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

Feedback Bench, coding agents, built 2026-10-01, window 2026-08-31 to 2026-09-27. Web page: https://feedbackbench.com/#/criterion/context.instruction_files

Area: [Instructing and context](https://feedbackbench.com/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/criteria/context.instruction_following.md) for instructions in the current prompt. Not this: see [Memory and state carried across sessions](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.session_memory.md) for auto-written memory.

Rated author-weeks, all agents: 899. Complaint share: 47%.

## The brief

Written by Claude Opus 5.5 from 64 labelled posts and the numbers on this page. Interpretation, not measurement: every quote is verbatim and links to its post.

**Rules files help, but agents still treat them as suggestions.**

TL;DR:

- Every agent with enough posts lands typical; none makes a rules file binding.
- Users report rules ignored mid-task, dropped after summarization, and diluted by harness system prompts.
- What works is lean files, cite-back checks, and hooks or deny rules that actually enforce.

In plain terms: You write a CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md, and most of the time the agent honours it. Then a long session, a summarized context, or a bloated file quietly drops a rule. You find out from the damage.

### How it breaks

- **Hard rules ignored at the worst moment** ([Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_files.md), [Direct in-prompt instructions and caps are followed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_following.md)). The costliest failure is a rule that reads as absolute but gets skipped exactly when it matters, with real usage or output lost.
  One user had a line requiring permission before spawning sub-agents. The agent ignored it and burned the usage window in minutes. Others describe instruction files as soft preferences that models trained hard for code override. They report replies in the wrong language despite an explicit rule, and user instruction files routinely skipped in Copilot. Reliable adherence is the top request on this page, led by Codex and Claude Code users.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-08: “i literally found out about this skill today.. solely because fable 5.1 decide to invoke it with "high", which spawned 8 forked sub-agent's (which inherits the parent model, so in this case became 8x fable subagents). it ignored a line in my claude.md that was suppose to always asks permission before spawning sub-agents, so naturally it drained my 5h usage in minutes.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wan0jo/reviewcode_skill_outputting_nonstop_jibberish/p8jbuh7/)
  - Complaint, GitHub Copilot, r/GithubCopilot, 2026-09-03: “horrible. routinely ignores my user instruction files (this is not seen in any other model).” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1uwkc1m/we_want_your_feedback_how_is_maicode1flash_in/p7hne4k/)
  - Complaint, OpenCode, r/opencode, 2026-09-19: “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, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-01: “rules and agents.md stay soft preferences on models that were post-trained hard for code. paste a short paragraph you actually like as a style sample, then ask for a rewrite that may only copy rhythm and word choice from that sample. that constraint lands better than "sound human" when grok ignores the preference text.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1w39dxp/models_for_marketingcopywriting/p78yib2/)

- **Rules fade after summarization** ([Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_files.md), [Memory and state carried across sessions](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.session_memory.md)). Adherence decays over long sessions, and context compaction is where users see rules drop out entirely.
  A Cursor user says rules stopped showing in context usage. The agent drifts until told to reread them, and the fix lasts only until the next summarized conversation. Codex users describe the same slope. A review rule fires automatically until chat history gets long. A skill wired into AGENTS.md still needs periodic reminders in long runs. The rules load at the start. Keeping them loaded is the weak spot.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-13: “<strict_link> the context usage does not show rules anymore... and it keeps going astray and not following the rules until i explicitly ask it to read them again which then works only until next summarized conversation” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wexxoe/cursor_agent_context_has_stopped_taking_rules/)
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-03: “i just use the codex plugin cc. i added a rule in `claude .md` "run a codex review after creating a pr." if the chat history gets too long, it sometimes forgets the rule, but usually it runs automatically. i tried using github copilot auto-reviews before, but the quality wasn't good, so i stopped.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1w5wr7f/besides_claude_code_how_are_you_leveraging/p7j8tiy/)
  - Praise, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-10: “no, it's not necessarily babysitting. i created a skill for 'proportional engineering' , basically to avoid both over- and underengineering and edited [agents.md](http://agents.md) to use that skill by default. of course, it's not to say that it works 100% perfect every time, so occasionally in a long running session i still have to remind the agent to adhere to the principles defined in the skill. but in general the tendency for overengineering is pretty much well tamed.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wcnlfn/looks_like_the_over_engineering_stories_are_true/p91n2je/)

- **Bloated rules files backfire** ([Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_files.md)). Past a certain size, instruction files cost tokens and lose authority, and users are cutting them back.
  Auto-generated learnings inflate GEMINI.md until Gemini stops following them reliably. Codex users warn that thousand-line AGENTS.md files plus hundreds of skills drain usage. Others report stripping files to a minimum because current agents figure more out on their own. A Kiro user blames steering-file bloat for worse output on the same models. Leaner default rules context is a recurring request.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-06: “the /learn will blow up your gemini.md after some time. gemini won’t reliably follow those learnings at some point when the .md becomes too loaded.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1w8okhz/give_your_antigravity_agy_agents_true_longterm/p84n9l8/)
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-13: “yeah, sorry, my notes about closed vs. open is wrong. i meant that e.g. codex is closed in the sense that it decides so many things you have no way to set. indeed, one can fork it, and that's a great thing, but other harnesses have those same knobs exposed so you can set them without forking. still wrong way i said it. and indeed, it is easy to end up with 100s of skills and thousand lines agents.md files and than wonder why usage is shit. sure it happens a lot.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wevxki/they_removed_the_option_to_renew_my_200_plan/p9m7bbk/)
  - Complaint, OpenCode, r/opencode, 2026-09-26: “double checked and most of your claims where correct. i updated the repo. and showed more testing. the long agent files had to go its not 2024 they are holding most modern ai back.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wq88es/forked/pc3ar7k/)
  - Praise, Amp, @AmpCode, 2026-09-01: “yea i find that much of it is probably solving old harness / model challenges that are being done away with with each increment. as an example, i used to have a pretty robust claude.md / agents.md and i've now basically stripped them down to very minimal instructions and any given agent seems more willing to figure stuff out on its own. i feel like it's getting to the point where we can over-instruct at our own detriment.” [source](https://twitter.com/50294915/status/2094824750313095570)

