# Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed (`context.instruction_files`)

Feedback Bench, coding agents, built 2026-10-19, window 2026-08-31 to 2026-10-18. Web page: https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/#/criterion/context.instruction_files

Area: [Instructing and context](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/context.md)

**Definition.** Whether the agent reads and follows persistent project instruction files (rules or agent markdown files) across turns.

**Boundary.** Not this: see [Direct in-prompt instructions and caps are followed](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/context.instruction_following.md) for instructions in the current prompt. Not this: see [Memory and state carried across sessions](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/criteria/context.session_memory.md) for auto-written memory.

Rated user-weeks, all agents: 1314. Complaint share: 46%.

## The brief

Written by large language models from this page's numbers and the posts it quotes, then checked: every number in the text is in the build. Interpretation, not measurement.

No AI coding agent clearly leads on following project rules. Claude Code and OpenAI Codex place at the top, but both stay within the category norm, and their users describe rules files that load and are still ignored. Just under half of rated user-weeks complain, 45.7%, which is a lower complaint share than most criteria. Claude Code users rate this 4.78 times as often as other users and write 52% of the category's complaints here. Cursor places 5th of 5. It is the only ranked agent whose customer love falls below the category norm.

### What separates the best from the rest

No agent ranks high and none ranks low. Users at the top and the bottom of the table describe the same failures. Claude Code and OpenAI Codex account for most rated user-weeks. Their users describe rules files that load and are then broken, files that never load, and adherence that fades as a session grows. Cursor users report the same rule-breaking. Their complaints outnumber their praise, 51 user-weeks to 42.

- **Ranks high**: no agent
- **Ranks low**: no agent

## How it breaks

Rule: A separate pass sorts complaints into failure modes. For each criterion with at least 30 complaining user-weeks, a large language model reads 150 complaint posts drawn at random and names 4 to 8 failure modes; a second large language model then puts every complaint post on that criterion in one mode, or in Other when it fits none. Modes are fixed once named, and new posts are sorted into them each week. A mode counts distinct user-weeks with a complaint in it, per agent; across agents, one user-week per agent. Modes do not change the labels or the Feedback Score. Examples: up to 3 posts per mode from different users, chosen and checked as receipts are.

The largest mode is a rule the agent has loaded and still breaks, at 32% of complaining user-weeks. Examples include comment style, over-engineering and acting without asking. Next come rules files that silently never load, and large instruction files that use up tokens every turn. Claude Code users write about half of every mode. Their largest share, 61%, is in complaints that the built-in system prompt overrides the user's rules.

621 complaining user-weeks.

| Failure mode | User-weeks | Posts | Agents (user-weeks) | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explicit rule-file directives ignored during work | 199 | 208 | Claude Code 103, OpenAI Codex 49, Cursor 21, Google Antigravity 13, OpenCode 6, GitHub Copilot 4, Pi 2, Devin 1 | The agent loads the project or user rules file, but its actions or output still break a specific stated rule (comment style, no over-engineering, ask-before-acting, required libraries, link formats); cases where the file was never loaded are excluded. |
| Instruction files silently not discovered or loaded | 89 | 95 | Claude Code 44, OpenAI Codex 22, Google Antigravity 7, Cursor 7, GitHub Copilot 4, OpenCode 3, Pi 1, Zed 1 | The rules file never enters context because of file naming (agents vs claude md, symlinks), nested-directory or path-scoped rules not loading, the working directory, settings-scope limits, or A/B changes, and nothing tells the user; cases where the file loaded but was disobeyed are excluded. |
| Instruction file context bloat and token cost | 87 | 93 | Claude Code 45, OpenAI Codex 21, Cursor 7, Google Antigravity 6, OpenCode 3, Pi 3, Devin 1, Kiro 1 | Large rule, memory, or system-prompt content that cannot be edited is loaded every turn, using up tokens and context and crowding out relevant instructions; complaints only about obedience with no cost or size issue are excluded. |
| Rules adherence decays over long sessions | 78 | 80 | Claude Code 39, OpenAI Codex 24, Cursor 7, Google Antigravity 5, GitHub Copilot 2, OpenCode 1 | The agent follows the instruction file at first, then drifts away from it as the conversation grows, after compaction or summarization, or after the file is edited mid-session; violations from the very first turn are excluded. |
| Agent misinterprets or tampers with rules files | 41 | 41 | Claude Code 23, OpenAI Codex 10, Cursor 3, Google Antigravity 1, GitHub Copilot 1, Devin 1, OpenCode 1, Pi 1 | The agent reads too much into rule text, treats instruction-like content in notes as new directives, follows stale self-written memory, or edits or deletes the user's rules file without being asked; plain non-compliance with a correctly understood rule is excluded. |
| Referenced project docs not consulted | 41 | 41 | Claude Code 23, OpenAI Codex 8, Google Antigravity 3, Cursor 3, Zed 2, GitHub Copilot 1, Pi 1 | The agent fails to read or apply secondary documents that the rules file or user points to (pipeline specs, decision records, standards docs, fix notes) and acts against them; violations of the main rules file's own text are excluded. |
| Harness system prompt overrides user rules | 31 | 33 | Claude Code 19, OpenAI Codex 8, Zed 2, GitHub Copilot 1, Pi 1 | Built-in harness or system-prompt instructions (commit co-author attribution, progress-update cadence, bash-first reading, verbosity defaults) take precedence over conflicting directives in the user's rules file; violations with no competing harness instruction are excluded. |
| Other | 84 | 86 | Claude Code 41, OpenAI Codex 24, Google Antigravity 7, Cursor 7, OpenCode 2, Amp 1, GitHub Copilot 1, Devin 1 | Complaints that fit none of the modes above. |

