# Coding agents aren’t reading the rules

- Link: https://jeffpaul.com/2026/08/coding-agents-arent-reading-the-rules/
- Published: 2026-08-13T13:43:14-05:00
- Author: jeffpaul

I was recently quoted in [The New Stack’s article on coding agents ignoring open source contribution guidelines](https://thenewstack.io/coding-agents-ignore-guidelines/),
which covers research from Peking University highlighting a growing challenge for
open source maintainers.

> **TL;DR:** Coding agents are focused on completing tasks, not necessarily following
> a project’s contribution rules.  Better instructions can help, but maintainers
> shouldn’t have to duplicate documentation across formats or rely on agents to 
> police themselves.  Existing review and contribution workflows remain essential.

The researchers tested four AI models against contribution policies across 49 repositories
and found that agents rarely sought out those policies on their own.  Even when 
explicitly reminded, they continued to contribute to projects that prohibited AI-
generated code.

One point I raised in the article is that adding an `AGENTS.md` files isn’t necessarily
the solution because too often these files duplicate existing contributor documentation,
creating another place maintainers need to keep docs updated.

I’ve been experimenting with maintaining a single local `AGENTS.md` file and carrying
those instructions across the coding tools I use (e.g. into Claude’s `CLAUDE.md`
file).  It’s not perfect, but it helps establish consistent expectations about discovering
and respecting repository-specific guidelines.

My takeaway is that we need to focus less on creating additional documentation and
more on making existing policies discoverable, consistent, and enforceable.

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