# Coding agent instruction files

[4 · Read](/category/read/)

| Coding agent instruction files |
| --- |
| Category | [Read](/category/read/) |
| Also known as | CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md, .cursorrules |
| Related | [AGENTS.md](/protocols/agents-md/), [llms.txt](/protocols/llms-txt/) |

[Read](/category/read/) AGENTS.md is an open repository and origin convention (agents.md, stewarded under the Linux Foundation AAIF) for placing machine-targeted instructions—build commands, test runners, architectural invariants, and endpoint conventions—at the root of a git repository or website (/AGENTS.md). While README.md is written for human contributors and /llms.txt is an index of documentation pages, AGENTS.md (alongside tool-specific files such as CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md) acts as the procedural constitution for coding and web agents operating against that codebase or domain. Used by: agents-md.

## Instances

Not applicable.

## See also

- [AGENTS.md](/protocols/agents-md/)
- [llms.txt](/protocols/llms-txt/)

## References

- [https://agents.md](https://agents.md) (2026-09-05) VERIFIED
- [https://agenticweb.wiki/AGENTS.md](https://agenticweb.wiki/AGENTS.md) (2026-10-15) VERIFIED

[JSON](/terms/coding-agent-instructions/index.json) · [Markdown](/terms/coding-agent-instructions/index.md) · [OKF v0.2](/okf/terms/coding-agent-instructions.md)