#### Explicit rule-file directives ignored during work

- Claude Code, 2026-10-14, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “the deny list works for commands but some rules cant be a permission. like i have one that says if i only ask a question dont touch any files. that one has to stay in [claude.md]([link]) and it still slips somtimes” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x5pm53/my_agent_pushed_to_git_after_i_told_it_not_to/pgoxhy7/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-12, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “good reminder. i lost small helper scripts few times because they were in a temp folder that got cleaned, now everything useful goes to the repo right away. agree about claude.md, its a suggestion not a gate” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x4b1ue/it_finally_happened_to_meclaude_accidentally/pfiueow/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-11, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “if you want to enforce the parts you added to the claude.md you really shouldn’t use the claude.md for this, since claude can simply choose to ignore anything inside that file. you should define hooks, both prehooks and posthooks.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x37jfk/rebuilding_a_pdf_editor_with_claude_code_made_me/pf944if/)

#### Instruction files silently not discovered or loaded

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-16, r/codex (Reddit): “yeah, agents.md that i had was working fine till last few days. now, all of sudden the codex is not respecting it. so, i guess it is a new change.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x7ms4i/codex_ignored_the_same_agentsmd_instruction/ph669pb/)
- GitHub Copilot, 2026-10-06, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “i asked in the same session: "tell me what mode you are in?" it does correctly identify the [agents.md]([link]) file. it spitted out the instructions in the file, and as usual, apologized. this means it ignored the context altogether in the initial prompt/response.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wz98rc/do_devs_read_this_agentmd_file_not_respected/pe9q4e9/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-06, r/codex (Reddit): “bro i know how to work with agents, each repo has a main [agents.md](http://agents.md), docs with various .md about the goals and whatever but it just doesn't seem to get that context since its not running from that dir” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wygydd/how_am_i_supposed_to_use_my_dot/pe717tl/)

#### Instruction file context bloat and token cost

- Devin, 2026-10-10, @cognition (X): “@mystere___ @cognition if you have a lovely composed tree of agents.md files that works great in codex, your devin agent will get overwhelmed because the injection persists beyond the lifetime of the agents activity in that scope.” [source](https://twitter.com/1095784409683374080/status/2109009168959168649)

#### Rules adherence decays over long sessions

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-15, r/codex (Reddit): “i used to write statements like this into the user-level agents.md and claude.md, but opus and gpt still kept saying these things during long conversations, possibly because i had also enabled caveman at the time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x6gcr8/since_june_ive_been_trying_to_get_agents_to_stop/pgvn33z/)
- GitHub Copilot, 2026-09-26, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “tried instruction files for the style stuff. they drift after a few weeks. switched to a hard rule in the skill file that the snippet has to compile or it gets rejected on the spot. cuts down on garbage faster than waiting for the model to self correct” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wp26zj/copilot_worth_it_for_tutorial_writers_or_just_a/pc7faio/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-26, r/cursor (Reddit): “thank you. i feel the same. though i feel like it got worse at reading instruction mdc files but that could just be because the files get bigger and context harder to manage or smth” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wqhcse/grok_46_vs_47/pc48jul/)

