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layout title nav_order has_children permalink doc_mission doc_out_of_scope
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Tool Guides
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/tool-guides/
Translate framework content into tool-specific containers and loading models.
New artifact requirements outside framework tiers.

Tool Guides

The principles in this framework are tool-agnostic. The same guidelines — project scope, tech stack, coding standards — work regardless of whether you use Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, or something else.

Section Responsibility

  • Mission: translate the same guideline content into tool-specific containers and loading models.
  • In scope: file formats, locations, precedence, and tool-specific capabilities.

What differs is the container: file names, locations, syntax, and loading behavior. These guides show how to translate your guidelines into each tool's format.

Cross-Tool Mental Model

All LLM coding tools share the same pattern:

You write guidelines → Tool loads them → Model reads them → Model follows them

The differences:

Aspect Claude Code Cursor Copilot AGENTS.md
File CLAUDE.md .cursor/rules/*.mdc .github/copilot-instructions.md AGENTS.md
Format Markdown Markdown + YAML frontmatter Markdown Markdown
Scoping Subdirectory files Glob patterns in frontmatter Path-specific instruction files Subdirectory files
Loading Always (root), auto (subdirs) Always, auto (glob), or manual Always Closest file wins
Multi-file Yes (hierarchy) Yes (rule per file) Yes (instructions directory) Yes (hierarchy)

For executable quality gates across tools, see Hooks.

Which Guide Do You Need?

Available guides:

{% include components/child-pages-list.html parent=page.title path_prefix="docs/05-tool-guides/" current_url=page.url %}

For most teams:

  • Start with AGENTS.md for portable baseline guidance.
  • Add your primary tool guide next (Claude Code, Cursor, or Copilot).
  • Add Hooks, Skills, Sub-Agents, and Agent Teams only when those workflows become necessary.

Multi-Tool Strategy

If your team uses more than one tool:

  1. Write your guidelines as plain markdown (the content from this framework)
  2. Pick a primary format for the tool most of your team uses
  3. Add secondary formats only if a tool's unique features add value (e.g., Cursor's glob scoping)
  4. If Claude Code is in the mix, keep a root CLAUDE.md synced to AGENTS.md (copy, symlink, or @AGENTS.md)
  5. Keep content in sync — update the source, then update the format-specific files

The overhead of maintaining 2-3 format variants is small. The content — which is 90% of the work — is shared.

References