Templates / AGENTS.md starter for a coding agent
AGENTS.md starter for a coding agent
A starter AGENTS.md with project overview, commands, style, 'always / ask first / never' boundaries, pull-request rules and security notes.
Who it is for
Developers using Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, opencode, Claude Code or other coding agents who want the agent to follow their project's rules.
How to use it
- Create a file named AGENTS.md at the root of your repository and paste the starter in.
- Replace every [BRACKET] with real commands and conventions. Delete sections you do not need.
- Run each command in the file yourself to make sure it works.
- Keep it short and update it when the project changes.
The template
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Your template
Example
An illustrative example written by BotPickr for a fictional business. It is not a real model run, so your own output will differ.
Example input
Example output
Guardrails and human approval
- AGENTS.md is guidance. It does not enforce anything. Real limits come from the agent's permissions, sandbox and your repository settings.
- Never put secrets in it.
- Run the listed commands yourself so the agent is not told to run something broken.
- Review every agent pull request as you would a new contributor's.
These are practical notes, not legal advice. Templates are provided as is. See section 4 of the Terms.
Works with
- Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, opencode, Aider, Zed, Windsurf, Amp and others: These tools list support for AGENTS.md on agents.md, though Gemini CLI and Aider need a setting to read it. Check your tool's documentation.
- Claude Code: Recent versions read AGENTS.md when the project has no CLAUDE.md. The safest approach is a CLAUDE.md file that contains the line @AGENTS.md. Check the Claude Code docs for your version.
- n8n and chat assistants: Not applicable. This format is for coding agents that read files in a repository.
We have not benchmarked output quality across models. Output varies by model and by what you paste in, so read it before you use it.
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