We name the file index.md for compatibility with MkDocs (https://www.mkdocs.org/); to rename this we would need to also add a mkdocs config file.

We name the file index.md for compatibility with MkDocs (https://www.mkdocs.org/); to rename this we would need to also add a mkdocs config file.

I don't think so. From here:

Many repository hosting sites provide special treatment for README files by displaying the contents of the README file when browsing the contents of a directory. Therefore, MkDocs will allow you to name your index pages as README.md instead of index.md. In that way, when users are browsing your source code, the repository host can display the index page of that directory as it is a README file. However, when MkDocs renders your site, the file will be renamed to index.html so that the server will serve it as a proper index file.

If both an index.md file and a README.md file are found in the same directory, then the index.md file is used and the README.md file is ignored.

If I understand correctly, you can name the file index.md or README.md

Awesome, just a reading comprehension fail on my part. Thanks!