diff --git a/packages/sv-utils/src/files.ts b/packages/sv-utils/src/files.ts
index 8b8633f16..69955f858 100644
--- a/packages/sv-utils/src/files.ts
+++ b/packages/sv-utils/src/files.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
+import { appendContent, findHeader, findSection, joinContent, type Line } from './tooling/md.ts';
 import { parseJson } from './tooling/parsers.ts';
 
 export type Package = {
@@ -76,3 +77,37 @@ export function loadPackageJson(cwd: string): {
 	const { data } = parseJson(source);
 	return { source, data: data as Package };
 }
+
+export function addNextSteps(content: string, lines: Line[]): string {
+	const linesToAdd = lines.filter(Boolean).join('\n');
+
+	const svSection = findSection(content, '# sv');
+	if (!svSection) return content;
+
+	const header = '## Next Steps';
+	const nextStepsHeader = findHeader(svSection.innerContent, header);
+	if (!nextStepsHeader) return content;
+
+	return appendContent(content, linesToAdd, header);
+}
+
+export function removeEmptyNextSteps(content: string): string {
+	const svSection = findSection(content, '# sv');
+	if (!svSection) return content;
+
+	const header = '## Next Steps';
+	const nextStepsSection = findSection(svSection.innerContent, header);
+	if (!nextStepsSection) return content;
+
+	if (nextStepsSection.innerContent.trim() === '') {
+		return joinContent(
+			svSection.before,
+			svSection.header,
+			nextStepsSection.before,
+			// a workaround for a very naive implementation that doesn't account for comments which also starts with `#`
+			nextStepsSection.after + svSection.after
+		);
+	}
+
+	return content;
+}
diff --git a/packages/sv-utils/src/index.ts b/packages/sv-utils/src/index.ts
index 8dc8fbb4b..034c0385d 100644
--- a/packages/sv-utils/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/sv-utils/src/index.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ export * as css from './tooling/css/index.ts';
 export * as js from './tooling/js/index.ts';
 export * as html from './tooling/html/index.ts';
 export * as text from './tooling/text.ts';
+export * as md from './tooling/md.ts';
 export * as json from './tooling/json.ts';
 export * as svelte from './tooling/svelte/index.ts';
 
@@ -73,7 +74,14 @@ export { sanitizeName } from './sanitize.ts';
 export { downloadJson } from './downloadJson.ts';
 
 // File system helpers (sync, workspace-relative paths)
-export { fileExists, loadFile, loadPackageJson, saveFile, type Package } from './files.ts';
+export {
+	fileExists,
+	loadFile,
+	loadPackageJson,
+	saveFile,
+	type Package,
+	removeEmptyNextSteps
+} from './files.ts';
 
