README.md

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title	AGENTS.md Tutorial
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AGENTS.md Tutorial: Open Standard for Coding-Agent Guidance in Repositories

Learn how to use agentsmd/agents.md to define a clear, portable instruction contract for coding agents across projects and tools.

Why This Track Matters

AGENTS.md is a simple standard for expressing coding-agent instructions directly in repositories, reducing ambiguity and improving cross-tool consistency.

This track focuses on:

• creating practical AGENTS.md files quickly
• designing stable instruction sections and conventions
• rolling out repository-wide standards for agent operations
• maintaining guidance quality over time

Current Snapshot (auto-updated)

• repository: agentsmd/agents.md
• stars: about 19.2k

Mental Model

flowchart LR
    A[Repository] --> B[AGENTS.md file]
    B --> C[Agent reads project rules]
    C --> D[Consistent execution behavior]
    D --> E[Safer PR and CI outcomes]

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Chapter Guide

Chapter	Key Question	Outcome
01 - Getting Started	How do I add a first AGENTS.md file that actually helps?	Working baseline
02 - Section Design and Instruction Quality	Which sections create the most value for coding agents?	Better instruction structure
03 - Tool-Agnostic Portability Patterns	How do I keep instructions portable across agent tools?	Cross-tool consistency
04 - Repository Structure and Scope Strategy	How do I scope guidance for monorepos and subprojects?	Better hierarchy control
05 - Testing, Linting, and CI Alignment	How do I make AGENTS.md enforce real quality gates?	Stronger execution discipline
06 - Team Rollout and Adoption Playbook	How do teams adopt this without slowing delivery?	Rollout plan
07 - Governance, Versioning, and Drift Control	How do I keep instructions current as code evolves?	Lower guidance drift
08 - Ecosystem Contribution and Standard Evolution	How do I contribute back to the standard effectively?	Contributor readiness

What You Will Learn

• how to author high-signal AGENTS.md guidance files
• how to make agent instructions portable across tool ecosystems
• how to align AGENTS.md with CI/test and PR policies
• how to maintain instruction quality as repositories evolve

Source References

• AGENTS.md Repository
• AGENTS.md README
• Sample AGENTS.md
• AGENTS.md Website

Related Tutorials

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Start with Chapter 1: Getting Started.

Navigation & Backlinks

• Start Here: Chapter 1: Getting Started
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Full Chapter Map

1. Chapter 1: Getting Started
2. Chapter 2: Section Design and Instruction Quality
3. Chapter 3: Tool-Agnostic Portability Patterns
4. Chapter 4: Repository Structure and Scope Strategy
5. Chapter 5: Testing, Linting, and CI Alignment
6. Chapter 6: Team Rollout and Adoption Playbook
7. Chapter 7: Governance, Versioning, and Drift Control
8. Chapter 8: Ecosystem Contribution and Standard Evolution

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