Amp AGENTS.md, settings.json and MCP

• AGENTS.md in the current working directory (or editor workspace roots) and parent directories up to $HOME is always included.
• AGENTS.md files in subtrees are included when the agent reads a file in that subtree.
• $HOME/.config/amp/AGENTS.md and $HOME/.config/AGENTS.md are always included if they exist.
• System-wide files are always included: /etc/ampcode/AGENTS.md on Linux, /Library/Application Support/ampcode/AGENTS.md on macOS, %ProgramData%\ampcode\AGENTS.md on Windows.
• If a directory has no AGENTS.md but has AGENT.md or CLAUDE.md, that file is used instead.

Set AMP_IGNORE_GUIDANCE_FILES to a colon-separated list of globs to skip matching files, or to * to skip all of them.

Mention other files with @ inside an AGENTS.md to include them. Relative paths resolve from the file that contains the mention, absolute paths and @~/ paths work, glob patterns such as @doc/*.md are supported, and mentions inside code blocks are ignored.

A mentioned file can carry globs in YAML front matter. It is then included only after Amp has read a file matching one of the globs. Globs get an implicit **/ prefix unless they start with ./ or ../.

---
globs:
  - '**/*.ts'
  - '**/*.tsx'
---
Follow these TypeScript conventions:
- Never use the any type

User settings are at ~/.config/amp/settings.json (or settings.jsonc) on macOS and Linux, and %USERPROFILE%\.config\amp\settings.json on Windows. Workspace settings are the nearest .amp/settings.json, searched upward to the repository root, and they override user settings. Run amp config edit to open user settings, or add --workspace for workspace settings.

• amp.mcpServers: local MCP server definitions.
• amp.mcpPermissions: ordered allow or reject rules that match MCP servers by command and args or by url. The first match wins and unmatched servers are allowed.
• amp.tools.disable: tool names to disable, with builtin: prefixes and * globs supported.
• amp.skills.path: extra skill directories.
• amp.showCosts, amp.updates.mode and amp.git.commit.coauthor.enabled for costs, updates and commit trailers.

Amp does not ask for approval before running tools. To control tool use, the docs point you to a custom plugin, which workspace admins can distribute as a global workspace plugin.

Add a local or URL-based MCP server from the CLI, or define it in amp.mcpServers using command, args and env for local servers or url and headers for remote ones. Use ${VAR_NAME} for environment variables. The docs recommend bundling MCP servers in skills where possible so tools load only when needed.

amp mcp add context7 -- npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp
amp mcp add linear https://mcp.linear.app/sse

Modes are set on The Dial: low, medium (the default), high and ultra. A thread keeps the mode chosen before its first message. In the CLI, press Ctrl+S before your first message to change it.

Execute mode runs one prompt, prints the final message and exits. Start it with -x or --execute, by piping input, or by redirecting stdout. For CI, set AMP_API_KEY to an access token from Settings.

amp -x "what package manager is used here?"
cat README.md | amp -x "summarize this file"
amp --mcp-config '{"everything": {"command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-everything"]}}' -x "What tools are available to you?"