 // Terminal styling
 export { color } from './color.ts';
diff --git a/packages/sv-utils/src/tests/md.ts b/packages/sv-utils/src/tests/md.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..90bf57791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/sv-utils/src/tests/md.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,172 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { findHeader, findSection, joinContent } from '../tooling/md.ts';
+
+describe('joinContent', () => {
+	it('joins two non-headers', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('hello', 'world');
+		expect(result).toBe('hello\nworld\n');
+	});
+
+	it('joins a header and a non-header', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('# Hello', 'content');
+		expect(result).toBe('# Hello\n\ncontent\n');
+	});
+
+	it('joins two headers', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('# Hello', '## World');
+		expect(result).toBe('# Hello\n\n## World\n');
+	});
+
+	it('joins a non-header and a header', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('content', '# Next');
+		expect(result).toBe('content\n\n# Next\n');
+	});
+
+	it('filters out empty strings', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('hello', '', 'world');
+		expect(result).toBe('hello\nworld\n');
+	});
+
+	it('returns an empty string when all inputs are empty', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('', '', '');
+		expect(result).toBe('');
+	});
+
+	it('trims content before joining', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('  hello  ', '  world  ');
+		expect(result).toBe('hello\nworld\n');
+	});
+
+	it('handles a single argument', () => {
+		const result = joinContent('hello');
+		expect(result).toBe('hello\n');
+	});
+});
+
+describe('findHeader', () => {
+	it('finds a header', () => {
+		const content = '# Hello\n\nSome content\n\n## World\n';
+		const result = findHeader(content, '# Hello');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.start).toBe(0);
+		expect(result!.end).toBe(7);
+		expect(result!.before).toBe('');
+		expect(result!.after).toBe('\nSome content\n\n## World\n');
+	});
+
+	it('returns null when the header is not found', () => {
+		const content = '# Hello\n\nSome content';
+		const result = findHeader(content, '## Missing');
+
+		expect(result).toBeNull();
+	});
+
+	it('finds a header in the middle of content', () => {
+		const content = 'some prefix\n\n# Header\n\nsome suffix';
+		const result = findHeader(content, '# Header');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.before).toBe('some prefix\n\n');
+		expect(result!.after).toBe('\nsome suffix');
+	});
+
+	it('handles different header levels', () => {
+		const content = '## H2\n\n### H3\n\n#### H4';
+
+		expect(findHeader(content, '## H2')).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(findHeader(content, '### H3')).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(findHeader(content, '#### H4')).not.toBeNull();
+	});
+
+	it('finds a header with trailing whitespace', () => {
+		const content = '# Header  \ncontent';
+		const result = findHeader(content, '# Header');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+	});
+
+	it('finds the first occurrence when duplicate headers exist', () => {
+		const content = '# Title\n\ncontent1\n\n# Title\n\ncontent2';
+		const result = findHeader(content, '# Title');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.before).toBe('');
+		expect(result!.after).toBe('\ncontent1\n\n# Title\n\ncontent2');
+	});
+
+	it('handles a header with special regex characters', () => {
+		const content = '# [test]* (example) $special\ncontent';
+		const result = findHeader(content, '# [test]* (example) $special');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+	});
+});
+
+describe('findSection', () => {
+	it('finds a section and returns the header with its inner content', () => {
+		const content = '# Hello\n\nSome content\n\n## World\nmore content\n\n# Another';
+		const result = findSection(content, '# Hello');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.header).toBe('# Hello');
+		expect(result!.innerContent).toBe('\n\nSome content\n\n## World\nmore content\n\n');
+	});
+
+	it('returns null when the header is not found', () => {
+		const content = '# Existing\ncontent';
+		const result = findSection(content, '## Missing');
+
+		expect(result).toBeNull();
+	});
+
+	it('should all add up', () => {
+		const content =
+			'# Parent\n\n## Child\nchild content\n\n### Grandchild\ngc content\n\n### Hmm\n\n## Two\n\n## One';
+		const result = findSection(content, '## Child');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(
+			result!.before.length +
+				result!.header.length +
+				result!.innerContent.length +
+				result!.after.length
+		).toEqual(content.length);
+	});
+
+	it('finds a section up to the next header of the same level', () => {
+		const content = '# Parent\n\n## Child1\ncontent1\n\n## Child2\ncontent2\n\n# Sibling';
+		const result = findSection(content, '# Parent');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.innerContent).toBe('\n\n## Child1\ncontent1\n\n## Child2\ncontent2\n\n');
+	});
+
+	it('finds a nested section within a parent', () => {
+		const content =
+			'# Parent\n\n## Child\nchild content\n\n### Grandchild\ngc content\n\n### Hmm\n\n## Two\n\n## One';
