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AGENTS.md

AGENTS.md for Astro

AGENTS.md is a plain markdown file at the root of a repo. Coding agents from Cursor, Codex, Copilot, and others read it before they edit. This copy is written for a Astro project. This repository is an Astro site. Pages ship zero client JavaScript unless an island needs it. Content lives in content collections when the repo already uses them.

The example uses a balanced, readable style, pragmatic tests, and comments only where the intent is not obvious. Open the generator to make the agent stricter, switch to test-first, quiet the comments, or pick a different file.

The example assumes Astro. It does not assume React, Vue, or a particular UI framework for islands. Use the integration already in astro.config.

Customize in the generatorBrowse the library

Example file

Balanced strictness, readable style, pragmatic tests. Download name: AGENTS.md

# AGENTS.md

Instructions for coding agents working in this Astro repository. Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, and other agents should follow this file before they guess.

## Stack

This repository is an Astro site. Pages ship zero client JavaScript unless an island needs it. Content lives in content collections when the repo already uses them.

## Layout

- Routes live in `src/pages` or the content-driven routing the project uses.
- Shared UI lives in `src/components`. Interactive islands are the exception.
- Content collections and their schemas live in `src/content` when the project has them.

## Commands

- Dev server: `npm run dev`
- Build: `npm run build`
- Check: `npm run check`

Use the script the repo already defines when it differs from the command above.

## Conventions

- Do the data load in the frontmatter of the Astro component.
- Add `client:*` only when the component needs state or browser APIs.
- Validate content with the collection schema. Do not cast frontmatter.
- Use Astro's image and font helpers if the project already does.
- Keep endpoints in `src/pages` as `.ts` routes or the project's action style.
- Match the CSS approach already configured. Do not add a second one.

## Testing

Add or update tests when behavior changes.

Test a pure helper or a content schema. Do not require a browser for a markdown change.

## Style

- Optimize for the next reader over the shortest diff.
- Comment only when the why is non-obvious.
- Name things the way neighboring files already do.
- Do not reformat code you did not change.

## Errors

- Fail at the boundary. Do not swallow errors.
- Return a 404 via `Astro.redirect` or the response status the project uses when content is missing. Do not render an empty shell.

## Scope

- Do the requested task. Do not refactor unrelated code.
- Match the rigor already in the repo. Fix what you touch.
- Ask one clarifying question only when the task cannot be finished without it. Otherwise state the assumption and continue.

## Avoid

- Do not mark a whole layout as a client island to use one hook.
- Do not import server-only secrets into an island.
- Do not fetch in `useEffect` inside an island when the Astro page can load the data.
- Do not bypass the content schema with a raw glob.

## Done when

- The requested behavior works.
- `npm run build` succeeds for the routes you touched.
- The diff stays inside the task.
- You list anything you could not run.

Add it to the project

  1. 01

    Copy a starting file

    Copy the example AGENTS.md on this page, or open the generator if you want different testing, strictness, or comment rules.

  2. 02

    Save it at AGENTS.md

    Save it as `AGENTS.md` at the root of the Astro repo. A nested AGENTS.md can override these rules inside one directory later.

  3. 03

    Start a fresh agent session

    Rules files are read when a session starts. A chat that is already open may still be using the old instructions.

  4. 04

    Give it one small task

    Ask for one change a Astro agent often gets wrong, such as a page that renders content on the server instead of fetching it in a client island. If it ignores the file, confirm the path and start a new session.

Questions about this file

Where do I put AGENTS.md in a Astro repo?

Save it as `AGENTS.md` at the root of the Astro repo. A nested AGENTS.md can override these rules inside one directory later.

Which tools read this AGENTS.md?

AGENTS.md is the shared file. Cursor, OpenAI Codex, and a growing set of coding agents read it from the repository root. Nested copies can narrow the rules for one folder.

What does the Astro example assume?

The example assumes Astro. It does not assume React, Vue, or a particular UI framework for islands. Use the integration already in astro.config.

Does VibeSpell upload my repository?

No. Recipe pages are static, and the generator builds the file in your browser from the options you pick. Your source code never leaves the machine.

Other files for Astro

AGENTS.md for other stacks