- **Prose rules lose to enforced ones** ([Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_files.md), [Direct in-prompt instructions and caps are followed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_following.md)). Users get better adherence when a rule is checked or blocked mechanically rather than written as guidance.
  Hooks sit outside the system-prompt wrapper that holds CLAUDE.md, and users credit that for higher adherence. A Cursor user found the model claimed to read a decisions file while ignoring it. Forcing it to quote a line back exposed the gap. Another turns any rule with a path into a deny rule so the agent cannot cross it. The pattern holds across tools. Enforcement outperforms persuasion.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-06: “the reason why your technique works better is because hooks are not wrapped in the "subjective" system prompt wrapper that claude.md is. that + their persistence gives them much higher adherence ratios.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1w5f1ar/has_anyone_figured_out_a_way_or_built_some_skill/p892rsb/)
  - Praise, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-22: “the quote-before-touching part is the whole trick honestly. i had a rule that just said 'read decisions.md' and the model would happily claim it did while writing against a week-old plan. making it cite one line back makes the lie obvious. the rejected alternatives list is underrated too, it's what stops the agent from re-litigating choices you already killed at 2am.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wmt6rp/cursor_kept_forgetting_stuff_id_already_decided/pbbkahr/)
  - Praise, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-16: “the split that worked for me on client repos is by one question: does the agent need this line to refuse something? who signed off and what number they accepted stay outside, in your private log, they carry names and money. the constraints that came out of those decisions go into the repo, because those are what the agent has to obey without me in the chat: urls never change, plugins only with written approval, nothing under the theme folder. they hold no client detail, just the rule and the date it was set. and the ones with a path in them stop being notes at all. they become a deny rule, so the next chat does not need the story, it just cannot cross the line.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1whn59g/where_do_you_put_stakeholderdecision_notes_when/pa4lvtt/)
  - Praise, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-19: “i have in my agents.md file the rule "do not implement anything i didn't ask for without checking with me first" its pretty much solves this issue.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wke0yr/gpt_usually_leaves_so_many_useless_overenginered/paqgbb9/)

- **Every tool wants its own format** ([Persistent project rules files are read and obeyed](https://feedbackbench.com/criteria/context.instruction_files.md)). Teams running several agents maintain parallel configs by hand, and those configs quietly drift apart.
  One user keeps deny lists for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex separately, updates one, forgets the others, and the tools disagree. Others push for the shared AGENTS.md standard over tool-specific rules. One user says most agents now pick up Claude-style files anyway. Native support for standard formats is a named request from Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode users.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-03: “i don't think it makes sense to write cursor specific rules use the standardized agents.md + skills, they do the same thing but work in any agent.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1w6722y/your_cursorrulesmd_files_are_silently_ignored/p7kn2wm/)
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-08-31: “same setup, same drift. claude code, cursor, codex, each with its own format for shell / writes / git. i update the deny list in one, forget the others, and they quietly disagree. i still maintain each config by hand. never found a format all three will honor. what i did move outside the tools is the actual rules, so at least the next agent can see what i already decided even if the deny lists have drifted.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1vzuuw7/how_are_you_handling_agent_permissions_when_you/p6wed2z/)
  - Praise, OpenCode, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-19: “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/)
  - Praise, Google Antigravity, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-13: “im having great luck with wikis and spec driven design/dev/pm. i do design/dev/pm consulting work for multiple fortune 100s and startups. the agents.md is just tone and voice everything else is skills and hooks and the wikis themselves. everything is in .md files now, its all crosslinked and organized like a wiki. its perfect, codex, claude, antigravity, everything knows everything about everything and i own all the data. im actively working on a .md reader / editor (free on mac and windows at <strict_link>) with the same system and i use it to read the work i need for other projects/clients (and itself).” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wewoy5/anyone_else_tired_of_maintaining_handoff_markdown/p9hf2ur/)

### Who stands out

- **Claude Code (mixed)**. The most discussed agent here splits almost evenly, with fans who build around CLAUDE.md and skeptics who say it never sticks.
  Praise comes from disciplined setups. Users put constraints in CLAUDE.md before the session, keep the file lean, and split it into scoped subdirectory files. Complaints center on inconsistency. Users say the agent won't reliably reread linked files and that habits override CLAUDE.md, intent.md and AGENTS.md alike. Requests here lean toward reliable auto-loading and letting user instructions beat the harness prompt.
  Evidence:
  - Complaint, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-22: “i would be concerned with that that the ai wouldn't read them all the time (even if you told it to in skills and claude/agent md) and that it wouldn't update them. like if they are inline i see them updating them. if they are 3 levels removed it won't update the comments.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wn1uau/in_sept_2026_are_code_comments_useful_or_hurtful/pbbkim6/)
  - Praise, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-09: “the list is fair, and i hit most of it when i started. the shift that made it click for me was stopping trying to watch it work. gptel and pi expose everything because you are the orchestrator. claude code wants to be the orchestrator and you are the reviewer. that is not a dodge, it changes how you use it. put the constraints in claude.md and rules files before the session. tell it to commit after each meaningful change, and review the diff instead of watching the tool calls. set the output style to concise while you are at it. you still cannot see inside its head, but you can make what it did legible after the fact, and that ends up being enough.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wb3gw7/the_merits_of_cc/p8pc1mv/)
  - Praise, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-24: “i only keep two markdown files in any project: `claude.md` and `readme.md`. * `claude.md`: generated via `/init` in claude code. i rarely edit it manually. since it loads into the context on every prompt, i keep it lean; if the project grows too large, i prompt claude to follow the best practices written at [<strict_link> and have it split the contents into subdirectories with their own scoped `claude.md` files. * `readme.md`: covers the "why" and context of the project. i mostly just prompt claude code to update and maintain it. any scratchpads like `todo.md` or `plan.md` get deleted once the task is done. that’s probably it. clean and zero bloat. i barely needed anything more than this. ever.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wowilt/i_still_dont_understand_this_agentic_workflow/pbrmrzo/)
  - Complaint, Claude Code, r/ClaudeCode, 2026-09-23: “claude models are hard wired for some habits. fill in the gaps. every document and current code are facts. fix it without asking is if everything you think is a problem. it is maintenance, all code is already production. work consistently until 50% context, then quickly summarize on the fly and move on. i have no success in managing it. claude.md. intent.md. agents.md. no consistent success. work a concept, get an implementation plan. moving forward isn't always progress with these frontier models. had a great run with opus 5.5 for six hours. now spending the evening at a blocking code structure i was not aware of. anyhow, good luck on the other side. come back for venting and sympathy if needed :)” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wof0bo/im_done_with_claude_leaving_it_today_and_trying/pbmi96k/)

