Create, edit, or refactor instruction/rules files for workspace or user. Use for requests like "global (rules|instructions)", "my (rules|instructions)", "your (rules|instructions)", "project (rules|instructions)", "workspace (rules|instructions)", "user (rules|instructions)", "path rules", "file rules", "coding standards", "guardrails", "policy".
Create or update instruction files (VS Code / Copilot) or rules files (Cursor) at the correct scope.
See also: The agent-customization skill for the full Decision Flow table (when to use instructions vs. prompts vs. agents vs. hooks), Common Pitfalls, and references to all primitive types.
| Scope | Description | Target location |
|---|---|---|
user (default) | Your personal rules — roam with settings sync, apply across all workspaces | ~/.agents/rules/ or ~/.agents/instructions/ |
workspace |
| Project-scoped, team-shared — committed to the repo |
.github/instructions/ |
path | Scoped to a specific file or directory — applyTo glob derived from the path | ~/.agents/rules/ (user) or .github/instructions/ (workspace) |
When scope=path is not explicitly specified, infer the path from the file currently open or referenced in context.
scope=user or scope=path at user level)| Directory | When to use |
|---|---|
~/.agents/rules/ | Primary location for personal instructions. Used by VS Code Copilot and Claude Code agents. |
~/.agents/instructions/ | Alternative location; functionally identical. Some system-managed files live here. |
Files here roam with the user's profile and apply across every workspace. Prefer ~/.agents/rules/ for hand-authored rules.
scope=workspace)| Path | Description |
|---|---|
.github/instructions/*.instructions.md | Standard VS Code location — auto-picked up by Copilot |
<project-root>/.github/copilot-instructions.md | Always-on workspace instructions (no frontmatter needed) |
Every .instructions.md file must have YAML frontmatter between --- markers:
---