← AGENTS.md file guide

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.

AGENTS.md / generic starter
# 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.
PriceFree
AccountNone
Repository accessNone
Commands inventedZero

Three-pass customization

Make the starter true before making it long.

Good instructions narrow uncertainty. They do not turn undocumented assumptions into policy.

01 / MAP

Resolve every path

Replace path placeholders only after confirming that each file or directory exists at the revision an agent will read.

02 / EVIDENCE

Copy established commands

Use committed scripts or project documentation as the source for setup and verification. Delete empty command sections.

03 / BOUND

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

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