---
name: instruction-guide
description: "AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md instruction-file guidelines: structure, brevity, sync with directory. Apply when editing `AGENTS.md` or `CLAUDE.md` files. Use for assimilating patterns, simplifying verbosity, syncing structure. Keywords: AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, project instructions, directory structure, patterns, dry-run, preserve context."
---

# Project Instruction Guidelines

## Core Principles

- **Preserve Project Context** - Never modify technology names, paths, or commands
- **Match Style and Voice** - Maintain target file's formatting and terminology
- **Structure Integrity** - Keep section order and hierarchy intact
- **Safe Modifications** - Use dry-run to preview changes before applying

## Common Operations

- **Assimilate** - Extract organizational patterns from source and integrate into target
- **Simplify** - Reduce verbosity while preserving structure and workflows
- **Sync** - Update directory listings to reflect current filesystem state

## Progressive Disclosure

- **Assimilate patterns** - Augment instructions with patterns from another file, see [reference/assimilate.md](reference/assimilate.md)
- **Simplify instructions** - Reduce verbosity in AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md, see [reference/simplify.md](reference/simplify.md)
- **Sync with filesystem** - Update directory structure to current state, see [reference/sync.md](reference/sync.md)