#### Agent misinterprets or tampers with rules files

- Claude Code, 2026-10-17, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “pretty much where i landed too. spec file per feature, claude.md just for repo rules. old feature decisions sitting in claude.md kept getting treated as current by the agent, and this split fixed that for me.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x872jf/stop_turning_claudemd_into_a_junk_drawer/phbazia/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-28, r/codex (Reddit): “it's not trying to one shot if it reads the rule in [agents.md](http://agents.md) but not the exception that's literally in the next line.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wssgv5/gpt_56sol_was_doing_great_all_day_i_changed_a/pcoa1gg/)

#### Harness system prompt overrides user rules

- Claude Code, 2026-09-29, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “top reply. the co-authoring is scripted into the tool, so that line in the claude.md doesn't do anything at all” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wtcgdu/if_opus_cant_respect_a_simple_clear_claudemd_line/pctl8zl/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-08, @ClaudeDevs (X): “thats it, i'm cancelling my claude subscription. the harness is overcoming agent.md and claude.md and complaining harness saying it must sign off as @claudeai @claudedevs please fix this” [source](https://twitter.com/861234656808755201/status/2097335235453096238)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-03, @ClaudeDevs (X): “claude co-authoring default harness system prompt fighting with my project instructions to the point the agent cant decide each time, i have to say "keep my rule" or it freezes. not cool @claudedevs [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/1632306516094058496/status/2095464848406491381)

## Top requests

What users ask to add or change, most asked first. 112 user-weeks ask for something. Requests do not change the Feedback Score. Rule: A separate pass by a large language model reads every counted post and extracts what the user asks the agent or its vendor to add or change, with the criteria it maps to and a short normalised wording; it does not touch the labels or the Feedback Score. A large language model groups the wordings within each criterion (the first criterion the request maps to) into themes, and a second pass merges themes that ask for the same change under different criteria; a merged theme sits under the criterion most of its requests map to, and code counts it once. A theme counts distinct user-weeks that ask for it, per agent; across agents, one user-week per agent. Themes asked in fewer than 2 user-weeks, and requests that share no theme, are not shown. Examples: up to 3 posts per theme from different users, without slurs: whole posts of 60 to 450 characters with at least 8 words beyond handles and links, posts of at most 280 characters first, then the newest.

| Rank | Request | User-weeks | Posts | Agents (user-weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reliable adherence to rules files | 40 | 44 | OpenAI Codex 14, Claude Code 12, Google Antigravity 8, GitHub Copilot 2, Cursor 2, OpenCode 2 |
| 2 | Automatic loading of instruction and referenced files | 10 | 10 | Claude Code 5, Google Antigravity 2, OpenAI Codex 2, Cursor 1 |
| 3 | Leaner default instructions and system prompt | 8 | 8 | Claude Code 5, OpenAI Codex 2, GitHub Copilot 1 |
| 4 | Configure which instruction files are used | 6 | 6 | GitHub Copilot 2, Google Antigravity 1, Claude Code 1, OpenAI Codex 1, Cursor 1 |
| 5 | Global instruction files layered with project | 6 | 6 | OpenAI Codex 4, Google Antigravity 1, Claude Code 1 |
| 6 | Native support for standard agents.md files | 5 | 5 | Claude Code 4, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 7 | Per-model and per-agent instruction files | 5 | 5 | OpenAI Codex 3, Amp 1, Pi 1 |
| 8 | Single shared instruction file across tools | 5 | 5 | Claude Code 2, OpenAI Codex 2, OpenCode 1 |
| 9 | Raise instruction file size limits | 3 | 4 | Google Antigravity 1, Claude Code 1, GitHub Copilot 1 |
| 10 | In-app editing of persistent instruction files | 3 | 3 | OpenAI Codex 2, Google Antigravity 1 |
| 11 | Custom system prompt append | 2 | 2 | Google Antigravity 1, OpenAI Codex 1 |
| 12 | Nested per-directory instruction file support | 2 | 2 | Claude Code 1, OpenCode 1 |

