diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index ea324c43fc..630e014669 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Agent Instructions
 
-- Ensure we have dotnet 8 already installet. check dotnet --version
-- we can not run docker or 3rd party services. ignore any integration tests that requires such services
+- Verify that .NET 8 is installed by running `dotnet --version`.
+- Do not run Docker or other external services; skip integration tests that require them.
+- When adding or modifying tests:
+  - Prefer Proto.TestKit utilities.
+  - Use probes instead of `TaskCompletionSource` or ad-hoc recording/forwarding actors.
+  - Assert message contents through `probe.ExpectNext*` methods.
+  - Preserve the existing level of assertions; do not reduce coverage.
+  - When suitable, use `ExpectEmptyMailbox` rather than `ExpectNoMessages`.