Free starter · copy or download
Start AGENTS.md with evidence, not guesses.
This generic starter gives coding agents a repository map, bounded working agreements, evidenced command slots, approval gates, and completion checks—without pretending to know your repository.
No login · No tracking · No form submission · No repository code execution
Generic starting point only. Replace every bracketed placeholder with verified repository facts—or delete the section. Verify every command before adding it.
# Repository instructions ## Purpose <!-- Describe what this repository does and who it serves. --> ## Repository map <!-- List only paths that exist at the reviewed revision. --> - `[path]` — [what belongs here] - `[path]` — [what belongs here] ## Working agreements - Read the nearest applicable instruction file before editing. - Keep changes limited to the requested scope. - Preserve unrelated work and existing behavior. - Reuse established project patterns before adding new abstractions. - Do not add dependencies, change public interfaces, or modify deployment settings without explicit approval. - Never add credentials, private URLs, customer data, or other sensitive information to the repository. ## Setup <!-- Copy exact, evidenced setup commands from committed project documentation. --> ```text [verified setup command] ``` ## Verification <!-- Copy exact, evidenced checks. Do not invent commands. --> ```text [verified test, lint, typecheck, or build command] ``` ## Change boundaries - Ask before destructive, irreversible, production, credentialed, or paid actions. - Do not broaden a task into unrelated cleanup. - Report missing evidence instead of guessing paths, commands, ownership, or release procedures. ## Completion - Summarize the files changed and the behavior affected. - Report the exact verification performed and its result. - Call out anything not tested, any unresolved risk, and any follow-up that still needs an owner.
Three-pass customization
Make the starter true before making it long.
Good instructions narrow uncertainty. They do not turn undocumented assumptions into policy.
Resolve every path
Replace path placeholders only after confirming that each file or directory exists at the revision an agent will read.
Copy established commands
Use committed scripts or project documentation as the source for setup and verification. Delete empty command sections.
Name the approval gates
State where an agent must stop for destructive, production, credentialed, irreversible, or paid actions.
Template boundaries
A starter is not repository-specific engineering.
This page does not inspect a repository, execute code, validate commands, or provide a security, legal, privacy, or compliance assessment.
Read the file-selection guide- ✓ Copy and download stay in your browser
- ✓ Placeholders make missing evidence visible
- ✓ Approval gates are explicit
- × No invented setup or verification commands
- × No secrets, credentials, or private data
- × No claim that the template fits every repository
Need a repository-specific contribution?
Get two instruction files grounded in one public repository.
The $249 Agent-Ready Instructions PR delivers root AGENTS.md plus CLAUDE.md or Copilot instructions, at a pinned public revision, after written scope confirmation and settled payment.
Public repositories only · Scope before payment · No private checkout until scope is confirmed