### 1. Reliable adherence to rules files

- OpenCode, 2026-10-05, r/opencode (Reddit): “[link] should i need to rotate my credential it look fishy that it read .env even in [agents.md]([link]) i have say never read .env” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wy493j/space_bunny_read_my_credential/)
- Cursor, 2026-10-04, r/cursor (Reddit): “i already use the hooks and rules. i'll look into bugbot. i agree on context and harness engineering. the problem is that cursor's models simply choose to ignore the context be it in the prompt, a skill or plan. the harness also often ignores hooks and rules.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wxkg3e/cursor_no_longer_developer_tool_now_for_vibecoders/pdv8g1h/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-04, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i have the opposite problem: claude regularly forgets the rules which are pushes are always to a feature branch off of develop. it still tries to push to main once a week.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wxi3yd/claude_code_when_you_ask_it_to_push_to_main/pduoadi/)

### 2. Automatic loading of instruction and referenced files

- Claude Code, 2026-10-10, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “when a selected rule references another section, load that dependency too. add a case where a path-specific permission has a global exception, so relevance filtering cannot silently drop the exception.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x2lvo0/what_ive_been_experimenting_with_giving_jev/pf3nc0a/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-26, r/cursor (Reddit): “thank you. i feel the same. though i feel like it got worse at reading instruction mdc files but that could just be because the files get bigger and context harder to manage or smth” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wqhcse/grok_46_vs_47/pc48jul/)
- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-05, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “its ok i would say following it for me. gemini should follow agents.md from the docs” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1w7z4iw/how_do_you_deal_with_skill_bloat_they_clutter_the/p808lvw/)

### 3. Leaner default instructions and system prompt

- Claude Code, 2026-10-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “they could just put that into the harness system prompt if they actually believe in it” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x966ii/why_does_everyone_disregard_anthropics_best/phinzew/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-05, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs can you make alert about claude.md size recurring in session ? claude misbehaved and grew file up to 194kb. did not see as it was a long session , saw only when my full week quota died after 18 hours, and restarted claude” [source](https://twitter.com/86285827/status/2107032613353402470)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-02, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “don't delete it, cut it down. keep what the agent can't find out by reading the code. keep test commands, deploy rules and stuff that broke before. drop the style advice it follows anyway.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wvl904/deleting_claudemd/pdegdjk/)

### 4. Configure which instruction files are used

- GitHub Copilot, 2026-10-06, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “are you sure you didn't disable it by config? you can choose which instructions files you can use github team: please add this setting to the github copilot app.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wz98rc/do_devs_read_this_agentmd_file_not_respected/peapf57/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-11, @cursor_ai (X): “ran into this on every new project tonight @cursor_ai ... something wrong in the system prompt or instructions files. they find it when challenged on not knowing wtf they're talking about, and not being a config option. project was running fable 5.1... [link]” [source](https://twitter.com/89291422/status/2098292504571650133)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-07, r/codex (Reddit): “i’d like the option to keep both in one project too. even if they work differently, having the files and context together would make sense” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wa47lc/why_cant_codex_be_in_regular_projects/p8fgo4t/)

### 5. Global instruction files layered with project

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-15, r/codex (Reddit): “is it any way to set it up across my github, so i don't have to set it up per repo, i.e. similar to claude?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x5hsqm/how_to_trigger_codex_on_github_prissues/pgugf5p/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-11, r/codex (Reddit): “in this context, there is one point worth noting: it cannot yet read the global configuration file located at \`\~/.codex/agents.md\`.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x2wkid/if_you_use_both_codex_and_claude_code_how_do_you/pf825jy/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-14, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “do you have a global claude.md you forgot about? copy it into agents.md, or otherwise ensure codex sees it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wftqej/trying_codex_for_the_first_time_very_frustrating/p9p67z0/)

### 6. Native support for standard agents.md files

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-15, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “@sama @sama @thsottiaux also please upgrade the codex cli to be look claude code. i want every company to shift to you models. upgrade your stack to fully integrated into sldc.@thsottiaux for upgrade friction can you add a feature where codex also accepts claude.md” [source](https://twitter.com/2046207477427892224/status/2099900529795375582)

