AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md is an open convention for giving AI coding agents project-specific instructions in a single Markdown file.
This week: 18% of 499 scanned repos had AGENTS.md.See Radar #4 →
What it is
AGENTS.md is a standard file that many AI agents read to learn how to work in your repository — build commands, test commands, conventions, and constraints.
Why use it
A single AGENTS.md works across multiple tools that support the convention, so you maintain one set of instructions instead of per-tool files. You can use it to document hygiene rules for agents.
How to set it up
Create AGENTS.md in your project root and describe how agents should build, test, and behave, including any sensitive paths to avoid.
# AGENTS.md
## Conventions
Use pnpm. Run `pnpm test` before finishing.
## Off-limits
Never read .env or files under secrets/.What to exclude
Common sensitive categories worth adding to AGENTS.md:
FAQ
- Which tools read AGENTS.md?
- A growing set of AI coding agents support the convention. Check your tool’s docs, and combine AGENTS.md with a dedicated ignore file for enforcement.
Check your own project
158 of 499 repos this week exposed sensitive paths to AI tools. Check yours in seconds:
Run the same local check with Offsend CLI:
brew install --cask offsend/tap/offsend-cli
offsend show
offsend prepare --dry-runEverything runs locally. No file contents are uploaded.