manager-dot-devmanager-dot-dev/manager-skills/AGENTS.md

manager-skills

AGENTS.md114 starsChanged 7 months agoMITView on GitHub

Guidelines for AI agents working in this repository. This repository contains Agent Skills for engineering managers, following the Agent Skills specification. Skills install to .agents/skills/ (the cross-agent standard). Every SKILL.md must have valid YAML frontmatter: Rules: - name must match directory name exactly - name is 1-64 chars, lowercase alphanumeric + hyphens only - description is 1-1024 characters - Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines; move reference material to references/ em-context is the foundation. All other skills should instruct the agent…

Where files are headingNew AGENTS.md files have more rules about keeping secrets out of the code, and fewer about code style.
Of the AGENTS.md files we read, the 31,774 first seen in the last six months, against the older ones: the kind of rule that gained most share, and the kind that lost most. About files like this in general, not this one, and an estimate, since a kind is a pattern in the words.
In this repository28 other files it gives its agents.
- 1on1sSkill
- business-literacySkill
- career-developmentSkill
- delegationSkill
- developer-productivitySkill
- difficult-situationsSkill
- em-contextSkill
- em-grid-scorerSkill
- engineer-motivationSkill
- feedbackSkill
- hiringSkill
- influenceSkill
- knowledge-sharingSkill
- management-transitionsSkill
- managing-high-performersSkill
- managing-upSkill
- managing-urgencySkill
- managing-yourselfSkill
- meetingsSkill
- performance-reviewsSkill
- retaining-developersSkill
- roadmap-planningSkill
- shadow-workSkill
- team-compositionSkill
- team-healthSkill
- working-with-architectsSkill
- working-with-pmSkill
- written-communicationSkill

The file

We split this AGENTS.md into the rules it gives an agent

2 rules. About 0 are common, 0 are distinctive, and 2 are very specific to this project.

≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈0
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
2
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

Common
Distinctive
Very specific

Very specific:
Every SKILL.md must have valid YAML frontmatter:
line 28
Very specific:
Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines.
line 43

≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 40,246 AGENTS.md files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.

Files

AGENTS.md

Guidelines for AI agents working in this repository.

Repository Overview

This repository contains Agent Skills for engineering managers, following the Agent Skills specification. Skills install to .agents/skills/ (the cross-agent standard).

Name: Engineering Management Skills
License: MIT

Repository Structure

engineeringmanagementskills/
├── skills/                # Agent Skills
│   └── skill-name/
│       ├── SKILL.md       # Required skill file
│       └── references/    # Optional supporting docs
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── AGENTS.md
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Skill File Requirements

Every SKILL.md must have valid YAML frontmatter:

---
name: skill-name
description: When to use this skill. Include trigger phrases.
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
---

Rules:

name must match directory name exactly
name is 1-64 chars, lowercase alphanumeric + hyphens only
description is 1-1024 characters
Keep SKILL.md under 500 lines; move reference material to references/

Foundation Skill

em-context is the foundation. All other skills should instruct the agent to read .agents/em-context.md (or .agents/skills/em-context/SKILL.md) before proceeding, so they have team and org context.

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Your trail

Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.

Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.

Now do this for your own.

Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

Check your setup, free