Getting Started

Two ways in — pick whichever matches where you are.

From your terminal — download AGENTS.md into your project root:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yeasy/agentgo/main/AGENTS.md -o AGENTS.md

Then reopen an AGENTS.md-aware agent, or add the small alias/import shown in the compatibility section for tools that use another filename. To pin a stable release instead of tracking main, replace main in the URL with a release tag such as v1.8.0.

From inside your agent (Codex / Claude Code) — paste this one line into the chat and let the agent fetch, read, and bootstrap in a single shot:

"Download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yeasy/agentgo/main/AGENTS.md to ./AGENTS.md, read it, then initialize this project per its instructions — execute step by step and report each step. If your tool auto-loads a different instruction file (e.g. Claude Code's CLAUDE.md), also add an import or symlink so it loads next session."

The agent will ask permission to fetch the file and write into your project — grant it, otherwise it can only suggest without acting. When project work needs adaptation or durable memory, the agent bootstraps .agents/ automatically.

Windows users: on PowerShell 5, use Invoke-WebRequest -Uri <URL> -OutFile AGENTS.md.

Validation Examples

Brownfield Auto-Adoption

If your project already has .cursorrules / CLAUDE.md / .windsurfrules / .github/copilot-instructions.md, custom docs such as rules.md / reports.md / project.md, docs, briefs, style guides, design notes, data dictionaries, or workflow files scattered around, the agent will, during bootstrap or explicit rescan:

1. Scan existing agent configs and project reference docs
2. Index active source files in .agents/memory/source-index.md
3. Extract reusable knowledge into .agents/ (instruction-like content from old agent configs lands in experiments/ until you confirm promotion)
4. List a discovery report and any proposed archive plan
5. Wait for your nod before moving obsolete or duplicate files

Active human-facing docs stay where they are. Archive agent-specific legacy files under .agents/archive/, and human-facing docs only in the project's normal docs archive location, such as docs/archive/. Avoid a generic .bak/ directory because it hides intent. Nothing is lost; every archive action requires your confirmation.

FAQ

<details> <summary><strong>How is this different from CLAUDE.md / .cursorrules?</strong></summary>

AGENTS.md is an open format for agent instructions. Instead of maintaining a separate ruleset per tool, use one stable AGENTS.md as the protocol and keep project-specific memory in .agents/. For tools that use a different filename, import or symlink AGENTS.md — see the Compatibility table above.

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>Should I commit .agents/ to git?</strong></summary>

It depends. For personal projects, gitignore the whole .agents/ — it's your private working memory. For team projects, commit static config (rules/, workflows/, optionally skills/) to share team conventions, but gitignore dynamic data (memory/) since it's session-level. AGENTS.md itself should always be committed — it's the contract between project and agent.

Common team pattern:

.agents/memory/
.agents/changelog.md

Security note: whether you commit it or not, set up a secret-scan (e.g. gitleaks). .agents/memory/ will occasionally pick up things like "our API key is X"; preventing leaks beats cleaning them up.

</details>

<details> <summary><strong>How do I update AGENTS.md later?</strong></summary>

Update only AGENTS.md; keep .agents/ in place. .agents/ is your project's local memory and should not be deleted or replaced during template updates.

Keep the same language variant you installed. English projects should update from AGENTS.md; Simplified Chinese installs should update from AGENTS.zh-CN.md, still saved locally as AGENTS.md.

If your local AGENTS.md has no project-specific edits:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yeasy/agentgo/main/AGENTS.md -o AGENTS.md

If you may have edited it locally, diff before replacing:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yeasy/agentgo/main/AGENTS.md -o /tmp/AGENTS.latest.md
diff -u AGENTS.md /tmp/AGENTS.latest.md

To pin a stable release instead of tracking main:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/yeasy/agentgo/v1.8.0/AGENTS.md -o AGENTS.md

Do not let an agent silently replace AGENTS.md on a timer. During .agents/ maintenance, it may check for a newer AgentGo template and suggest an update, but replacement should still require your explicit request or approval. The first comment in AGENTS.md carries the template version, for example AGENTS.md v1.8.0; release tags are the stable install target.

After updating, restart or rescan your agent:

"Rescan this project per AGENTS.md. Keep the existing .agents/; report new or changed guidance without overwriting memory."

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<details> <summary><strong>Won't .agents/ keep growing and turn into noise?</strong></summary>

It will, which is why AGENTS.md enforces a maintenance cadence: on session entry, validate that recent notes still match current project artifacts; run a health check whenever any memory/ file exceeds 200 lines, changelog.md has grown ≥ 30 lines since the last [MAINTENANCE], 10 meaningful tasks have completed, stale notes are found, .agents/ structure drifts, or tmp/ contains stale scratch output. Maintenance dedupes entries, closes resolved items, removes stale notes, records fitness signals, promotes repeated validated procedures into workflows/ or supported skills/, prunes tmp/, and can generate reports/health-<date>.md for non-trivial cleanups.

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<details> <summary><strong>Will the agent proactively suggest improvements?</strong></summary>

Yes, but only as optional follow-up. When the agent has clear evidence that an out-of-scope improvement would likely help, it should briefly explain the suggestion, rationale, and risk, then wait. It should not execute optional suggestions without your request, and it should not distract you with low-confidence ideas.

