agents-md

AGENTS.md generator

Produces workspace-root instructions and on-demand rules, optionally synchronizing existing project runtime blocks from local Compose evidence.

Inputs

• The target root must contain a *.code-workspace file (multi- or single-folder). If none exists, stop and do not generate files — the Project Matrix is built from its folders list; tell the user to rerun from a folder holding one. If several exist, ask which one to use before scanning.
• Never read or copy the agent's own global or user instruction files (~/.claude/CLAUDE.md, ~/.codex/, global AGENTS.md, personal memory/rules). Generate rules from the shipped templates and workspace evidence. Zero attribution: omit co-author, AI, and tool attribution from generated files and all output.

Rules

• Workspace-root AGENTS.md is the single source of truth for Codex CLI, Claude CLI, Antigravity CLI, Cursor CLI, Opencode CLI, and GitHub Copilot CLI; shared operating instructions — context, memory policy, issue routing, skill use — live there.
• Never create or edit CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md, or take rules from them; report an existing one as a competing instruction file.
• Create exactly one root AGENTS.md and the rules/ files in the file map. Project synchronization edits existing AGENTS.md files only; never create project instruction files.

Modes

Default: generate or refresh the root file and its on-demand files. When .devcontainer/compose.yml exists, read Project runtime synchronization and synchronize existing project runtime blocks; otherwise report synchronization skipped without loading that reference.

A request naming only project-runtime synchronization selects runtime-only: follow that reference and existing stack detection; skip root generation, migrations, and setup suggestions. Never create or edit the workspace-root AGENTS.md or rules/ in this mode. Root-generation rules and completion checks below apply only in the default mode.

Workspace scan

Scan every workspace folder first: note any VISION.md/vision.md at the workspace or a project root (feeds North star) and detect each stack. Multiple stacks → the intro slot says so and warns against mixing conventions or code across projects.

Stack detection

The Stack cell is fact read from the app-root manifest and lockfiles — never guessed from a folder's name, a root-level manifest, or a file's mere existence. Find the real app root first — often nested (application/, app/, src/) — and read the manifest there. Per-ecosystem manifest reads: references/stack-detection.md.

Project Matrix format

One row per .code-workspace folder, in folders order — never invent or drop projects. Columns exactly | Project | Path | Stack |:

• Project: the PROJECT-CODE from the folder name — strip emojis, uppercase, collapse punctuation/space runs to single hyphens, trim leading/trailing hyphens (Payments API → PAYMENTS-API); path basename when name is missing; type prefix for non-app folders (PACKAGE-QUEUE, DB). Name the full PROJECT-CODE from the Project Matrix everywhere; never mix one project's conventions, tokens, or components into another.
• Path: the folder path relative to the workspace root; . marks the meta/workspace row.
• Stack: one terse line — language, every primary framework, build tooling, package manager; versions only when a manifest pins them; non-app folders state the role. No prose in cells.

If normalization yields an empty or duplicate PROJECT-CODE, stop and ask for a unique code before emitting the matrix. Inspect a . folder's manifest too; it can be an application root.

Sample:

| Project      | Path             | Stack |
| :---         | :---             | :---  |
| PAYMENTS-API | ../payments-api  | PHP 8.3 / Laravel 13 / Vite / Composer + npm (application/) |
| DB           | ../db-migrations | MySQL / raw SQL migrations |

Vite alone never implies a package manager.

Emitted skeleton

Emit assets/agents-md-template.md as AGENTS.md and each assets/rules/ file as rules/<name>, byte-for-byte, filling only the bracketed slots that the file map assigns, except customizations retained under Versioning and regeneration. Three rules bind the default skeleton:

• Emit ## Matt skill routing in skills.md only when Matt Pocock's skills are installed: a SKILL.md for ask-matt, grill-with-docs, or to-spec exists under .agents/skills/ or .claude/skills/ at the workspace root or in the user's home. Otherwise delete the section. If this check and the runtime's skill list disagree, ask. The gradient table lists external skills either way.
• Emit #### North star only when the scan found a vision file, listing each with its scope; never fabricate one or restate its content — the subsection points at the file. None found → delete it.
• Keep issues.md exactly as concise as its asset has it — routing/label procedure lives in the issue skills, never here — and leave the two Context & native memory placeholders unfilled.

