventions
+- **Technical Debt**: Long, complex SQL queries that are hard to maintain
+- **Compliance Issues**: Missing ownership or governance metadata
+
+`dbt-score` addresses these challenges by:
+
+- **Automated Quality Checks**: Continuously evaluate dbt projects against best
+  practices
+- **Objective Scoring**: Get clear, numerical feedback on model quality
+- **Team Alignment**: Establish shared standards across data teams
+- **CI/CD Integration**: Prevent quality regressions in production
+
+## Built-in Rules
+
+`dbt-score` comes with a small set of rules covering needs applicable to most
+dbt projects.
+
+## Advanced Usage
+
+### Custom Rules
+
+Create organization-specific rules by writing simple Python functions:
+
+```python
+from dbt_score import Model, rule, RuleViolation
+
+@rule
+def model_has_business_owner(model: Model) -> RuleViolation:
+    if model.meta.get("business_owner") is None:
+        return RuleViolation("Model lacks a business owner.")
+```
+
+### CI/CD Integration
+
+Add `dbt-score` to CI pipelines:
+
+```yaml
+- name: Run dbt-score
+  run: |
+    dbt-score lint --run-dbt-parse
+```
+
+or equivalent in your favourite CI platform. `dbt-score` exits with 0 or 1 to
+signal success or failure, making integrations a breeze!
+
+### Selective Linting
+
+Use dbt's selection syntax to lint specific parts of projects:
+
+```bash
+# Lint only staging models
+dbt-score lint --select staging.*
+
+# Lint a model and its dependencies
+dbt-score lint --select +my_important_model
+
+# Lint recently changed models
+dbt-score lint --select state:modified
+```
 
 ## Documentation
 
-Everything you need (and more) can be found in [`dbt-score` documentation
-website][dbt-score].
+For comprehensive documentation, including detailed rule descriptions,
+configuration options, and advanced usage patterns, visit the [`dbt-score`
+documentation website][dbt-score].
 
 ## Contributing
 
-Would you like to contribute to `dbt-score`? That's great news! Please follow
-[the guide on the documentation website][contributors-guide]. 🚀
+Contributions are welcome! This includes:
+
+- Reporting bugs or requesting features
+- Improving documentation
+- Adding new rules or formatters
+- Fixing issues
+
+Check out the [contributing guide][contributors-guide] to get started. 🚀
+
+## Requirements
+
+- Python 3.10+
+- dbt-core 1.5+
+
+## License
+
+This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the
+[LICENSE.txt](LICENSE.txt) file for details.
+
+---
 
 [dbt]: https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core
 [dbt-score]: https://dbt-score.picnic.tech/