writing-agents-md

An AGENTS.md file is a machine-actionable contract that codifies project governance, scope definitions, and escalation policies to guide autonomous agents. You need one when your software repository requires explicit agent behavior boundaries and example-driven rules.

To generate an AGENTS.md, create the file at your repository root using a fixed frontmatter structure for name, description, license, and metadata, followed by a body covering scope, rules, architecture, conventions, testing, change policies, safety, and examples.

AGENTS.md guidelines should include structured sections for scope, rules, architecture, coding conventions, testing requirements, change and escalation policies, safety considerations, minimal examples, and a final checklist to ensure comprehensive agent governance.

Yes, AGENTS.md explicitly supports defining escalation policies and safety considerations. The structured format enforces boundaries and escalation points that autonomous agents must follow across coding, documentation, and automation tasks.

Yes, AGENTS.md generation works without external dependencies or components. It operates as a standalone normative contract that transforms existing project conventions into a structured, machine-readable blueprint for agent behavior.

A structured AGENTS.md contract reduces ambiguity and automates governance by enforcing a fixed frontmatter and comprehensive body sections, whereas plain text documentation lacks machine-actionable rules, boundaries, and explicit escalation points required by autonomous agents.