Use AGENTS.md as Map
AGENT-USE-AGENTS-MD-AS-MAP
Summary
Keep AGENTS.md compact by using it to route agents to deeper guides and mechanisms. Treating it as a map preserves startup context without losing durable project guidance.
Rule
Use AGENTS.md as a map, not the whole manual.
Why
AGENTS.md becomes hard to use when it tries to contain every rule, example, and exception.
Treating it as a map keeps startup context compact while pointing agents to deeper guides,
mechanisms, and local overrides when the task needs them.
Helps
- Keeps agent instructions scannable and reduces context bloat without losing durable guidance.
Limits
Inline critical safety rules that must always be visible. Link deeper detail when the rule is task-specific or too long for every agent run.
Agent Instruction
Use `AGENTS.md` to route agents to deeper guides because a full rule set would make the file hard to
scan.Mechanisms
Supported by short root AGENTS.md files, guide links, snippets, local override files, and agent
packs generated from reviewed rules.