AGENTS.md
Repository agent instructions
Give coding agents the durable project map, commands, conventions, boundaries, and verification steps they need before changing the repository. Keep instructions concrete, scoped, and close to the files they govern.
Fillable structure
Replace prompts with project evidence.
Remove any field that does not apply. A smaller maintained file is more useful than generic documentation that agents and reviewers cannot trust.
- 01
Project map
Orient an agent without forcing it to rediscover the repository or infer ownership.
Purpose: Describe the product and the outcome this repository owns
Important paths: List the directories, packages, generated files, and ownership boundaries that matter
Instruction scope: Explain whether nested AGENTS.md files override guidance for subprojects
- 02
Commands and environment
Provide exact, non-interactive commands and identify prerequisites that cannot be inferred safely.
Install: Give the dependency installation command and required runtime versions
Develop: Give the local development command and expected URL or process
Verify: List focused tests, full tests, type checks, linting, and build commands
- 03
Conventions and change policy
State the rules that meaningfully affect implementation and review.
Code conventions: Name architecture, style, naming, and dependency rules with examples where useful
Generated or protected files: Identify files agents must not hand-edit or overwrite
Change boundaries: Describe acceptable scope, compatibility expectations, migrations, and documentation updates
- 04
Safety and completion
Make consequential actions and the definition of done explicit.
Approval required: List external writes, deployments, secrets, destructive changes, or costs that require approval
Security: State data-handling, authorization, dependency, and secret-management requirements
Done: Define the evidence an agent must return before claiming the task is complete
Related field guides
Next template
SKILL.md · Portable Agent Skill