### 7. Per-model and per-agent instruction files

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-05, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “@thsottiaux how about using different codex instructions for different models in codex app” [source](https://twitter.com/1958907245951164420/status/2096114653508325705)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-04, r/codex (Reddit): “this makes me realize that we might need a way to assign [agents.md]([link]) files to specific agents. does that already exist?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w6xee6/dont_forget/p7sc2xx/)
- Amp, 2026-09-06, @AmpCode (X): “there should be a general setting in @ampcode where you can add specific agents.md instructions for openai models vs anthropic models. or maybe.. add different additional settings for each model, especially with how new foundational models are trending, like sol vs astra vs fable 5.1 vs opus 5.” [source](https://twitter.com/1705384263867379712/status/2096539164682629502)

### 8. Single shared instruction file across tools

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-11, r/codex (Reddit): “i think keeping one shared rules file makes the most sense. maintaining the same instructions in two separate files seems like unnecessary work.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x2wkid/if_you_use_both_codex_and_claude_code_how_do_you/pf8w6ef/)
- Claude Code, 2026-10-08, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “problem is i don’t want to be tied to a model. i want to have a folder structure that works regardless of which model i’m using at the time. it just orients itself via the documents and instructions and works its way down the tree” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x0x6w4/am_i_organizing_my_claude_code_folders_wrong_its/pep5rwg/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-18, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@trq212 @claudedevs so i can consolidate all of mine to agents dot md? i had been using symlinks etc. man this is huge if so thank you so much! are there standardization coming for .rules and other constructs as well? or was this the most important one.” [source](https://twitter.com/80302965/status/2101012220297552139)

### 9. Raise instruction file size limits

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-05, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i have a task that needs about [zip code] bytes rather than [zip code]. i got opus to chop it down to [zip code] to fit, but it'd be ideal to have say 32-40k for the gemini.md system prompt, to allow complexity in multi-faceted requests. i have already broken off a bunch of stuff to skills. my customization budget is only 40% as far as tokens go, but is maxing out on filesize / truncation. cheers,” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wy1z4e/can_we_get_geminimd_over_24000_bytes/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-08, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “pretty cool! gonna try it out. it would be even more interesting if this could be configured based on usage limits; like if a small team has claude team plan vs a claude enterprise plan with custom limits, etc. as in, if you could maybe prioritise or sacrifice some areas' instructions based on token budget in a easily configurable way” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wajcug/built_agentric_a_way_to_use_claude_cli_on_web/p8inj3d/)

### 10. In-app editing of persistent instruction files

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-06, @antigravity (X): “@adhidesign @googledeepmind @antigravity antigravity 2.0 --> customizations --> rules --> a button to be able to edit the gemini.md (and agents.md) inside of antigravity 2.0 would be wonderful.” [source](https://twitter.com/862544442/status/2107390664698651016)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-10-14, r/codex (Reddit): “these all seem to work, but i've noticed mine is not persistent (meaning it doesn't continually / proactively remember to do the things i've asked it to continually/proactively handle) & i can't change it's rules, so i always need to remember to reinstruct it after a certain period of time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x5kr1w/sharing_some_dot_tricks_i_was_using_recently/pgn95gn/)

### 11. Custom system prompt append

- Google Antigravity, 2026-10-06, @antigravity (X): “@adhidesign @googledeepmind @antigravity nice. im hoping for google to win this. feedbacks: 1) no place to write system/custom prompts or behavior 2) non existent settings of privacy 3) paralel windows are not intuitive” [source](https://twitter.com/1989286762653593600/status/2107434552541278567)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-12, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “@umbrella_uni i wonder if codex cli can append to system prompt like claude code. would be good to set that. how well does astra adhere to this? or we have hooks injecting this on user promo submit?” [source](https://twitter.com/1312268376547323905/status/2098832605974294821)

