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mridun-guptamridun-gupta/project-init.skills/skills/project-init/templates/AGENTS.md

project-init.skills / templates

AGENTS.md0 starsChanged yesterdayMITView on GitHub

Standing rules for any AI agent or human contributor working in this repository. Follow them on every change. Every source file starts with a header comment (syntax depends on the language): Every folder contains a README.md with: purpose, a contents table (file → role → doc link), and a Last-Updated footer. Update it whenever files are added/removed/renamed. When you change code, in the same change: Never delete existing documentation — correct it in place or mark it superseded. Unknowns get…

  • 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 31,439 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 repository2 other files it gives its agents.

The file

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

7 rules. About 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 5 are very specific to this project.

  • ≈0

    Common · estimate

    Many files like this have a rule of this kind.

  • ≈2

    Distinctive · estimate

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 5

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    Every source file starts with a header comment (syntax depends on the language):

    line 22
  2. Very specific:

    Every folder contains a README.md with: purpose, a contents table (file → role → doc link), and a Last-Updated footer.

    line 41
  3. Distinctive:

    When you change code, in the same change:

    line 45
  4. Very specific:

    Update the affected files' Last-Updated headers.

    line 47
  5. Very specific:

    Update the relevant docs/ pages (all tracks that cover the changed topic — technical and ai always.

    line 48
  6. Very specific:

    Update the folder README.md contents table if files moved/added/removed.

    line 50
  7. Very specific:

    Never delete existing documentation — correct it in place or mark it superseded.

    line 52

≈ “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

AGENTS.md — {{PROJECT_NAME}}

Standing rules for any AI agent or human contributor working in this repository. Follow them on every change.

Documents of record

  • PRD.md — what we build and why (product requirements)
  • TRD.md — how it is built (technical design); sections point to living docs under docs/technical/
  • EXECUTED.md — append-only log of actions/decisions; add a row for every meaningful change you make (ISO 8601 timestamp w/ offset, actor = tool+model or name, action, files, outcome)
  • docs/ — knowledge base in four tracks: ai/ (machine-optimized), technical/ (engineers), layman/ (plain language), non-technical/ (business). docs/README.md is the index — keep its links current.

File header convention

Every source file starts with a header comment (syntax depends on the language):

<one-line purpose>
Docs: docs/technical/<topic>.md#<section>
Author: {{AUTHOR}}
Last-Updated: {{ISO_DATE}}

Rules:

  • Docs: must point at a real file + anchor in docs/ that explains this file's topic.
  • Last-Updated is ISO 8601 with timezone offset; bump it on every edit.
  • Author is the original author; significant rework may add Contributors:.
  • Files that cannot hold comments (JSON, lockfiles, binaries, generated output) get no header — document them in the folder's README.md instead.
  • Markdown/YAML files carry the same fields in YAML frontmatter instead of a comment.

Folder convention

Every folder contains a README.md with: purpose, a contents table (file → role → doc link), and a Last-Updated footer. Update it whenever files are added/removed/renamed.

Sync-on-change rules

When you change code, in the same change:

  1. Update the affected files' Last-Updated headers.
  2. Update the relevant docs/ pages (all tracks that cover the changed topic — technical and ai always; layman/non-technical when behavior visible to users changed).
  3. Append a row to EXECUTED.md.
  4. Update the folder README.md contents table if files moved/added/removed.

Never delete existing documentation — correct it in place or mark it superseded. Unknowns get > TODO: markers, not invented content.

Project

  • {{PROJECT_NAME}} — {{ONE_LINER}}
  • Owner/author: {{AUTHOR}} · Initialized {{DATE}} by {{AGENT_TOOL}} via the project-init skill (mode: {{MODE}})

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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.

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