- **OpenAI Codex (mixed)**. Short, pointed AGENTS.md rules work well, but users say Codex's own system prompts dilute anything subtler.
  Users report that a single rule against unrequested work largely solves scope creep. Others say AGENTS.md governance is weak because extra harness prompts crowd it out. One user moved rules inline and narrowed Codex to reviews. Another saw a note inside a read folder hijack the agent's persona mid-task. Codex leads requests for reliable rule-following.
  Evidence:
  - Praise, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-19: “i have in my agents.md file the rule "do not implement anything i didn't ask for without checking with me first" its pretty much solves this issue.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wke0yr/gpt_usually_leaves_so_many_useless_overenginered/paqgbb9/)
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-25: “are you using negative prompts and correction prompts? or are you just relying on agents.md file to handle governance. agents md file in codex is kinda weak due to codexs extra system prompts. seem to dilute the agents.md instructions. using a jit injector with codex (custom router) kinda solved the issue but the added context burned way too much so undid it. now im just adding gov rules inline and only using codex for reciew and bounded fixes” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wpspww/gpt6_astra_seems_unusable_due_to_token_burn_gpt6/pc0kuac/)
  - Complaint, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-07: “i have that too. on multiple occasions if i tell to read through all notes with a folder. but if at least one note contains something like “act as senior blah lah lah” it then takes that note instruction as a genuine prompt and it changes its persona midway…… its super infuriating… its like early pre gpt5 days… the responses it gives is like gpt5 or 5.1 . now i have to babysit it even more than before. although it is certainly faster than sol” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w8t3tu/astra_is_lazy/p8dbxv3/)
  - Praise, OpenAI Codex, r/codex, 2026-09-10: “no, it's not necessarily babysitting. i created a skill for 'proportional engineering' , basically to avoid both over- and underengineering and edited [agents.md](http://agents.md) to use that skill by default. of course, it's not to say that it works 100% perfect every time, so occasionally in a long running session i still have to remind the agent to adhere to the principles defined in the skill. but in general the tendency for overengineering is pretty much well tamed.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wcnlfn/looks_like_the_over_engineering_stories_are_true/p91n2je/)

- **Google Antigravity (weaker)**. Complaints outnumber praise, and users describe AGENTS.md as a partial patch over an IDE that floods context.
  Users do get gains from editing AGENTS.md or GEMINI.md, such as forcing an approval step or fixing a stale-date habit, though they say it still misses things. One user says the IDE injects far more context than the CLI and AGENTS.md helps only because it lands early. Others are unsure whether the CLI honours the policy files at all.
  Evidence:
  - Praise, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-11: “use the matt pocock skills and also add to gemini.md or agents .md extra instructions. mainly - karpathy rules + always present an implementation plan and ask for approval. still misses stuff, but much better than before.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wd5sxi/any_one_using_matt_pacock_skills_in_antigravity/p93edmr/)
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-05: “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/)
  - Complaint, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-04: “[<strict_link> i think might be this ... i know this is for gemini cli, but agy cli seems to follow this policy (but not that sure) ... edit: tested again, it might not be supported in agy cli as i tested just now ... not sure if i was filling wrong value or if it's no longer supported” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1w6eqfs/way_to_disable_all_tools_in_agy_cli/p7qxr3h/)
  - Praise, Google Antigravity, r/google_antigravity, 2026-09-24: “i definitely notice that something will enter the context on some projects that seems to greatly degrade performance. same model, same timeframe, different project and it's fine. the ide dumps so much more context into the model than the gui or cli versions, it's impossible to control. updating agents.md probably works because that is injected early and so modifies the initial trajectory keeping you out of these weird areas in the model space. i find regularly asking the agent to update the project's agents.md ensures i don't lose important context, when i inevitably need to create a new conversation.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wp3k02/is_gemini_38_flash_getting_stuck_in_loops_for/pbslrov/)

- **Cursor (mixed)**. Cursor rules land well for some business-context work, yet users report they drop out after summarization.
  One user says the rules are applied and the agent understands a complex domain. Another used a rules file to cap file reads and cut token spend sharply. On the other side, users report rules vanishing from context after compaction and newer models failing to parse MDC instruction files. Some argue tool-specific rules should give way to AGENTS.md.
  Evidence:
  - Praise, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-10: “i haven't tried other ides, but cursor fits my job for now. i work with symfony and react native, which is more than enough when you're not reinventing the wheel. it understands my business context, which is quite complex, the cursor rules are applied, and it suggests relevant improvements. i develop a feature that would take 3-4 days in just 10 minutes. i don't ask for anything more for now. 😂” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wbust5/grok_officially_ruined_cursor_ide/p8wm016/)
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-13: “<strict_link> the context usage does not show rules anymore... and it keeps going astray and not following the rules until i explicitly ask it to read them again which then works only until next summarized conversation” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wexxoe/cursor_agent_context_has_stopped_taking_rules/)
  - Complaint, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-26: “the last 2 days i tried to change a complete ui with 4.7 and it was disastrous. not even managing to put textsize, padding, or matching colors correctly, much less random clipping of panels, randomly text clipping out of buttons, not being able to align things, not being able to understand mdc instruction files, etc. actually today 4.6 is cleaning up the whole day behind 4.7s mess. im actually shocked, i at least expected it to perform similar. but all the trust i had in my agents got severely reduced by this performance.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wqhcse/grok_46_vs_47/pc5lsop/)
  - Praise, Cursor, r/cursor, 2026-09-02: “switched the same way in june. same model, different harness: cursor sent about 3x more tool calls per task for me because it kept re-reading files claude code had already cached. what fixed the token bill was a .cursor/rules file capping file reads and forcing a plan first, went from \~90k tokens on a refactor to \~35k. are you keeping claude code around for the long refactors or moving everything over?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1w53g4e/claude_vs_cursor_using_the_same_models/p7cu35b/)