### 12. Nested per-directory instruction file support


## Every agent

| Agent | Overall rank | Reading | Customer love | 95% interval | n | Praise | Complaint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Claude Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/claude-code.md) | 1 | 1st of 5 | 0.535 | 0.495–0.576 | 700 | 391 | 309 |
| [OpenAI Codex](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/codex.md) | 10 | 2nd of 5 | 0.508 | 0.477–0.541 | 350 | 194 | 156 |
| [OpenCode](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/opencode.md) | 3 | 3rd of 5 | 0.500 | 0.483–0.516 | 38 | 22 | 16 |
| [Google Antigravity](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/antigravity.md) | 14 | 4th of 5 | 0.482 | 0.461–0.504 | 71 | 32 | 39 |
| [Cursor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cursor.md) | 7 | 5th of 5 | 0.473 | 0.448–0.499 | 93 | 42 | 51 |
| [GitHub Copilot](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/copilot.md) | 9 | Too few posts | – | – | 21 | 9 | 12 |
| [Pi](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/pi.md) | 4 | Too few posts | – | – | 19 | 11 | 8 |
| [Zed](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/zed.md) | 8 | Too few posts | – | – | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| [Kiro](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/kiro.md) | 13 | Too few posts | – | – | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| [Devin](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/devin.md) | 2 | Too few posts | – | – | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| [Amp](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/amp.md) | 5 | Too few posts | – | – | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| [Cline](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/cline.md) | 11 | Too few posts | – | – | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| [Factory](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/factory.md) | 6 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Conductor](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/conductor.md) | 12 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Warp](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/warp.md) | 15 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Grok Build](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/grok-build.md) | 16 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Augment Code](https://feedbackbench.com/coding-agents/agents/augment.md) | 17 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Posts

Receipts rule: Up to 5 praise and 5 complaint posts per area and 3 per criterion. Each is a whole post of 60 to 450 characters (700 for areas) with at least 8 words beyond handles and links, that judges the criterion, whose labels are all praise or all complaint, and that contains no slur. Posts that touch the fewest criteria come first, then posts of at most 280 characters, then the newest. A second large language model reads the first 3 candidates per slot and keeps a post only if it clearly praises, or clearly complains about, the agent on that criterion. Links and personal details removed by the source show as marks such as [link].

### Claude Code

- Praise, 2026-10-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i've had one line in my vault's claude.md for ages now and it hasn't even tried to do this since.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x8vtr8/hey_claude_its_about_time_you_stop/phg8f5h/)
- Praise, 2026-10-17, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i've never used claude md always had agents md and just pointed the claude md to agents md never had a problem always picked it up well.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x7us3u/those_who_migrated_to_agentsmd_agents_how_did_it/phbmvml/)
- Praise, 2026-10-15, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i’ve never once used a skill, just have good docs in my repo and some light agent files. using claude code and codex and i have custom systems for task tracking, decision tracking, and various processes for my game art pipeline that the agents follow without issue.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x69m85/i_think_skills_and_plugins_are_kinda_the_wrong/pgthbtj/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-17, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “pretty much where i landed too. spec file per feature, claude.md just for repo rules. old feature decisions sitting in claude.md kept getting treated as current by the agent, and this split fixed that for me.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x872jf/stop_turning_claudemd_into_a_junk_drawer/phbazia/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-14, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “the deny list works for commands but some rules cant be a permission. like i have one that says if i only ask a question dont touch any files. that one has to stay in [claude.md]([link]) and it still slips somtimes” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x5pm53/my_agent_pushed_to_git_after_i_told_it_not_to/pgoxhy7/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-12, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “good reminder. i lost small helper scripts few times because they were in a temp folder that got cleaned, now everything useful goes to the repo right away. agree about claude.md, its a suggestion not a gate” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x4b1ue/it_finally_happened_to_meclaude_accidentally/pfiueow/)

### OpenAI Codex

- Praise, 2026-10-15, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i’ve never once used a skill, just have good docs in my repo and some light agent files. using claude code and codex and i have custom systems for task tracking, decision tracking, and various processes for my game art pipeline that the agents follow without issue.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1x69m85/i_think_skills_and_plugins_are_kinda_the_wrong/pgthbtj/)
- Praise, 2026-10-13, r/codex (Reddit): “no, both junie cli and codex cli comply just fine. very rarely one of them skips an instruction in the files mentioned in [core.md]([link]) (there's a bunch of delegated instructions like "if you're changing a database table, read this file: ...").” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x2wkid/if_you_use_both_codex_and_claude_code_how_do_you/pgi4kmc/)
- Praise, 2026-10-11, r/codex (Reddit): “i use the same agents.md for both and have solid results. my prompting style ends up being a little more focused on claude, but not significantly different.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x2wkid/if_you_use_both_codex_and_claude_code_how_do_you/pf618ro/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-16, r/codex (Reddit): “yeah, agents.md that i had was working fine till last few days. now, all of sudden the codex is not respecting it. so, i guess it is a new change.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x7ms4i/codex_ignored_the_same_agentsmd_instruction/ph669pb/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-15, r/codex (Reddit): “i used to write statements like this into the user-level agents.md and claude.md, but opus and gpt still kept saying these things during long conversations, possibly because i had also enabled caveman at the time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1x6gcr8/since_june_ive_been_trying_to_get_agents_to_stop/pgvn33z/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-06, r/codex (Reddit): “bro i know how to work with agents, each repo has a main [agents.md](http://agents.md), docs with various .md about the goals and whatever but it just doesn't seem to get that context since its not running from that dir” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wygydd/how_am_i_supposed_to_use_my_dot/pe717tl/)

