Shorten the README and move reference material into docs

[nmbrthirteen]

The README had grown to 484 lines and duplicated the docs site, so it drifted. It is now 116 lines: what podcli does, how to install it, a quick start, and links out. Everything reference-shaped moved to docs/configuration.md or was already covered at podcli.com/docs.

Stale claims found and fixed

Checking coverage before deleting turned up real errors, not just verbosity:

• "22 MCP tools." The code registers 26, and the table listed 17. scripts/check-docs-drift.mjs was warning about this on every CI run. The claim is gone, so the check is now clean.
• Dead environment variables. The config table documented WHISPER_MODEL and WHISPER_DEVICE, which have zero source references anywhere. The Whisper model is chosen per run with --model. It also documented LOG_LEVEL, which is really PODCLI_LOG_LEVEL. .env.example carried the same four dead entries (those two plus DEBUG and LOG_LEVEL) and was the source of the error, so they are removed there too.
• Wrong defaults. PODCLI_HOME does not default to .podcli/. That holds only when running from source; an installed build uses its managed folder. Same for PODCLI_DATA and PODCLI_OUTPUT.
• Wrong path. Project Structure pointed at src/ui/public/ as the frontend. It is src/ui/client/. The tree is dropped rather than corrected, since it rots on every refactor.
• Overstated privacy. "Nothing leaves your machine" is not true when AI clip scoring calls Claude or Codex. The docs already word this precisely; the README now matches.

Where the content went

Only two things had no home on the docs site, so neither was simply deleted:

• Environment variables, config profiles, layout migration, transcript format, and the knowledge base moved to docs/configuration.md, corrected against the source.
• The PodStack slash commands are already documented in CLAUDE.md, which the README links to.

The other five sections map to existing pages: getting started, the studio, CLI, MCP server, captions and formats.

Verification

• scripts/check-docs-drift.mjs passes with no warnings (previously warned on the tool count).
• Every local link and image resolves; all five docs URLs return HTTP 200.
• Zero em or en dashes, per the house style.

[coderabbitai]

Warning

Review limit reached

@nmbrthirteen, you've reached your PR review limit, so we couldn't start this review.

Next review available in: 22 minutes

Enable usage-based reviews in Billing to review now. Otherwise, wait until the next included review is available.
You're only billed for reviews past your plan's rate limits ($0.25/file).

How can I continue?

After more reviews become available, a review can be triggered using the @coderabbitai review command as a PR comment. Alternatively, push new commits to this PR.

To avoid repeated limits, reduce automatic review volume by pausing incremental auto-reviews earlier, using label-based review opt-in, excluding WIP or generated PR titles, or requesting reviews manually when the PR is ready. If your team needs uninterrupted high-volume reviews, an organization admin can enable usage-based reviews.

How do review limits work?

CodeRabbit enforces per-developer PR review limits for each organization. Most developers receive the normal plan review availability.

For paid Pro and Pro+ PR reviews, CodeRabbit uses adaptive limits for sustained high-volume activity. When a developer's recent PR review activity reaches the 95th percentile or higher among CodeRabbit users, additional reviews become available more gradually as earlier reviews age out of the rolling window.

Please refer docs for additional details.

Review details

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: defaults

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: c41cc88a-4209-4069-a2c5-f29068ef4ffb

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 2d2dc99 and 08a326f.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

• .env.example
• README.md
• docs/configuration.md

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch docs/shorten-readme

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}