How AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and Cursor rules divide the work
10/25/2026 — 10/25, 15:18·1 sources (all)·1 reports (all)
Key takeaways
- A guide for React projects explains how three agent rule files load: AGENTS.md is read by Codex, Cursor and Claude Code;
- a CLAUDE.md starting with @AGENTS.md is needed because Claude Code skips AGENTS.md when CLAUDE.md exists;
- directory-specific instructions go in Cursor .mdc rules or CLAUDE.md.
Background & analysis
On October 25, 2026, DEV Community's AI section published a guide aimed at React projects that lays out how AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and Cursor rules are meant to divide responsibilities.
The article's central recommendation is simple: write your rules once in AGENTS.md, since Codex, Cursor, and Claude Code all read that file. On top of that, add a CLAUDE.md that starts with @AGENTS.md, because by default Claude Code skips AGENTS.md whenever a CLAUDE.md exists, and the @ reference pulls the rules back in. Instructions that only apply to a single directory belong in Cursor .mdc rules or Claude Code path rules instead.
Finally, the article gives guidance on how to keep the file itself manageable for a React and Tailwind design system: keep files short and easy to review, link long documentation rather than pasting it, and put component defaults in code, where an agent cannot skip them.
AI-generated from 1 reports · updated 5 hours ago
Related AI tools
- Heat index
- 86
- All sources
- 1
- All reports
- 1
- First seen
- 6 hours ago
Reports on this story headlines open the original
A write-up lays out how AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and Cursor rules are actually loaded: put rules once in AGENTS.md, which Codex, Cursor and Claude Code all read, then add a CLAUDE.md beginning with @AGENTS.md, since Claude Code skips AGENTS.md by default whenever a CLAUDE.md exists. Instructions that apply to a single folder belong in Cursor .mdc rules or Claude Code path rules.
DEV Community · AIAI score 64
Other stories people are talking about
- Heat index 86NewGiving each agent its own git worktree for parallel work1 sources
- Heat index 43SKILL.md Becomes an Open Standard for Reusable AI Coding Agent Skills1 sources
- Heat index 56Cursor launches Computer Use so its agent can drive desktop apps1 sources
- Heat index 91NewDeveloper shares 5 motion-design recipes for v0, Cursor and Lovable pages1 sources
- Heat index 29Uber offers ChatGPT Work to 30,000 employees after layoffs1 sources
How is heat calculated?About the methodHide
Heat counts how many independent sources covered a story in the last 48 hours: one source counts once no matter how many posts it published, decaying with a 24-hour half-life. What ranks first is what many people are talking about.
This page aggregates public feeds. Headlines and summaries are machine-organized and remain the property of the original authors; verify important facts at the source. If you believe a headline or summary infringes your rights, email the contact address in the footer with the page URL and basis of your claim, and we will remove or replace it after review.
- Surge
- Discussion rising fast
- New
- First report within 6 hours
- Rising
- Still gathering discussion