# Your own rules for AI agents

In AGENTS.md and the editor rules from local-configuration you give all AI agents in your project your own working instructions, which apply to the whole team.

> Source: https://www.application-platform.com/en/docs/ai-instructions/

Cursor, Claude Code, Codex and Antigravity read the same instruction files from `local-configuration`; if you change them there and push, they apply to the whole team as soon as the setup app or `ap platform projects clone` has updated the project.

## The instruction files

| File or folder | Applies to |
|---|---|
| `AGENTS.md` | All AI agents; your rules go here |
| `CLAUDE.md` | Claude Code; points to `AGENTS.md` and adds Claude-specific notes |
| `.cursor/rules/*.mdc` | Cursor, in addition to `AGENTS.md` |
| `.antigravity/` | Antigravity |
| `.claude/`, `.codex/` | Tool-specific configuration for Claude Code and Codex |

Your own rules belong in `AGENTS.md`; change the tool-specific files only for rules that concern a single tool.

## What is already in there

The generated `AGENTS.md` contains the platform ground rules: start via `ap run-local`, no changes to `.gitlab-ci.yml` and `env/*.generated.env`, custom values in `env/*.custom.env`, no secrets in documentation, logs, commits or chat replies, and work in the matching app repository, not in `local-configuration`. Leave these sections in place.

## Adding your own rules

Describe your way of working in its own section of `local-configuration/AGENTS.md`, for example so that the agent commits and pushes on its own:

```markdown
## Git workflow

- Create a commit after every completed task and push it.
- Use Conventional Commits (feat, fix, chore, docs, refactor, test).
- Work on feature branches and never commit directly to main.
```

Commit and push the change in `local-configuration`; on the next clone or update it applies to the whole team. By default, agents do not commit on their own, and the restriction to feature branches prevents an accidental deployment from a push to `main`.

## Helpers around Git

`ap git auto-commit` stages, commits and pushes in one step and works as an instruction in a rule. The pre-commit hook `ap git pre-commit check` from the setup app blocks commits to protected files, even if an agent changed them. What happens after a push to `main` is covered in [Git workflow and deployment]({{< relref "git-workflow" >}}).