linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 1/4] agents: add unified agent coding assistant configuration

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Message-ID: <202507272210.E8E64F6C@keescook>
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2025 22:16:32 -0700
From: Kees Cook <kees@...nel.org>
To: Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>
Cc: corbet@....net, linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, workflows@...r.kernel.org,
	josh@...htriplett.org, konstantin@...uxfoundation.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, rostedt@...dmis.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/4] agents: add unified agent coding assistant
 configuration

On Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 12:43:52AM -0400, Sasha Levin wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 27, 2025 at 07:37:31PM -0700, Kees Cook wrote:
> > On Sun, Jul 27, 2025 at 03:57:59PM -0400, Sasha Levin wrote:
> > > Create a single source of truth for agent instructions in
> > > Documentation/AI/main.md with symlinks for all major coding
> > > agents:
> > > - CLAUDE.md (Claude Code)
> > > - .github/copilot-instructions.md (GitHub Copilot)
> > > - .cursorrules (Cursor)
> > > - .codeium/instructions.md (Codeium)
> > > - .continue/context.md (Continue)
> > > - .windsurfrules (Windsurf)
> > > - .aider.conf.yml (Aider)
> > 
> > I *really* don't like this. I use the CLAUDE.md file as my instructions
> > for my agent. I think all of these should be .gitignore entries.
> 
> Sorry, I might have misunderstood you: how does it play out if we add
> these to .gitignore?

Then what claude learns about my workflows and preference can be
correctly stored in CLAUDE.me (which is how claude is designed to work).
I would think of it like why we don't ship a debian/ package build tree:
it's going to be different for everyone. And if you look in .gitignore
you can already see that /debian/ is there. :) These agent files are for
developer-specific use, and adding them to .gitignore is the right
approach (at least for Claude and Gemini). Which reminds me, please
also include GEMINI.md in your list. :)

> The tool will just end replacing whatever we put in there with something
> customized that doesn't necessarily correspond to what the community
> will consider a "standard" set of rules for agents?

Right, and then it will always be a git diff delta and cause pain. For
the agents that are designed to _write_ to their files, then it needs
to be in .gitignore.

-- 
Kees Cook