AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
4 days ago
- #coding-agents
- #documentation
- #open-source
- AGENTS.md is a simple, open format for guiding coding agents, used by over 20k open-source projects.
- It serves as a dedicated, predictable place to provide context and instructions for AI coding agents working on a project.
- AGENTS.md complements README.md by containing detailed context like build steps, tests, and conventions that might clutter a README.
- The format includes sections like setup commands, code style, dev environment tips, testing instructions, and PR instructions.
- AGENTS.md is designed to be compatible with a growing ecosystem of AI coding agents and tools.
- Popular sections to include are project overview, build and test commands, code style guidelines, testing instructions, and security considerations.
- For large monorepos, nested AGENTS.md files can be used for subprojects.
- AGENTS.md emerged from collaborative efforts across the AI software development ecosystem, including OpenAI Codex, Amp, Jules from Google, Cursor, and Factory.
- The format is maintained as an open format to benefit the entire developer community.
- FAQ covers topics like required fields, conflicting instructions, automatic testing commands, updating instructions, and migrating existing docs.