AGENTS.md vs PROMPTS.md
Understand two approaches to project documentation and learn the purpose and usage of each
Quick Comparison
AGENTS.md
Project guidelines for AI coding assistants
- Audience: GitHub Copilot, AI Assistants
- Purpose: Consistent code generation guide
- Content: Coding rules, patterns, architecture
PROMPTS.md
Defines how AI should generate code, pages, APIs, tests, and documentation
- Audience: AI Coding Assistants (Implementation Instructions)
- Purpose: AI code generation instructions and guides
- Content: General/Feature-Specific Prompts, Style/Formatting, Testing
Why do we need two types of documentation?
Where's README.md? Let's clearly distinguish each file's role
| File | Audience | Purpose | Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGENTS.md | AI Coding Tools | Code Generation Rules | How |
| PROMPTS.md | AI Coding Assistants | How AI Generates Code | General Prompt, CRUD Features, Style, Testing |
| README.md | Developers (Human) | Setup & Run | Install, Config, Run |
Documentation for AI
AI tools like GitHub Copilot don't know your project's style. AGENTS.md is a textbook that tells the AI "This is how our team codes."
💡 Example: "Components are written in PascalCase, and Server Components are the default"
AI Brain Configuration Manual
A secret map that whispers to AI "Think this way, act this way, respond in this tone." PROMPTS.md defines AI's personality, tone, rules, forbidden words, and format so all developers can get consistent AI behavior.
💡 Example: "Personality: Friendly & technical Rule: Code in TypeScript Forbidden: 'probably', 'maybe' Format: Markdown + code blocks"
AI Tool-Specific Usage Guides
Learn how to effectively use AGENTS.md and PROMPTS.md with each AI tool
Claude (Anthropic)
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
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