Agent rules guide
What is AGENTS.md?
AGENTS.md is the repository's operating guide for coding agents. It tells the agent how this project works, which documents matter, what gates must be respected, and which changes are unsafe without explicit approval.
Why agents need instructions
A coding agent can read and edit quickly, but it does not automatically know the team's workflow. AGENTS.md and scoped instruction files turn local expectations into durable operating rules: read the right docs, plan first, protect user changes, and verify before handoff.
Instructions are not just style preferences. In Amistio, they define how project knowledge becomes safe work, especially when implementation runs through a local runner.
What AGENTS.md usually covers
Repository scope
Where product code lives, where control-plane docs live, and which folders are canonical.
Planning gates
When ADRs and plans must be created before implementation starts.
Execution policy
How prompts should be executed, whether autopilot is allowed, and which runners are acceptable.
Safety rules
How to avoid reverting user work, leaking secrets, changing unrelated files, or bypassing verification.
Instruction files beside AGENTS.md
Some environments also use scoped instruction files such as `.github/copilot-instructions.md` or `*.instructions.md`. These files can apply to a repo, a folder, a technology area, or a workflow. They help an agent behave consistently without forcing every prompt to repeat the same rules.
- Global repo instructions define the default operating mode.
- Folder-scoped instructions explain local patterns for a specific area.
- Workflow instructions define how prompts, reviews, or verification should happen.
- Product instructions keep public docs, CLI behavior, and source changes aligned.
How it connects to Amistio
Amistio treats AGENTS.md as the rulebook that keeps agent work aligned with the project brain. The web app can coordinate wishes and approvals, but the local repository still needs clear instructions so the runner and coding agent know how to operate inside that repo.