### Fine print

- OpenCode, Pi, Copilot and most smaller agents have too few posts here to rank reliably.
- Many posts blame the model rather than the harness, and the two are hard to separate from user reports.

## Top requests

What users ask to add or change, most asked first. 81 author-weeks ask for something. Requests do not change the Feedback Score. Rule: A separate pass by Claude Sonnet 5 reads every counted post and extracts what the author 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. Claude Opus 5.5 groups the wordings within each criterion (the first criterion the request maps to) into themes; code counts them. A theme counts distinct author-weeks that ask for it, per agent; across agents, one author-week per agent. Themes asked in fewer than 2 author-weeks, and requests that share no theme, are not shown. Examples: up to 3 posts per theme from different authors, without slurs, preferring posts of 60 to 450 characters, most recent first.

| Rank | Request | Author-weeks | Posts | Agents (author-weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reliably follow project instruction files | 26 | 29 | OpenAI Codex 10, Claude Code 9, Google Antigravity 4, GitHub Copilot 1, Cursor 1, OpenCode 1 |
| 2 | Native support for standard instruction file formats | 8 | 8 | Claude Code 4, OpenAI Codex 3, OpenCode 1 |
| 3 | Reliable automatic loading of instruction files | 8 | 8 | Claude Code 5, Google Antigravity 2, Cursor 1 |
| 4 | Configurable instruction file scope and handling | 7 | 7 | Google Antigravity 2, OpenAI Codex 2, Claude Code 1, Cursor 1, Pi 1 |
| 5 | Minimal default prompts and leaner rules context | 6 | 6 | OpenAI Codex 3, Claude Code 2, GitHub Copilot 1 |
| 6 | User instructions override harness system prompt | 6 | 6 | Claude Code 4, OpenAI Codex 2 |
| 7 | Per-model instruction files | 3 | 3 | OpenAI Codex 2, Amp 1 |
| 8 | Protect files from unwanted agent edits | 3 | 3 | Claude Code 2, Cursor 1 |
| 9 | Rule adherence persists across long sessions | 3 | 3 | OpenAI Codex 2, Cursor 1 |
| 10 | Clear precedence between conflicting instruction files | 2 | 3 | Google Antigravity 1, Claude Code 1 |
| 11 | Propagate instruction updates to active sessions | 2 | 2 | Claude Code 2 |

### 1. Reliably follow project instruction files

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-27, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “🫠 i explicitly say "link every reference" on my agents.md yet astra (medium) keeps mentioning prs with their plain ids and codex app renders them as hex colors...... <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/1125366224664322049/status/2104124139460300813)
- Google Antigravity, 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/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-24, r/codex (Reddit): “reinstate catastrophe, also for me. gpt5.6 sol was great, i was never dissatisfied with it. gpt6 sol ignores my plugins, skills, agent instructions, and entire workflows and jeopardizes the product. i have pointed this out several times, it always acknowledges it and continues to do it wrong. my wife is also missing the thinking slider in the app. something has gone wrong!” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1woiw95/something_is_wrong_with_gpt_6_sol/pbqkgh8/)

### 2. Native support for standard instruction file formats

- 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)
- 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)
- 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/)

### 3. Reliable automatic loading of instruction files

- 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/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-04, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs is there a plugin that can make claude code reads agents.md ?” [source](https://twitter.com/2566815481/status/2095746186921799950)

### 4. Configurable instruction file scope and handling

- Claude Code, 2026-09-26, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “my team uses claude code, while i use github copilot in vs code. in the local agent, i can disable "claude.md" and related context files, but i can't seem to do the same in the copilot sdk / agent host. is there any way to disable claude-specific instructions and skills in the sdk harness without modifying the repo?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wr1vm1/github_copilot_sdk_agent_host_how_can_i_disable/)
- Pi, 2026-09-20, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “yes! preferably setup the correct instructions ( scripts ) to have it that way all the time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wkzn9e/be_careful_with_agents_reading_session_jsonl_files/pawxryj/)
- 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... <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/89291422/status/2098292504571650133)

### 5. Minimal default prompts and leaner rules context

- Claude Code, 2026-09-17, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@justinohallo @claudedevs to take this idea further, it would be cool if we could access projects from claude code and the whole team can append and work from it in sync without a shared bloated claude.md” [source](https://twitter.com/1258020589895405573/status/2100683625851417083)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-16, r/codex (Reddit): “because it just bloats the context unnecessarily. if you need an agent to have these informations you can add it yourself. openai should keep the system prompt to a minimum.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1whk9o0/is_codex_actually_on_gpt6_now/pa849uf/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-07, X search: OpenAI Codex, Codex CLI, Codex app (X): “openai codex dx: the era of gpt-6 astra i think the codex project should have a "command cleanup" once. leave the goals, boundaries, and acceptance criteria, the rest of the accumulated ancestral rules that have been piled up for many years should be discarded <strict_link>” [source](https://twitter.com/1842825559832985600/status/2096947327043023126)

