Agentmd Init

Agent Workflow Initialization (agentmd_init)

Initializes or updates AGENTS.md with comprehensive agent workflow sections that establish coding standards, testing requirements, issue tracking practices, and session close procedures.

When to Use

• Starting a new project that needs agent workflow guidance
• Adding missing workflow documentation to an existing project
• Ensuring consistent standards across projects (Design Principles, Bead Closure, Testing Requirements, etc.)
• Setting up bd (beads) issue tracking guidance
• Establishing Landing the Plane procedures for clean session endings

What Gets Added/Updated

The skill ensures these sections exist in AGENTS.md:

1. Design Principles - Five mandatory principles for code changes:

   • Minimal, focused changes (one feature per commit)
   • Adversarial review for complex changes
   • Automated tests per commit
   • Clear, descriptive naming
   • Modular, independently testable design
   • Root directory sacred rule

2. Bead Closure - Testing requirements to close issues:

   • Specific tests that validate exact requirements
   • Unit tests for new code (prevent regressions)
   • No mocks unless explicitly required
   • All tests passing
   • Code committed
   • No known bugs
   • Documentation updated

3. Engram Workflow (if applicable) - Process for closing beads with learning:

   • Writing specific tests
   • Creating unit tests
   • Running tests to verify
   • Committing changes
   • Using bd close to trigger automatic learning

4. Workflow for AI Agents - Step-by-step process:

   • Check ready work
   • Claim task
   • Understand requirement
   • Write test (test-first)
   • Implement
   • Verify tests pass
   • Document changes
   • Commit with tests mentioned
   • Close only when 100% complete

5. Landing the Plane - Session-ending checklist:

   • Review in-progress beads (only close if complete)
   • File remaining work
   • Ensure quality gates pass
   • Commit everything
   • Sync issue tracker
   • Clean git state
   • Verify clean state

6. Issue Tracking with bd - Guide for using beads:

   • Why bd (dependency-aware, git-friendly, agent-optimized)
   • Quick start commands
   • Issue types (bug, feature, task, epic, chore)
   • Priorities (0-4)
   • Best practices
   • Managing AI-generated planning docs in history/

7. Agent Best Practices - General guidelines:

   • Never start development servers
   • Verify work with tests
   • Keep commits focused and small
   • Write clear commit messages
   • Conservative approach when unsure about closure

Usage

Option 1: Load the skill manually

Load this skill in your session:

# The skill is at: .agents/skills/agentmd_init/SKILL.md
# This will inject the workflow guidance into your context

Option 2: Use as a prompt command

When starting a new project, ask to "use the agentmd_init skill" to create/update AGENTS.md with all standard sections.

What Happens

1. If AGENTS.md doesn't exist: Creates it with a project header and all standard sections
2. If AGENTS.md exists: Preserves all existing content and adds/updates only missing sections
3. Maintains formatting: Keeps consistent Markdown style with existing content
4. Protects custom content: Never removes or alters existing sections

Key Principles

• Testing is mandatory: Every commit must have specific tests validating the functionality
• Bead closure is conservative: Only close when work is 100% complete and tests prove it
• Real implementations: Tests use actual code, not mocks (unless explicitly required)
• Clean root directory: All guidance goes in AGENTS.md or docs/, never status/planning files in root
• Learning systems depend on quality: Incomplete work creates bad learning signals

Benefits

• ✅ Consistent agent workflow across projects
• ✅ Clear testing and closure criteria prevent incomplete work
• ✅ Structured session-ending procedures reduce state pollution
• ✅ Integration with bd (beads) for dependency-aware issue tracking
• ✅ Learning loop support (Engram/ACE framework compatible)
• ✅ Clean repository root (planning docs in history/)

See Also

• AGENTS.md - The generated workflow guidance document
• docs/DEVELOPMENT.md - Detailed development workflows
• docs/EXPERIMENT_MANAGEMENT.md - Experiment naming and structure
• bd (beads) documentation - Issue tracking and workflow

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