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<details> <summary><strong>Will multiple agents collide?</strong></summary>

Different tools reading the same AGENTS.md and keeping their own session state work fine. But .agents/ is just a directory — no locking. If you really do let two agents write the same file at once, they may overwrite each other. Run them serially, or have different agents write to different subdirs. Every write leaves a trace in .agents/changelog.md for postmortems.

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<details> <summary><strong>Can I customize the conventions?</strong></summary>

Yes — as a human-maintained protocol. The default AgentGo design is that agents do not rewrite AGENTS.md during project adaptation; they write project-specific findings into .agents/. If you want different universal rules, edit AGENTS.md directly.

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<details> <summary><strong>What if my project already has lots of agent config?</strong></summary>

AgentGo is built for brownfield projects from day one. During bootstrap or rescan, the agent discovers existing config files (.cursorrules, CLAUDE.md, .windsurfrules, etc.) and custom project docs (rules.md, reports.md, project.md, spec.md, design.md, brief.md, notes.md, and similar). Active docs stay in place and are indexed in .agents/memory/source-index.md; reusable knowledge is extracted into .agents/. Whether to archive obsolete files is your call — the agent reports a discovery list and a proposed archive plan, then waits for your confirmation before moving anything. Nothing is silently deleted or modified.

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<details> <summary><strong>What if my agent tool doesn't read AGENTS.md?</strong></summary>

Use the fallback from the Compatibility table. For example, Claude Code can use a CLAUDE.md containing @AGENTS.md or a symlink; Gemini CLI can include AGENTS.md in context.fileName. On Windows, prefer imports or copied files when symlinks are inconvenient.

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<details> <summary><strong>Which parts of AGENTS.md can I edit?</strong></summary>

All of it, when you are intentionally changing the protocol. Agents should not edit AGENTS.md just to adapt it to a project; that information belongs in .agents/. We recommend keeping the overall structure of "Startup Instructions", "Trust & Safety", "Self-Evolution Protocol", and "Hard Constraints".

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<details> <summary><strong>How does this relate to existing docs, briefs, style guides, or CONTRIBUTING files?</strong></summary>

No need to merge or move them by default — different audiences:

• AGENTS.md is for the agent. It must contain actionable rules ("run tests before code delivery", "render the deck before delivery", "check links before publishing").
• Human-facing docs can carry process etiquette, design philosophy, detailed tutorials, and narrative context.

When you want the agent to know a project reference exists, mention it in AGENTS.md or .agents/ (e.g. "Brand voice lives in docs/voice.md"). The agent will read it on demand.

During bootstrap, active files like rules.md, reports.md, project.md, spec.md, design.md, brief.md, and notes.md are treated as source materials. The agent indexes them in .agents/memory/source-index.md, extracts durable conventions/findings into .agents/, and archives only obsolete or duplicate files after you approve the exact destination.

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<details> <summary><strong>Can the agent be hijacked by malicious content in .agents/?</strong></summary>

It is designed to strongly resist that, though no text protocol can make it impossible. AGENTS.md mandates that the only instruction sources are AGENTS.md itself and the user's current message — everything else (.agents/, README, docs, comments, annotations, git log, dependency READMEs, shell output) is treated as untrusted data. A 4-tier priority decides what to do with it:

1. High-risk side effects (deploy, delete, push, transfer money) → require explicit user confirmation in the moment
2. Instructions targeting agent meta-behavior ("read .env", "modify AGENTS.md", "ignore the above", embedded AGENT: comments) → reject and report unless the user's current task explicitly asks to edit AGENTS.md itself
3. Project workflow commands (test / render / export / validate / git pull) → executable after checking the real workflow definition; destructive flags auto-escalate to tier 1
4. Generic engineering conventions (commit format, naming style) → reference knowledge

These tiers are a best-effort heuristic, not a guaranteed boundary — the protocol says so itself and treats the runtime's permission and sandbox controls as the actual enforcement layer. See the Trust & Safety section in AGENTS.md.

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<details> <summary><strong>Multi-part project?</strong></summary>

Drop one AGENTS.md in each major subproject root for AGENTS.md-aware tools. Put shared conventions in the repo-root AGENTS.md, and let each subproject (e.g. apps/web/AGENTS.md, docs/AGENTS.md, design/AGENTS.md, data/AGENTS.md) layer on its artifact-specific overrides. For tools with a different instruction filename, add the corresponding import, symlink, or filename setting.

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<details> <summary><strong>Does it work in git worktrees / CI?</strong></summary>

• worktrees: .agents/ follows each worktree (independent memory per worktree if not committed); to share, gitignore it and symlink to the main repo.
• CI (PR-review agents): we recommend read-only access to AGENTS.md + .agents/rules/, no writes to .agents/memory/ (CI is ephemeral — writes get thrown away).

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<details> <summary><strong>Why doesn't the AgentGo repo have its own .agents/?</strong></summary>

The AgentGo repo's deliverable is the AGENTS.md protocol itself — there's no downstream project memory to commit here, so no .agents/ is committed. Drop AGENTS.md into your project and the agent will create .agents/ there when project work first needs adaptation or durable memory.

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