### 6. User instructions override harness system prompt

- 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)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-08, r/codex (Reddit): “models know their model string and reasoning level. add strong refusals on the system promp. it's an agents.md file under the .codex folder.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wansri/how_to_completely_disable_modelsreasoning_over_a/p8jhhqu/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-08, @ClaudeDevs (X): “what is the obsession with have @claudeai tag itself in my git commits? newer system prompts override my claude.md. i find this annoying and invasive. what other instructions of mine will claude override in the future? @claudedevs” [source](https://twitter.com/1098835712/status/2097461845850206235)

### 7. Per-model instruction files

- 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)
- 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, 2026-09-07, r/codex (Reddit): “has anyone figured out a good way to use different global agents.md instructions depending on the selected codex model? my current setup works really well with gpt-5.6 sol. i have a pretty solid global `~/.codex/agents.md`, model switching to luna max for subagents, and some other tweaks around that. for my use cases it works great and is also pretty efficient in terms of usage. now with astra i have a problem though. astra seems to adapt much mo” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1w9p0x1/different_global_custom_instructions_for_sol_vs/)

### 8. Protect files from unwanted agent edits

- Cursor, 2026-09-24, r/cursor (Reddit): “yeah, the hook is the missing piece. quoting the decision file only works until the model is busy and "forgets" under pressure. making the file readable but not writable by the agent is basically what i want too. i have been treating edits as a human-only pr so far, but a pre-tool check against protected paths is cleaner than hoping the prompt holds. curious how noisy your hook is on false positives when the agent touches nearby config files.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wn2j3q/i_stopped_pasting_huge_rules_into_every_agent/pbpx4vk/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “"perhaps document" should never spawn 11 agents. cap agent count and ban unsolicited claude.md rewrites. coffee break plus fable on high is how 50% vanishes.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wbbsbk/fable_51_usage_consumption_my_experience/p8p45uv/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-09, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i’d make this an explicit repo rule. something like: **“assume i may edit files manually while you’re working. before changing a file, re-read its current contents and check the git diff. treat unexpected changes as potentially mine; preserve them unless i explicitly ask you to revert them. don’t blame formatters/lsps without evidence.”** put it in claude.md. the important bit is that **the filesystem/git diff should be treated as the current tr” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wby1yk/how_can_i_stop_the_ai_from_being_confused_when_i/p8tzi89/)

### 9. Rule adherence persists across long sessions

- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-22, r/codex (Reddit): “are [agents.md](<strict_link>) directives just mixed in with prompt context? it seems after pretty much every context compact, the agent in session seems to forget about half of it's pre-defined rules. not having a separate [agents.md](<strict_link>) context buffer is kinda wild if true.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wnf0uk/agentsmd_context/)
- Cursor, 2026-09-19, r/cursor (Reddit): “i started putting a glossary at the top of my cursor rules file because asking it mid chat to use real words just makes it forget again after two repli started putting a glossary at the top of my cursor rules file because asking it mid chat to use real words just makes it forget again after two replies. put this exact block in your project .cursorrules file. use standard data science terms. games means games. do not use nights. teams means teams.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wjy8nh/is_there_any_way_to_make_cursor_grok_46_speak/papyfhp/)
- OpenAI Codex, 2026-09-13, r/codex (Reddit): “in my understanding it only covers agent-issued commands. and the picture how i see it from the op's comments, the actual call was from the application code (some env variable backed artifact folder cleanup, with an env var missing). i'm also pretty sure agents are still not entirely consistent in respecting hooks/rule-files-as-intent. e.g. if something prevents an action, but is not disclosed in agents.md and not hard blocked by auto classifier” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wep1ii/truly_heed_the_warning_of_56_sol_deleting_your/p9hqsb6/)

### 10. Clear precedence between conflicting instruction files

- Google Antigravity, 2026-09-21, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “<strict_link> am i forced to stop this by a hard directive in the agents file? 😒” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wm320i/bruh_come_on/)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-18, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “precedence is the bit i want spelled out. if both files exist and they disagree, which one wins, and does it tell you which one it used. two instruction files quietly drifting apart is a worse problem than one file you had to maintain by hand.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wk2q8v/agentsmd_now_supported_in_claude_code/pao6oxl/)

### 11. Propagate instruction updates to active sessions

- Claude Code, 2026-09-24, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs hoping project instructions can stay in sync with a repo's claude.md eventually. right now i end up keeping two copies of the same context and they drift within a week.” [source](https://twitter.com/2100785586101731328/status/2103115732158644644)
- Claude Code, 2026-09-18, @ClaudeDevs (X): “@claudedevs the docs say updated project instructions reach new threads, not ones already running. a 'send this correction to every active thread' option, with a receipt from each, would make mid-project changes much easier to trust.” [source](https://twitter.com/2180560289/status/2101039543537586448)

## Every agent

| Agent | Overall rank | Reading | Customer love | 95% interval | n | Praise | Complaint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Claude Code](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/claude-code.md) | 1 | Typical | 0.501 | 0.479–0.526 | 439 | 233 | 206 |
| [OpenAI Codex](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/codex.md) | 2 | Typical | 0.501 | 0.472–0.532 | 265 | 141 | 124 |
| [Cursor](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/cursor.md) | 4 | Typical | 0.487 | 0.457–0.515 | 62 | 29 | 33 |
| [Google Antigravity](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/antigravity.md) | =5 | Typical | 0.482 | 0.454–0.509 | 56 | 25 | 31 |
| [OpenCode](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/opencode.md) | 3 | Too few posts | – | – | 27 | 18 | 9 |
| [Pi](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/pi.md) | 7 | Too few posts | – | – | 19 | 10 | 9 |
| [GitHub Copilot](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/copilot.md) | =8 | Too few posts | – | – | 12 | 8 | 4 |
| [Zed](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/zed.md) | =8 | Too few posts | – | – | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| [Kiro](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/kiro.md) | 13 | Too few posts | – | – | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| [Amp](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/amp.md) | =11 | Too few posts | – | – | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| [Cline](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/cline.md) | =8 | Too few posts | – | – | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| [Devin](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/devin.md) | =5 | Too few posts | – | – | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| [Factory](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/factory.md) | =11 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Conductor](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/conductor.md) | 14 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Warp](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/warp.md) | 15 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Grok Build](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/grok-build.md) | 16 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| [Augment Code](https://feedbackbench.com/agents/augment.md) | 17 | Too few posts | – | – | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Posts

Receipts rule: The 5 most recent praise and complaint posts per area (first 700 characters) and 3 per criterion (first 450 characters).

