# Write project instructions (/project-instructions)



The agent reads your project's instructions at the start of every conversation and follows them. Put them in
`AGENTS.md` or `CLAUDE.md` in the folder you start Jinion in. If both exist, the agent gets both.

## What to write [#what-to-write]

Write what someone new to the project would need on their first day, and what the code can't tell them:

* how to build, test and lint, and what to run before calling a change done;
* conventions the code follows, such as naming, folder layout or error handling;
* libraries to use and ones to avoid;
* what not to touch, such as generated files.

Keep it short. Every line goes into every conversation.

```md title="AGENTS.md"
# Conventions

- pnpm, not npm. `pnpm test` runs Vitest; `pnpm typecheck` and `pnpm lint` must pass before a change is done.
- Route handlers live in `src/routes`, one file per resource. Errors are classes in `src/http/errors.ts`.
- Use zod for validation. Don't add new HTTP libraries.
- `src/generated/` is written by `pnpm codegen`; never edit it by hand.
```

## AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md [#agentsmd-or-claudemd]

Both work the same. `AGENTS.md` is the name many agents read, so one file serves all of them. If your project already
has a `CLAUDE.md`, Jinion reads it as it is.

Jinion reads only these two files, in the folder you start it in. Files with these names in parent or sub folders
aren't read, and neither is `CLAUDE.local.md` or your global `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`. To bring the global one in,
`/memory import` adds it as a [memory](/memory) note.

## Instructions vs memory [#instructions-vs-memory]

| Project instructions                 | [Memory](/memory)                                 |
| ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| You write them, in the repository    | The agent writes them, on your machine            |
| Shared with everyone on the project  | Yours alone                                       |
| Always in full in every conversation | An index; the agent opens a note when it needs it |

Put rules the whole team follows in `AGENTS.md`. Leave your own preferences to memory.