If the context is not good for a Llm is also not good for a human. All this magical nonsense that is blooming around AI is tiresome, it needs to stop. Programming is not tarot reading or a slot machine. We cannot leave the security and robustness of our systems into such heuristics.
AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
211–220 of 398 posts
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Another reason to use a src/ directory for the actual source code.
Or accept the fact that we're in 2025 and not follow Unix conventions from when paper and printer ink were expensive and they were printing out listings, and just name the thing "source". I've gotten used to it, obviously - as someone with a career in IT for 20 years - but /etc & co. annoy me to no end. I know it will never change, I know why it won't change, I know GoboLinux will be just an interesting experiment, b…
$HOME/accept/the/fact/that/were/in/2025/and/not/follow/unix/conventions/from/when/paper/and/printer/ink/were/expensive/and/they/were/printing/out/listings/and/just/name/the/thing/source/main.cRe: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#213Markdown is certainly easy for humans to write, but as OpenAI pointed out last week, wouldn’t an XML-based format be easier for LLMs to parse and understand?
LLMs should make it easier for us, not the opposite
they are just moving goal posts because agents still largely suck for everything except a couple of super saturated problem domains that really shouldn’t require anything special from a dev anyways
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#214If agents are so smart why not using what already exists for guiding humans, like README.md or literally any md/rst resource they can find in the repo? This is so stupid, and we're allowing it to happen.
we allowed the js ecosystem to happen
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anti-feature if you ask me. An agent should be able to pick the stuff it needs from the AGENTS.md, and not blindly use everything.
Context is not infinite. Saving context for what matters is key in working with LLMs.
Context is not infinite yet.
New standard for something that maybe false very soon is just a bad idea.
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is files that are meant to be read by software, not humans. From my point of view this seems like a prime candidate for a hidden directory?
If it isn’t being read by humans, then it shouldn’t be written by them either.
What is the intended meaning - it reads like a non-sequitur to me. ie "If adults aren't riding school buses, they shouldn't drive them either"
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#217We're in a transition phase today where agents need special guidance to understand a codebase that go beyond what humans need. Before long, I don't think they will. I think we should focus on our own project documentation being comprehensive (e.g. the contents of this AGENTS.md are appropriate to live somewhere in our documentation), but we should always write for humans. The LLM's whole shtick is that it can read an…
I suspect machine readable practices will become standard as AI is incorporated more into society. A good example is autonomous driving and local laws / context. "No turn on red. School days 7am-9am". So you need: where am I, when are school days for this specific school, and what datetime it is. You could attempt to gather that through search. Though more realistically I think the municipality will make the laws req…
That seems anachronistic, form over function. Machines should be able to access an API that returns “signs” for their given location. These signs don’t need any real world presence and can be updated instantly.
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would you be open to sharing this here?
Here you go: # ASCII RPG This repo uses Rust + Bevy (0.16.1), multi-crate workspace, RON assets, and a custom ASCII UI. The rules below keep contributions consistent, testable, and verifiable. ## Quick rules (read me first) - Read/update CURRENT_TASK.md each step; delete when done. - Build/lint/test (fish): cargo check --workspace; and cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets -- -D warnings; and cargo test --workspace…
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Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#219Including artifacts like this which are intended only to be consumed by ai defeats the entire point.
Agent-specific guidance like this rubs me the wrong way as well. The SoTA coding agents shouldn't need this much babysitting IMO. There are valid things that are not code that should be a part of the repository, like code formatting preferences (but ideally as linter rules the agent can just run, not prose), information about structuring of the code base (but as CONTRIBUTING.md or something else human-centric which the agent should pick up), documentation (either as source or as a link, again, not agent-centric) etc. I might be blanking on something that is truly agent-only and doesn't fit in a human-centric document or location better, but even if I am, that should be a minimal amount of instructions compared to what should go into the human-centric prose in the code base and be more widely valuable than just for the agent.
Re: AGENTS.md – Open format for guiding coding agents
#220I can’ take this seriously, ever since they started talking about llms.txt, thousands of apps spawned promising increasing AI SEO by generating such file. I’ve created one myself for several websites and have seen 0 impact. I guess agents.md will have the same fate.