agents-md

name	agents-md
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "create AGENTS.md", "update AGENTS.md", "maintain agent docs", "set up CLAUDE.md", or needs to keep agent instructions concise. Enforces research-backed best practices for minimal, high-signal agent documentation.

Maintaining AGENTS.md

AGENTS.md is the canonical agent-facing documentation. Keep it minimal—agents are capable and don't need hand-holding. Target under 60 lines; never exceed 100. Instruction-following quality degrades as document length increases.

File Setup

1. Create AGENTS.md at project root
2. Create symlink: ln -s AGENTS.md CLAUDE.md

Before Writing

Analyze the project to understand what belongs in the file:

1. Package manager — Check for lock files (pnpm-lock.yaml, yarn.lock, package-lock.json, uv.lock, poetry.lock)
2. Linter/formatter configs — Look for .eslintrc, biome.json, ruff.toml, .prettierrc, etc. (don't duplicate these in AGENTS.md)
3. CI/build commands — Check Makefile, package.json scripts, CI configs for canonical commands
4. Monorepo indicators — Check for pnpm-workspace.yaml, nx.json, Cargo workspace, or subdirectory package.json files
5. Existing conventions — Check for existing CONTRIBUTING.md, docs/, or README patterns

Writing Rules

• Headers + bullets — No paragraphs
• — For commands and templates