+		const result = findSection(content, '## Child');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.header).toBe('## Child');
+		expect(result!.innerContent).toBe(
+			'\nchild content\n\n### Grandchild\ngc content\n\n### Hmm\n\n'
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('handles a section at the end of content', () => {
+		const content = '# Last\n\nfinal content';
+		const result = findSection(content, '# Last');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.innerContent).toBe('\n\nfinal content');
+	});
+
+	it('returns the inner content for a header with no content', () => {
+		const content = '# Empty\n\n## Next';
+		const result = findSection(content, '# Empty');
+
+		expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+		expect(result!.innerContent).toBe('\n\n## Next');
+	});
+});
diff --git a/packages/sv-utils/src/tooling/md.ts b/packages/sv-utils/src/tooling/md.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d92c20aa2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/sv-utils/src/tooling/md.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+type Header = `${'#' | '##' | '###' | '####' | '#####' | '######'} ${string}`;
+export type Line = string | false | undefined | null | 0 | 0n;
+
+const HEADER_REGEX = /^#{1,6} .+$/m;
+
+function getHeaderLevel(header: Header): number {
+	return header.split(' ')[0].length;
+}
+
+// vendor from https://github.com/sindresorhus/escape-string-regexp/blob/main/index.js
+export function escapeStringRegexp(string: string): string {
+	// Escape characters with special meaning either inside or outside character sets.
+	// Use a simple backslash escape when it’s always valid, and a `\xnn` escape when the simpler form would be disallowed by Unicode patterns’ stricter grammar.
+	return string.replace(/[|\\{}()[\]^$+*?.]/g, '\\$&').replace(/-/g, '\\x2d');
+}
+
+/**
+ * Ensure the distance between a header and a non-header is always \n\n
+ */
+export function joinContent(...args: string[]): string {
+	const trimmedArgs = args.map((content) => content.trim()).filter((content) => content !== '');
+
+	if (trimmedArgs.length === 0) return '';
+	if (trimmedArgs.length === 1) return `${trimmedArgs[0]}\n`;
+
+	let result = trimmedArgs[0];
+	for (let i = 1; i < trimmedArgs.length; i++) {
+		const prev = result.trimEnd();
+		const prevLastLine = prev.split('\n').at(-1) ?? '';
+		const prevIsHeader = HEADER_REGEX.test(prevLastLine);
+
+		const curr = trimmedArgs[i];
+		const currFirstLine = curr.split('\n').at(0) ?? '';
+		const currIsHeader = HEADER_REGEX.test(currFirstLine);
+
+		const separator = prevIsHeader || currIsHeader ? '\n\n' : '\n';
+		result = `${prev}${separator}${curr}`;
+	}
+	return `${result}\n`;
+}
+
+export function findHeader(
+	content: string,
+	header: Header
+): { before: string; after: string; start: number; end: number } | null {
+	const [headerLevel, ...headerNameArray] = header.split(' ');
+	const headerName = headerNameArray.join(' ');
+
+	const sectionRegex = new RegExp(`^(${headerLevel}) ${escapeStringRegexp(headerName)}\\s*$`, 'm');
+	const headerMatch = content.match(sectionRegex);
+
+	if (!headerMatch) return null;
+
+	const start = headerMatch.index!;
+	const end = start + header.length;
+
+	return {
+		start,
+		end,
+		before: content.slice(0, start),
+		after: content.slice(end + 1)
+	};
+}
+
+export function findSection(
+	content: string,
+	header: Header
+): {
+	before: string;
+	after: string;
+	header: Header;
+	innerContent: string;
+	start: number;
+	end: number;
+} | null {
+	const headerMatch = findHeader(content, header);
+
+	if (!headerMatch) return null;
+
+	const { start, end: headerEnd, before } = headerMatch;
+	const level = getHeaderLevel(header);
+	const nextHeaderRegex = new RegExp(`^#{${level}} `, 'm');
+	const afterHeader = content.slice(headerEnd);
+	const nextHeaderMatch = afterHeader.match(nextHeaderRegex);
+
+	let end: number;
+	if (nextHeaderMatch) {
+		end = headerEnd + nextHeaderMatch.index!;
+	} else {
+		end = content.length;
+	}
+
+	const innerContent = content.slice(headerEnd, end);
+	const after = content.slice(end);
+
+	return {
+		before,
+		after,
+		header,
+		innerContent,
+		start,
+		end
+	};
+}
+
+export function appendContent(content: string, linesToAdd: string, header: Header): string {
+	const section = findSection(content, header);
+
+	if (!section) {
+		return joinContent(content, header, linesToAdd);
+	}
+
+	const { start, end, innerContent } = section;
+	const firstNextHeaderMatch = innerContent.match(HEADER_REGEX);
+
+	let insertPos: number;
+	if (firstNextHeaderMatch) {
+		insertPos = start + header.length + 1 + innerContent.indexOf(firstNextHeaderMatch[0]);
+	} else {
+		insertPos = end;
+	}
+
+	const before = content.slice(0, insertPos);
+	const after = content.slice(insertPos);
+
+	return joinContent(before, linesToAdd, after);
+}
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/addons/better-auth.ts b/packages/sv/src/addons/better-auth.ts
index c62845295..adaf0dcc0 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/addons/better-auth.ts
+++ b/packages/sv/src/addons/better-auth.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { log } from '@clack/prompts';
 import {
 	type AstTypes,
 	Walker,
+	addNextSteps,
 	color,
 	dedent,
 	transforms,
@@ -92,6 +93,14 @@ export default defineAddon({
 		sv.file('.env', generateEnv(demoGithub, false));
 		sv.file('.env.example', generateEnv(demoGithub, true));
 
