skills
AGENTS.md1 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub
State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask. If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently. If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted. If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask. Challenge questionable requests; clarify with context before implementing, especially for questions or options with hidden trade-offs. Prefer explicit behavior over implicit behavior, defaults, and silent fallbacks. Keep concerns cleanly separated. When reviewing code, challenge choices and assumptions — especially implicit ones. Prefer functional,…
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 repository6 other files it gives its agents.
- bktSkill
- branch-review-canvasSkill
- grug-reviewSkill
- pairSkill
- terraformSkill
- walkthroughSkill
The file
We split this AGENTS.md into the rules it gives an agent
8 rules. About 0 are common, 8 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈8
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 3
If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently.
- Distinctive: line 5
If a simpler approach exists, say so.
- Distinctive: line 7
If something is unclear, stop.
- Distinctive: line 11
Prefer explicit behavior over implicit behavior, defaults, and silent fallbacks.
- Distinctive: line 13
Keep concerns cleanly separated.
- Distinctive: line 15
When reviewing code, challenge choices and assumptions — especially implicit ones.
- Distinctive: line 17
Prefer functional, pure-style approaches only when they reduce total complexity for this task.
- Distinctive: line 19
Prefer test-driven style when practical.
≈ “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.
Files
State your assumptions explicitly. If uncertain, ask.
If multiple interpretations exist, present them — don't pick silently.
If a simpler approach exists, say so. Push back when warranted.
If something is unclear, stop. Name what's confusing. Ask.
Challenge questionable requests; clarify with context before implementing, especially for questions or options with hidden trade-offs.
Prefer explicit behavior over implicit behavior, defaults, and silent fallbacks.
Keep concerns cleanly separated.
When reviewing code, challenge choices and assumptions — especially implicit ones.
Prefer functional, pure-style approaches only when they reduce total complexity for this task; avoid unnecessary mutation and keep side effects narrow and obvious.
Prefer test-driven style when practical. Avoid mocking except at clear I/O or external boundaries.
Prefer sentence case.
Does it work?
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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.