### Claude Code

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “yeah thats pretty much how i have it setup too. its been a week or so but im loving it. it takes longer to get stuff done but all my work is a lot of process and rules driven so definitely shows in final result.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wqxbto/opus_55_fable_51_as_automatic_advisor/pca0r0e/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “biggest win for me was pushing exploration into subagents. the grep and read churn happens in their context and the main session only gets the answer back. second was a where-things-live table in claude.md with real paths, it kills the grep-for-a-name dance. and you can tell it not to re-read after an edit, the edit tool already fails if the old string didn't match” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wqaw75/how_much_of_a_claude_code_session_goes_to_reading/pcavvno/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “the two i use most are boring. a deploy skill with the exact steps and checks so it stops improvising them, and a review skill that makes it read the diff like a stranger before i commit. both came from correcting the same few mistakes by hand one too many times” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wqgyaa/what_skills_do_you_use_on_a_daily_basis/pcb063y/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “check your instructions they may be out dated and causing your output to output well trash i had found out i had instructions from a year ago” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wq375h/opus_55_built_this_cozy_3d_pixel_art_game/pcahvbx/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “lol thats hilarious. thats why you still have to check the outputs and put rules in the [agents.md](<strict_link>) files. otherwise stuff like this happens.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrfmhf/is_this_how_agi_looks_like/pcc2iyj/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i had this configured in my agents.md. the agent actually acknowledged that i told any subagents to be haiku agents for read only and grep type stuff and it apologized for not following those orders. it was a prompt in a fresh session so i guess it didn’t learn my entire agents.md. i guess i should also configgd to not spawn subagents unless i explicitly asked, thanks.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1wrfxw6/slow_credit_burn/pcc93y0/)

### OpenAI Codex

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/programming (Reddit): “to be fair, you're conversing with the "consumer" chat bot. in the codex tool you can switch to smarter models and dial up the thinking, and the system prompt is significantly different. like you've noticed, a common failing of these things is that they pick a coding style somewhat randomly, and then justify what they've done in hindsight by making shit up. that's expected of an "amnesiac" system. sure, yes, it's a failing in a sense, but you're” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/1wpuggf/we_still_maintain_a_development_tool_first/pcch5sm/)
- Praise, 2026-09-26, r/codex (Reddit): “hooks like webhooks? i just give it the file path and tell it, it has to read the file first. which hasn't failed me until now i guess” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wqyau5/i_gave_sol6_medium_a_10_dollar_budget_it_blew_200/pc82uam/)
- Praise, 2026-09-26, r/ChatGPTPro (Reddit): “codex allows you to use an agent file that the system is supposed to reference every turn. use it to keep you on the right track.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTPro/comments/1wqg5xx/how_do_you_keep_long_chatgpt_projects_from/pc40qvm/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/codex (Reddit): “bro, this is a pretty old issue that's been carried over from version to version. the codex harness workaround has been around for a while too and is already well tested. [<strict_link> relying on [agents.md](http://agents.md) isn't very effective when there's a specific harness setting the agent simply can't override.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wrnduj/codex_may_be_eating_up_your_quota_with_senseless/pcf1cwx/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/codex (Reddit): “they tend to be vibe coded prompts. so they build up contradictions and idiotic instructions over time.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wrrs3a/newest_codex_release_avoids_anything_that/pcge1bh/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/codex (Reddit): “how to make him to have such personality? custom instructions never worked for me. am i using it wrong?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1wrrhpx/my_codex_never_says_that_gives_me_an_idea_what_if/)

### Cursor

- 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)
- Praise, 2026-09-22, r/cursor (Reddit): “the quote-before-touching part is the whole trick honestly. i had a rule that just said 'read decisions.md' and the model would happily claim it did while writing against a week-old plan. making it cite one line back makes the lie obvious. the rejected alternatives list is underrated too, it's what stops the agent from re-litigating choices you already killed at 2am.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wmt6rp/cursor_kept_forgetting_stuff_id_already_decided/pbbkahr/)
- Praise, 2026-09-22, r/cursor (Reddit): “yeah i treat that file as the adjudicator. when an agent wants to reopen a rejected alternative, it has to quote the line first, and a review pass only gets to flag things it can cite from that file or the repo. i keep the reviewers read-only so they cannot quietly rewrite the decision to match whatever they just invented. chat memory is allowed to fade. that file is not.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wn2j3q/i_stopped_pasting_huge_rules_into_every_agent/pbbo5n7/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, r/webdev (Reddit): “the en dash in pikspec is doing a lot of work there, your store url has %e2%80%93 sitting right in the middle of it so every link you ever paste looks like it went through a redirector. good luck with that one. [design.md](<strict_link>) is the part i'd actually use, though cursor ignores it unless i @ it in every single message.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1wrriz4/made_a_chrome_extension_so_cursorclaude_stop/pcfb2p6/)
- 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/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/cursor (Reddit): “the last 2 days i tried to change a complete ui with 4.7 and it was disastrous. not even managing to put textsize, padding, or matching colors correctly, much less random clipping of panels, randomly text clipping out of buttons, not being able to align things, not being able to understand mdc instruction files, etc. actually today 4.6 is cleaning up the whole day behind 4.7s mess. im actually shocked, i at least expected it to perform similar. b” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/cursor/comments/1wqhcse/grok_46_vs_47/pc5lsop/)

