Instructions for tools editing your site
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md provide project context to supporting coding agents. They are an optional maintenance topic, separate from AI search access.
Source review dates appear beside each claim. Return to the five-step quick guide.
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md
These Markdown files give supporting agents project context and working instructions: how to build and check the site, where content lives and which conventions to follow. The tool loads them into its working context. That is different from a search engine discovering your published website or a provider training a model.
| File | Documented consumer | How it fits |
|---|---|---|
AGENTS.md | Supporting coding agents, including Codex. | An open Markdown convention for project guidance. Codex documents global and project instructions, directory scope and overrides. Check each tool’s loading rules. |
CLAUDE.md | Claude Code. | Project instructions loaded into context, with support for imports and directory-specific guidance. This concerns Claude Code; it does not mean every Claude chat will read a file on your website. |
GEMINI.md | Gemini CLI. | The default filename for instructional context. The CLI supports global, workspace and more specific context, and lets you configure other filenames. This is separate from Google Search or the Gemini app. |
- AGENTS.md: the open project-instruction convention
Reviewed · Details
Fetched
- Codex: project instructions with AGENTS.md
Reviewed · Details
Fetched
- Claude Code: CLAUDE.md, imports and project context
Reviewed · Details
Fetched
- Gemini CLI: GEMINI.md and configurable context files
Reviewed · Details
Fetched
Keep editing instructions with the source code
Publish service facts on the service page. In the project instructions, name the file that holds the description and the checks to run after editing it.
Publishing /AGENTS.md on a domain is not, by itself, a documented instruction channel to search engines or every visiting assistant. A particular integration would need to fetch and use it.
Use the files your tools actually load
A repository’s root is not necessarily the public website’s root. You do not need to publish these files as website endpoints for a local coding agent to use them.
You also do not need three copies of the same instructions. Claude Code documents importing AGENTS.md from CLAUDE.md; Gemini CLI can use a different context filename through context.fileName. Use supported sharing mechanisms, retain tool-specific details where needed, and check what each tool actually loaded.
Keep instructions short: content locations, build commands, checks and editorial conventions. Update them when the project changes, and verify that the agent loaded and followed them.