+		sv.file('README.md', (content) => {
+			return addNextSteps(content, [
+				'better-auth',
+				'- Run `npm run auth:schema` to generate the auth schema',
+				'- Run `npm run db:push` to update your database'
+			]);
+		});
+
 		sv.file(
 			`${directory.lib}/server/auth.${language}`,
 			transforms.script(({ ast, comments, js }) => {
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/addons/drizzle.ts b/packages/sv/src/addons/drizzle.ts
index b710343b1..0fb4f7b83 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/addons/drizzle.ts
+++ b/packages/sv/src/addons/drizzle.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import {
+	addNextSteps,
 	color,
 	dedent,
 	type TransformFn,
@@ -146,6 +147,16 @@ export default defineAddon({
 		sv.file('.env', generateEnv(options, false));
 		sv.file('.env.example', generateEnv(options, true));
 
+		sv.file('README.md', (content) => {
+			return addNextSteps(content, [
+				'Drizzle',
+				options.database === 'd1' &&
+					'- Run `npm run wrangler d1 create <DATABASE_NAME>` to create a D1 database',
+				options.docker && '- Run `npm run db:start` to start the docker container',
+				'- Run `npm run db:push` to update your database schema'
+			]);
+		});
+
 		if (options.docker && (options.mysql === 'mysql2' || options.postgresql === 'postgres.js')) {
 			const composeFileOptions = [
 				// First item has higher priority
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/addons/playwright.ts b/packages/sv/src/addons/playwright.ts
index e6c11dc6d..a533377a9 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/addons/playwright.ts
+++ b/packages/sv/src/addons/playwright.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { log } from '@clack/prompts';
-import { color, dedent, transforms } from '@sveltejs/sv-utils';
+import { addNextSteps, color, dedent, transforms } from '@sveltejs/sv-utils';
 import { defineAddon } from '../core/config.ts';
 import { addToDemoPage } from './common.ts';
 
@@ -89,6 +89,13 @@ export default defineAddon({
 				}
 			})
 		);
+
+		sv.file('README.md', (content) => {
+			return addNextSteps(content, [
+				'Playwright',
+				'- Run `npx playwright install` to download browsers'
+			]);
+		});
 	},
 
 	nextSteps: ({ isKit }) => {
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/addons/sveltekit-adapter.ts b/packages/sv/src/addons/sveltekit-adapter.ts
index 4f2340da7..6599d4f16 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/addons/sveltekit-adapter.ts
+++ b/packages/sv/src/addons/sveltekit-adapter.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import {
+	addNextSteps,
 	color,
 	text,
 	transforms,
@@ -227,6 +228,15 @@ export default defineAddon({
 				);
 			}
 		}
+
+		if (options.adapter === 'cloudflare') {
+			sv.file('README.md', (content) => {
+				return addNextSteps(content, [
+					'Cloudflare Adapter',
+					'- Run `npm run gen` to generate Cloudflare types'
+				]);
+			});
+		}
 	},
 	nextSteps({ options, packageManager }) {
 		const steps: string[] = [];
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/cli/create.ts b/packages/sv/src/cli/create.ts
index 5f28b9aa5..e4c4484bd 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/cli/create.ts
+++ b/packages/sv/src/cli/create.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import * as p from '@clack/prompts';
-import { color, loadPackageJson, resolveCommandArray } from '@sveltejs/sv-utils';
+import { color, resolveCommandArray, removeEmptyNextSteps } from '@sveltejs/sv-utils';
 import { Command, Option } from 'commander';
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
@@ -387,7 +387,16 @@ async function createProject(cwd: ProjectPath, options: Options) {
 	if (argsFormattedAddons.length > 0) argsFormatted.push('--add', ...argsFormattedAddons);
 