### Google Antigravity

- Praise, 2026-09-24, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i use the medium and it works much better than the high. lately, it has been going better for me, but i have also changed the instructions to a model with smaller rules and a smaller [agents.md](<strict_link>), and maybe that has something to do with it.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wp3k02/is_gemini_38_flash_getting_stuck_in_loops_for/pbs3wpn/)
- Praise, 2026-09-24, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “yes, common. i have been able to reduce it by working on the agents.md” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wp3k02/is_gemini_38_flash_getting_stuck_in_loops_for/pbsj4bt/)
- Praise, 2026-09-24, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “i definitely notice that something will enter the context on some projects that seems to greatly degrade performance. same model, same timeframe, different project and it's fine. the ide dumps so much more context into the model than the gui or cli versions, it's impossible to control. updating agents.md probably works because that is injected early and so modifies the initial trajectory keeping you out of these weird areas in the model space.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wp3k02/is_gemini_38_flash_getting_stuck_in_loops_for/pbslrov/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, @antigravity (X): “@ash_twtz yes, i would love to see more support for media/design/etc in @antigravity, support and tooling for design.md, etc.” [source](https://twitter.com/2056251/status/2104150215003361657)
- 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, 2026-09-25, r/google_antigravity (Reddit): “that's a good question. i haven't figured that one out either. every wiki and suggestion, i have plunked into settings.json files and loaded them into the correct places. it all shows up, and it all gets ignored by agy 2.0 (on windows) - so i guess it's a "best effort" sort of thing, to always proceed... some people say to run it with --dangerously-skip-permissions - though that didn't seem to do it for me? maybe because i'm not using the cli?” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/google_antigravity/comments/1wpkgy1/why_always_proceed_never_work/pby8fv1/)

### OpenCode

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/opencode (Reddit): “i hope you have an agents.md set project wise, that would be a great help for you in my experience i'd always keep a model specifically for auditing to make sure everything you want is being implemented how you want it, also go slow tackle one thing at a time having parallel sessions or tasks will eventually get overwhelming.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wraeev/need_help_with_big_project_tasks/pcb2kvp/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/opencodeCLI (Reddit): “superhelpful and much nicer than my janky .md version” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencodeCLI/comments/1wqobnf/when_10_cents_isnt_10_cents/pcf6alg/)
- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/devops (Reddit): “[agents.md](http://agents.md) on opencode that manages the creation of tickets in jira and git branches. so whenever i need to create a ticket to work on something, i just say to opencode that i need it to create a ticket to fix blahblahblah on this repo (with the details and relevant context), and it automatically creates the jira ticket following my company policy, assigns it to me, goes to my local laptop folder where the affected repo is clon” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/devops/comments/1wn4d6w/what_are_your_best_sredevops_time_savers/pceklrc/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-27, @opencode (X): “@superalesha @opencode @openrouter why didn't i feel this? my agents md must be underrated then” [source](https://twitter.com/1823803065138601984/status/2104136632685232147)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/opencode (Reddit): “double checked and most of your claims where correct. i updated the repo. and showed more testing. the long agent files had to go its not 2024 they are holding most modern ai back.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/opencode/comments/1wq88es/forked/pc3ar7k/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/ClaudeAI (Reddit): “how i stopped context drift across 3 ai coding agents using os directory junctions i spent three days debugging why my local ai agents kept regressing on bugs i had already fixed. my setup runs antigravity for high-level planning, claude code for terminal execution, and opencode for autonomous repository loops. across months of client work and running a 74-node automation pipeline, i built 30 custom skills covering security rules, scraping patter” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1wqvon2/how_i_stopped_context_drift_across_3_ai_coding/)

### Pi

- Praise, 2026-09-23, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “for external agents omp is fine, for local models like qwen, it dumps a ton of prefill in that actually makes it worse not better. the reason pi works so well it's that you tailor it to your needs and refine it instead of dumping the kitchen sink into you llm as prefill and hoping for the best.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wnvwqa/are_pi_and_ohmypi_are_same/pbkgkvu/)
- 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, 2026-09-20, @pidotdev (X): “@howaboua @pidotdev the token-saving bit showed up for me after i moved the repo rules into one short file. the agent stopped re-reading the whole setup on every tool call.” [source](https://twitter.com/1835841692852682752/status/2101679454003044842)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “also, i found a huge pebkac: pi was getting a bad version of my agents.md. gigo....” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wqh2u4/ohmypi_or_opencode_why/pc4oirb/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-26, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “the downside of this is that your system prompt will get claude code's injected. so it changes the working of your own pi, for better or worse.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wq1bv2/whats_the_best_option_for_using_anthropic/pc5fgrt/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-23, r/PiCodingAgent (Reddit): “anything in your md files is a request, and they can and do forget/ignore. you need to make deterministic gates, not pretty please sir .md files” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/PiCodingAgent/comments/1wo6lr8/how_to_better_enforce_subagent_delegation/pbky6pe/)

### GitHub Copilot

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “i would have all of the instructions in .github/copilot-instructions.md and in the .github/instructions/\*.instructions.md. do not put in an instruction to read another file. it causes a round trip and it means the llm will start solving the problem before the right instructions are injected which means the solution is anchored before instructions. also those instructions are amazing and something most other systems don't have anything close to a” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wre0j7/agentsmd_vs_githubcopilotinstructionsmd_when/pcgdoal/)
- Praise, 2026-09-19, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “use a good claude.md file on root level and can add more claude.md files in project area levels as well. i have both copilot instructions and claude md files. i use opus/sonnet for complex feature/bug fix planning and once i have a good plan i use luna for implementation which is super efficient. as an example last week planned and implemented a .net background service to read files from s3 and update database with just under 50 ai credits which” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wf8lkg/observations_on_claude_code_vs_ghcp/pauyfx1/)
- 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, 2026-09-26, 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, 2026-09-14, r/GithubCopilot (Reddit): “<strict_link> being shown this (tried 3 times). ended up having to create a md file and pasting it there for it to be read. unbelievable that this would even be an issue!” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/GithubCopilot/comments/1wfvxis/issue_with_copy_pasting_into_github_copilot/)
- 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/)