### OpenCode

- Praise, 2026-09-14, r/opencode (Reddit): “i tested it with astra and sol and both models explicitly followed the rules defined in the .md file. if you don't believe me, you're free to test it out on your own.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wge71c/how_to_run_an_autonomous_multiagent_dev_team_for/p9tr2p8/)
- Praise, 2026-09-19, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “this change is so late and so pointless now lmao. whats ironic is i dont use claude code at all but every agent i use understands claude code structure. calude.md skills etc all are set how i would set it up for cc. codex picks them up, grok picks them up, agy picks them up, opencode picks them up, never had an issue.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wk2q8v/agentsmd_now_supported_in_claude_code/paq4qbm/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-05, r/opencode (Reddit): “[link] should i need to rotate my credential it look fishy that it read .env even in [agents.md]([link]) i have say never read .env” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wy493j/space_bunny_read_my_credential/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-19, r/opencode (Reddit): “this is japanese actullay. and qwen 3.8 max will reply in japanese for no reason as well,even i have told in [agents.md](http://agents.md) that to reply in enligh” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wkjus5/big_pickle_responding_in_chinese/par06np/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-04, @opencode (X): “@maxforai @zai_org @opencode it's already running, but i've found a problem. this model likes to modify files, even if there are rules, it will still make changes.” [source](https://twitter.com/889660723097239552/status/2095807077004316974)

### Google Antigravity

- Praise, 2026-09-15, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “just tell it to review with you before implementation in your gemini.md file. i had this issue too and now it reviews with me first before proceeding” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wgsxwn/how_to_make_antigravity_slow_down_and_stop/p9wufg9/)
- Praise, 2026-09-02, @antigravity (X): “@antigravity it's not because the model is strong but the model was well integrated, it always reached for the workspace rules to understand the context better.” [source](https://twitter.com/1422787044/status/2095204694419517720)
- Praise, 2026-09-12, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “this is why my root-project level gemini.md contains a specific rule about not hard-coding any credentials, results or placeholder data. my first experience with 3.6 flash was similar with many corners cut but a bit of research and a well planned out set of rules in your gemini.md can fix this.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1we8ls0/the_review_found_that_t15t20_were_not_actually/p9f6z32/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “so basically, it f\*cking disrespects and completely ignores agents.md? alright, got it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wqb0ii/dedicated_planning_mode_in_antigravity_is_here/pc3mc5j/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-21, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “how do you make it remember the rules? it seems to do so for a while then just forget.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wkzesn/my_rules_for_ag/pb5ibbr/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-19, @antigravity (X): “it's sad how antigravity @antigravity just ignores its own gemini.md completely.” [source](https://twitter.com/1505696902578380801/status/2101374592476496005)

### Cursor

- Praise, 2026-10-06, @cursor_ai (X): “best setup i’ve found with @bot: don’t have it write the code or babysit the coding agent. have it hand off once. the @cursor_ai cloud agent lands in your repo and uses the skills, playbooks, and checklists already there. this took some serious fumbles to figure out.” [source](https://twitter.com/19939826/status/2107285939978674493)
- Praise, 2026-09-24, @cursor_ai (X): “there is a file called cursorda .cursorrules. you write the project style once, then you don't have to explain the same thing again in every conversation. @cursor_ai many people don't know this.” [source](https://twitter.com/1034446320960983041/status/2103020959397724198)
- Complaint, 2026-10-05, r/cursor (Reddit): “the whole point of this post is that cursor did not respect the skill files & rules. so what's the point of writing them if the agent is going to ignore it? and then since you don't like looking at the code you just merge any old bullshit ai came up with?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wxkg3e/cursor_no_longer_developer_tool_now_for_vibecoders/pdz5rap/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-29, r/cursor (Reddit): “cursor rules kept getting ignored for swiftui, so we built a local mcp server that reviews each edit with static analysis [removed]” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wt1axl/cursor_rules_kept_getting_ignored_for_swiftui_so/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/cursor (Reddit): “thank you. i feel the same. though i feel like it got worse at reading instruction mdc files but that could just be because the files get bigger and context harder to manage or smth” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wqhcse/grok_46_vs_47/pc48jul/)

