This repository hosts the canonical rules and skills every Universal Agent must follow so that behavior stays consistent across runtimes. By mirroring the contents of .agents/ and AGENTS.md, any agent can reboot into a known-good configuration and collaborate with peers safely.
Different AI coding assistants use different conventions to organize their configuration files. For example:
- Claude Code stores skills in
.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md - Cursor stores rules in the
.cursor/rules/folder
This fragmentation means agents cannot easily share or reuse configurations from one another.
Universal Agents solves this by providing a unified structure for organizing rules and skills that works across all AI coding assistants.
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
AGENTS.md |
Control manifest describing the execution protocol, how to load skills/rules, and the required response contract. |
.agents/skills |
Like functions — they let the AI agent execute specific actions. |
.agents/rules |
Like conventions — they inform the AI agent about the guidelines of the codebase. |
- Always read
AGENTS.mdfirst to understand which skills or rules apply before starting a task. - Load skills on demand: read
skills/*/SKILL.mdonly when its trigger matches the task, then follow the prescribed workflow and output format. - Enforce rules whenever relevant: if a task touches REST APIs, React components, or Git commits, preload the corresponding
.agents/rules/*.mdfile and ensure all advice respects it. - Declare context in responses: every reply must list which skills and rules were activated so users know which guardrails were applied.
| Asset | Codex | Claude code |
|---|---|---|
| Preview |  |
 |
Following this structure ensures every Universal Agent bootstraps with the same knowledge base, yielding predictable, rule-compliant collaboration.
| Aspect | Rules (Cursor-style) | Skills (Claude-style) |
|---|---|---|
| Content type | Textual guardrails (e.g., “use python-docx, add a title, keep formatting tidy”). |
End-to-end package with docs, runnable templates, and tooling (often sourced from /mnt/skills/.../SKILL.md). |
| Execution effort | Agent interprets and implements instructions manually. | Provides production-tested code snippets, patterns, and edge-case playbooks ready to drop into a task. |
| Use case | Keeps behavior aligned with policies and coding standards. | Speeds up specialized workflows by handing the agent a toolbox plus demo-quality walkthroughs. |
| Maintenance | Update the prose rule whenever governance changes. | Refresh the skill bundle when better implementations or examples land; the structure makes verification simpler. |
In short:
- Rules are the “manual”
- Skills are the “manual + toolbox + show-and-tell” kit you reach for when the task demands more than guidelines.
pnpm install --global universal-agents| Command / alias | Description |
|---|---|
ua init |
Copies the repository’s AGENTS.md template into the current working directory. |
ua create skill |
Prompts for a skill name and creates .agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md. |
ua create rule |
Prompts for a rule name and creates .agents/rules/<name>.md. |