### Zed

- Praise, 2026-09-06, @zeddotdev (X): “@zeddotdev after using this for a day, i think `.agents/prepare` should be a standard thing, and would love to see it in t3 code.” [source](https://twitter.com/1426298051937898498/status/2096454093610848274)
- Complaint, 2026-09-07, @zeddotdev (X): “@zeddotdev @zeddotdev i more feedback, the ignored files (.env) are always missing in delta workspaces -- for my e2e testing, which is a verification setup in my agents.md, that is required, and so the verification always fails” [source](https://twitter.com/1593873113686499329/status/2096958335383917006)
- Complaint, 2026-09-07, @zeddotdev (X): “@harshbhikadia @zeddotdev having verification required in agents.md and still losing .env in the workspace is peak agent friction. writing the house rules once only helps if every new run actually reads them. lazy injects those rules into agents so the contract isn't optional.” [source](https://twitter.com/2084224068518039552/status/2096963726209421513)
- Complaint, 2026-08-31, r/ZedEditor (Reddit): “that's quite an opinionated pre-prompt jeez. i guess they really want their model to demonstrate how great their model is. glad to know this is not sent through acp.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ZedEditor/comments/1w36jk8/why_context_usage_is_so_high_in_zed/p6y4edz/)

### Kiro

- Praise, 2026-09-27, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “my two cents on both from data science product development pov: claude code: i have been using claude code since it's first release. i must say it has improved a lot from different modes to harness improvements. the follow up questions which it asks you in plan mode is similar to plan mode in kiro. while claude code earlier was on cli only on windows later it got major upgrade to better ui as well integrated in vs code. i honestly feel like it r” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1wqueq0/claude_pro_vs_kiro_pro_subscription_which_is/pcc2obm/)
- Praise, 2026-09-13, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “why? im trying to move away from cursor and kiro (cli) within vscode seems fine so far, very similar how you would add cursor rules in a project or globally.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1wevx2a/my_frustrating_experience_with_kiro_aws/p9kozzw/)
- Praise, 2026-09-12, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “hello mate, i’ve been a kiro user since jan 2026. you don’t have to use spec driven development with it .. but for what you want in terms of rules so that the code base stays consistent; kiro will do that using steering files. spec driven development is slow to start, but fast once you’ve clarified the spec and plan. the idea behind it is that you iron out any assumptions that the llm may have about your requirements upfront to avoid any rework a” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1t4k9yc/why_is_kiro_hated_so_much/p9bv1nn/)
- Complaint, 2026-09-13, r/kiroIDE (Reddit): “it's too much bloat.. steering files, and the editor's api make the models kinda dumber? i actually was tasked to check the quality of prompts compared to other others like for example vscode with llms, or cursor, and kiro performed the worst even when using the same models.” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/kiroIDE/comments/1wevx2a/my_frustrating_experience_with_kiro_aws/p9ksr9j/)

### Amp

- Praise, 2026-09-27, @AmpCode (X): “@ileppane @ampcode i use it bare. i just added some global agents like how i want it to respond and some reusable stuff across projects but overall it's bare :)” [source](https://twitter.com/1705384263867379712/status/2104065142564749714)
- Praise, 2026-09-03, @AmpCode (X): “i moved almost my entire content engine into @ampcode. not just writing. research, editing, images, visualizations, and even video. most of my content now starts in the simplest possible way: i open amp and write a rough thought. sometimes i do not even type. i just use voice dictation and dump the idea as it exists in my head. then my harness takes over. inside the project, i have built a set of skills, instructions, references, and templates th” [source](https://twitter.com/1362621975944851461/status/2095340118668382371)
- Praise, 2026-09-01, @AmpCode (X): “i’m curious the mileage people have seen from using either pocock’s engineering skills or poteto’s pstack skills with @ampcode i honestly feel like most of these aren’t needed and are extra instruction when the agent just gets it done on its own. happy to be corrected though.” [source](https://twitter.com/15332208/status/2094821745500815540)
- Complaint, 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)
- Complaint, 2026-09-01, @AmpCode (X): “@mitchcomardo @ampcode some of these skills are like my mom lecturing me when i was a kid when i got the gist after a few words. “ok i get it just let me go” 😆 love you mom 😉” [source](https://twitter.com/15332208/status/2094826965165314438)

### Cline

- Praise, 2026-09-02, @cline (X): “a little lore behind the build: i was not sure if i can use gauntlet loop in cline, so i looked at clines workflow. i discovered that one can separate out the various element of the gauntlet loop in .clinerules and .clinerules/workflows and write a final prompt that can use these 2 along with other instructions. the workflow defines: > non negotiable rules for the game in non-negotiables.md > the instructions, milestones and the loop in gauntle” [source](https://twitter.com/1763427814735265792/status/2095125826220282126)
- Praise, 2026-09-01, r/ClaudeCode (Reddit): “i use deepseek v4 flash on high thinking to do review reports, bug hunting , setting up unit tests and documentation planning i usually dabble between deepseek and chatgpt luna it's more then capable models if you have a harness like with cline and detailed .md files to run them” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeCode/comments/1w4eqy4/new_useage_will_bankrupt_them/p772aa8/)

### Devin

- Complaint, 2026-09-07, r/windsurf (Reddit): “we wrote out 36 business rules before anyone touched the code on a retail project, the boring internal kind, and one of them said that when a national promo and a local promo land on the same discount the national one wins. that rule means nothing outside that one company, it is just how their accounting works. the agent read it, decided it was backwards, and flipped it. then it left four lines of comment under the change explaining that the loca” [source](https://www.reddit.com/r/windsurf/comments/1w9o5op/our_agent_decided_one_of_our_business_rules_was/)