 	const prompt = common.buildAndLogArgs(packageManager, 'create', argsFormatted, [directory]);
-	common.updateReadme(directory, prompt);
+	common.insertPrompt(directory, prompt);
+
+	if (fs.existsSync(path.join(directory, '.env.example'))) common.insertEnvMsg(directory);
+
+	const readmePath = path.join(directory, 'README.md');
+	if (fs.existsSync(readmePath)) {
+		const readmeContent = fs.readFileSync(readmePath, 'utf-8');
+		const cleanedContent = removeEmptyNextSteps(readmeContent);
+		fs.writeFileSync(readmePath, cleanedContent, 'utf-8');
+	}
 
 	common.updateAgent(directory, language, packageManager ?? 'npm', loadedAddons);
 
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/cli/tests/snapshots/create-with-all-addons/README.md b/packages/sv/src/cli/tests/snapshots/create-with-all-addons/README.md
index c65e1b6f7..c80fe73e2 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/cli/tests/snapshots/create-with-all-addons/README.md
+++ b/packages/sv/src/cli/tests/snapshots/create-with-all-addons/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,18 @@
 
 Everything you need to build a Svelte project, powered by [`sv`](https://github.com/sveltejs/cli).
 
+## Next Steps
+
+general
+- Configure your environment variables based on the `.env.example`.
+Playwright
+- Run `npx playwright install` to download browsers
+Drizzle
+- Run `npm run db:push` to update your database schema
+better-auth
+- Run `npm run auth:schema` to generate the auth schema
+- Run `npm run db:push` to update your database
+
 ## Creating a project
 
 If you're seeing this, you've probably already done this step. Congrats!
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/core/common.ts b/packages/sv/src/core/common.ts
index dce24eab7..cf90bb5ea 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/core/common.ts
+++ b/packages/sv/src/core/common.ts
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ export function buildAndLogArgs(
 	return message;
 }
 
-export function updateReadme(projectPath: string, command: string) {
+export function insertPrompt(projectPath: string, command: string) {
 	const readmePath = path.join(projectPath, 'README.md');
 	if (!fs.existsSync(readmePath)) return;
 
@@ -271,6 +271,28 @@ export function updateReadme(projectPath: string, command: string) {
 	fs.writeFileSync(readmePath, content);
 }
 
+export function insertEnvMsg(projectPath: string) {
+	const readmePath = path.join(projectPath, 'README.md');
+	if (!fs.existsSync(readmePath)) return;
+
+	let content = fs.readFileSync(readmePath, 'utf-8');
+	const message = 'general\n- Configure your environment variables based on the `.env.example`.';
+
+	const setupPattern = /## Next Steps[\s\S]*?(?=## |$)/;
+	const setupMatch = content.match(setupPattern);
+	if (!setupMatch) {
+		fs.writeFileSync(readmePath, content + message + `\n`);
+
+		return;
+	}
+
+	const existingSection = setupMatch[0];
+	const updatedSection = existingSection.replace(/(## Next Steps)\n/, `$1\n\n${message}`);
+
+	content = content.replace(setupPattern, updatedSection);
+	fs.writeFileSync(readmePath, content);
+}
+
 export function errorAndExit(message: string) {
 	p.log.error(message);
 	p.log.message();
diff --git a/packages/sv/src/create/shared/README.md b/packages/sv/src/create/shared/README.md
index a0da9f54d..cc5e0f91d 100644
--- a/packages/sv/src/create/shared/README.md
+++ b/packages/sv/src/create/shared/README.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 Everything you need to build a Svelte project, powered by [`sv`](https://github.com/sveltejs/cli).
 
+## Next Steps
+
 ## Creating a project
 
 If you're seeing this, you've probably already done this step. Congrats!