Write agent instructions

Agent instructions are text a model or agent executes: skills and slash commands, AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md, system and developer prompts, and task prompts written for an agent. In a mixed artifact, such as a prompt inside application code, change only the instruction content; the repository's own workflow owns code integration and runtime checks.

Boundaries

• Answer planning-only requests in conversation: plans, designs, critiques, outlines, and discussions of instruction structure. For mixed requests, resolve the plan first and write files once the implementation path is clear. Apply steps 3 and 5 to instruction text you draft in conversation, proposals included, before showing it.
• Treat named tools, skills, frameworks, and workflows as context for the plan; switch to file creation only on the user's explicit ask. When file-writing intent is ambiguous and edits would be surprising, ask before editing.
• A review-only or evaluation-only request stays read-only: check the artifact against this skill's rules and report findings in conversation.
• Existing explicit authorization carries forward. Ask only about unresolved scope or material preferences.

References

Load a reference at the step named here when its condition holds, or where another pointer names it.