When a repo has no AGENTS.md (or CLAUDE.md for Claude Code) at all, should a coding agent just proceed without persistent instructions, or take action?
Fix: When a repo has no AGENTS.md (or CLAUDE.md), a coding agent should proactively create one itself the first time it discovers conventions worth persisting (naming rules, folder structure, workflow rules) rather than waiting to be asked — both agents.md and Claude Code's own docs describe these files as the standard mechanism for persistent project context, read at the start of every session. If the content isn't yet meant to be a team-wide standard (still being iterated on, or a personal/local preference rather than an endorsed team rule), Claude Code has a purpose-built local/gitignored variant for exactly this: CLAUDE.local.md, which the /init command's personal-option flow adds to .gitignore automatically. A repo can also simply gitignore AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md directly if the team prefers steering files stay local-only rather than committed and team-shared.
agent-rulesagents.mdclaude-codeworkflowbootstrapping
References
- https://agents.md/ — AGENTS.md is a dedicated, predictable markdown file for giving coding agents context/instructions; plain markdown, any headings.
- https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory — For private per-project preferences that shouldn't be checked into version control, create a CLAUDE.local.md at the project root; add it to .gitignore; running /init and choosing the personal option does this automatically.