Start here: this week
Give your assistant the rules: AGENTS.md
Every repository you work in this week has an AGENTS.md at its root. It tells a
coding assistant what the repository is, what it may and may not do there, and which
commands to run. Point your assistant at it before you ask for anything, and it stops
guessing.
Where the file is
| Repository | The file | What it says |
|---|---|---|
The course folder, dev3pack-cohort-2026-09 |
AGENTS.md at the root, and CLAUDE.md beside it |
how to help with a session without writing your answers |
Your final assignment, my-final-assignment |
AGENTS.md at the root, and CLAUDE.md beside it |
the research agent, the contract tests, and never tuning on the final questions |
Your Gecko capstone, my-gecko-buyer |
AGENTS.md at the root, and CLAUDE.md beside it |
the buyer, the order of the Gecko calls, and the key rules |
One file, read by every assistant. Open it once yourself: it is short, and it is the same rules your assistant is following. Why a file of rules works at all is session 1's subject: configuring your assistant.
How each assistant finds it
| Assistant | What it reads | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | CLAUDE.md, which imports AGENTS.md with its first line, @AGENTS.md |
nothing: start claude in the repository's folder |
| OpenAI Codex | AGENTS.md, natively |
nothing: start codex in the repository's folder |
| Cursor | AGENTS.md, natively |
open the repository's folder as the project |
| GitHub Copilot in VS Code | AGENTS.md |
open the repository's folder as the workspace |
| Gemini CLI | GEMINI.md by default |
add .gemini/settings.json with {"context": {"fileName": ["AGENTS.md", "GEMINI.md"]}}, then start gemini in the folder |
| A chat with no file access (Claude web, ChatGPT) | nothing on its own | paste the contents of AGENTS.md as your first message |
Start the assistant inside the repository's folder. An assistant started in your
home folder reads nobody's AGENTS.md.
A repository made before 30 September may have no CLAUDE.md or no AGENTS.md.
Claude Code from version 2.1.277 reads AGENTS.md when there is no CLAUDE.md; on an
older version, add a CLAUDE.md whose first line is @AGENTS.md. The
final assignment tutorial has the two commands that copy both
files in.
The first prompt
Paste this first, in any assistant, inside the repository's folder:
Read AGENTS.md and tell me, in five lines: what this repository is, what you must not do here, and the command that checks my work. Then wait for my first question.
If the answer does not match the file, the assistant did not load it. Check that you started it in the right folder, then paste the file instead.
Two more things your assistant should have
- The course. Connect the course MCP so it answers from the course pages and names the page: connect any assistant.
- For the capstone, Gecko's store tools. The same page shows how to add
https://mcp.geckovision.tech/orquestra/mcp.
What it will not do for you
The rules say explain before writing. Ask it why a check failed and it will point at the file and the session; ask it to write the answer and it will explain the idea instead. The checks are yours, and on Friday you explain your own code.