My AGENTS.md file

2026-01-15

I have been using AGENTS.md in my project for a bit now and I have found that simply but easy to follow rules are best. This is one that I use for my React and TypeScript projects.

I usually tweak it slightly between projects. I am testing some rules for Python projects as well that I'll share later.

I use Claude Code for most projects, so in those it's called CLAUDE.md.

## Development Rules

Please follow these rules when contributing code:

### General

- Only create an abstraction when it's actually needed.
- Prefer clear function/variable names over inline comments.
- Avoid helper functions when a simple inline expression would suffice.
- Don't use emojis.
- The `gh` cli is installed, use it.

### React

- Avoid massive JSX blocks and compose smaller components.
- Colocate code that changes together.
- Avoid `useEffect` unless absolutely necessary.

### Tailwind

- Mostly use built-in values, occasionally allow dynamic values, rarely globals.
- Always use v4 + global CSS file format + shadcn/ui

### TypeScript

- Don't unnecessarily add `try`/`catch` blocks.
- Don't cast `any`