Working with skills

Generate the gradient table and companions from references/skills-manifest.md — the single source; never hardcode rows here. Kit entries with phase: companion render only among the companions.

Apply that file's note exclusions, cell and startup-line formats, and install check before emitting a catalog or note.

Fill the [RUNTIME TOOL-CALLING …] slot from references/tool-calling.md, following its Emitting into AGENTS.md format exactly; open a per-runtime table (claude, codex, copilot, cursor, opencode, antigravity) only when a cell is missing or unclear. Native memory setup, on request only: memory defaults. Never link the reference files (they do not ship) or restate the Local orchestration rule.

Versioning and regeneration

The skill version is v52. Every generated file carries the marker <!-- agents-md marker · v52 · re-run /agents-md to regenerate --> as its first line. Bump it here and in every asset together whenever these rules change. Legacy pre-v6 markers: regeneration.

On run, check each target — the root AGENTS.md and every on-demand file:

• None — generate fresh.
• Marker present — before overwriting, show the complete diff section by section — never truncated or summarized — with customizations flagged separately, and confirm. If the user does not respond, stop without writing and say so.
• No marker (hand-authored) — do not rewrite it; show what generation would add or change, merge only user-approved sections, and let the existing file win everywhere else.
• Keep PROJECT-CODEs stable — keep each existing row's code, matched by Path. A code that would now derive differently (a renamed folder) is a separate diff item needing explicit approval; never change it silently. New folders get derived codes.
• Preserve user edits — carry over user-filled placeholder values (especially the GLOSSARY.md and specs/adr paths), customized rule bodies, and foreign sections, per regeneration.
• Single-file layout (marker below v50): layout migration.
• Write safely — re-read each target just before writing; if it changed since approval, show the recomputed diff again. On any write or move failure, stop and report what was and was not written.

Migrations (ask first)

List every move and every file whose links would be rewritten, and ask first. Move and rewrite only in the artifacts root; report project repositories read-only. Declined or no response → keep the existing paths; never rename unattended.

• An artifact subfolder still under docs/ (pre-v7): docs to specs.
• CONTEXT.md or CONTEXT-MAP.md still in use (pre-v47): glossary rename.

Output

Chat carries the pre-write diff, the migration move list and report, the manifest file read for each Project Matrix row, the rule-link check result, competing instruction files, and the emitted byte size — above 32768, add the Codex size note.

Close by suggesting /setup-matt-pocock-skills, /design-system for each UI project, and env-guard hooks when hosts are named — suggest only, never run them.

Completion criteria

• Requested project synchronization satisfies the matching, approval, and preservation checks in its reference
• Every file's sections appear in asset order; Matt skill routing present only when Matt's skills resolve, #### North star only when a vision file was found
• Every rules/ path that AGENTS.md names exists after the run — the check is reported in chat; omitting optional sections preserves all numbered rules and Runtime tool-calling
• Regeneration: foreign sections, user-filled values, and rule-body customizations survive; any customized-rule replacement has explicit approval — or the run stopped without writing
• Generated catalogs and startup notes contain no manifest-excluded entries; kit companions appear only among the companions, each passing the install check
• Worktree routing survives Matt routing omission; when emitted, Matt routing passes the verified checkout to the task skill
• Project Matrix row count equals the folders count; chat names the manifest read for every Stack cell; existing PROJECT-CODEs unchanged unless a change was approved
• Every generated file opens with the current version marker; Context & native memory placeholders intact or carried over filled
• No CLAUDE.md or GEMINI.md was created or edited; chat states the emitted byte size, with the Codex note above 32768
• After an approved migration, moved artifacts have no stale docs/<sub>/ links or old glossary names, only listed files were rewritten, and unrelated docs/ content and declined moves remain intact
• A search of the generated files finds no session data: dates, conversation references, machine-local absolute paths