### GitHub Copilot

- Praise, 2026-09-29, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “i personally do with global custom instructions file and haven't had problems... knock on wood "all subagents and nested sessions must be created using luna with max only, unless explicitly directed otherwise by the human" then if i want something else, i just tell it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wtbmbu/how_to_set_default_subagent_model/pcsq9he/)
- Praise, 2026-09-10, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “adding a delegation table with restrictions to custom instructions works great for me” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wcefit/copilot_using_more_expensive_models_for_sub_agent/p8xgxwk/)
- Complaint, 2026-10-06, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “i asked in the same session: "tell me what mode you are in?" it does correctly identify the [agents.md]([link]) file. it spitted out the instructions in the file, and as usual, apologized. this means it ignored the context altogether in the initial prompt/response.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wz98rc/do_devs_read_this_agentmd_file_not_respected/pe9q4e9/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “tried instruction files for the style stuff. they drift after a few weeks. switched to a hard rule in the skill file that the snippet has to compile or it gets rejected on the spot. cuts down on garbage faster than waiting for the model to self correct” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wp26zj/copilot_worth_it_for_tutorial_writers_or_just_a/pc7faio/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-10, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “instruction files didn't hold for me. unset model inherits the parent's. blocking the spawn did.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wcefit/copilot_using_more_expensive_models_for_sub_agent/p8y7apw/)

### Pi

- Praise, 2026-09-21, @pidotdev (X): “@pidotdev when i learned how much you could change model behavior through agents.md it changed how i work with agents. now i use that document to tune how i work with agents and it’s pure magic.” [source](https://twitter.com/2085033893376499712/status/2101833659305328958)
- Praise, 2026-09-05, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “you don't need any of that with pi. the only thing i would do with pi is to have a project specific append_system.md to point the agent to relevant documentation due to training data cutoff. apart from that i keep a global agents.md that just says, keep it short, don't use filler words. that has been working well with qwen, gemma, deepseek, and glm running locally.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1w7ov2f/whats_in_your_agentsmd/p7x0il4/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-16, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “regardless of what i put in the agents.md the agent replies the same, ignoring whatever is put in it. i've tried asking the agent but it doesn't fix the problem” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wglwd0/agentsmd_files_not_working_at_all/pa3ju68/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-16, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “when i try something like that (magic word and everything i mean) it responds as if completely oblivious to the information inside the agents.md” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wglwd0/agentsmd_files_not_working_at_all/pa3n73b/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-16, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “i've been sticking to literally one line to try and just get it to work :( i've tried append_system.md too with no luck” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1who72k/more_agentsmd_issues/pa43ejk/)

### Devin

- Praise, 2026-10-10, @cognition (X): “@mystere___ @cognition it’s not all compatibility problems tho. devin supports a bunch of open standards and other harness semantics - prefer claude.md files to agents.md files? devin supports both. a myriad of other cross harness standards converge in devin.” [source](https://twitter.com/1095784409683374080/status/2109016245890883999)
- Complaint, 2026-10-10, @cognition (X): “@mystere___ @cognition if you have a lovely composed tree of agents.md files that works great in codex, your devin agent will get overwhelmed because the injection persists beyond the lifetime of the agents activity in that scope.” [source](https://twitter.com/1095784409683374080/status/2109009168959168649)
- Complaint, 2026-10-10, r/windsurf (Reddit): “this model is way worse than glm, even swe1.6. is constantly overengineering stuff; it is slow; it gets into certain loops that have nothing to do with the task; it disobeys [agent.md]([link]) files because of strange decisions.... it is not a model that you could rely on, and it is annoying! it can not be a sole free pro plan model.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/windsurf/comments/1wgnx1b/introducing_swe2/pf05o84/)