Context Engineering with AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md
Coding agents are only as good as the context they receive. In this workshop you learn to design instruction files such as AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md: what belongs in them, what does not, and how to keep them accurate. You write and test files for your own repository and observe how better context changes the quality of agent output.
Request without obligation- Duration
- half day
- Level
- Intermediate
- Format
- Remote or on-site, English or German
- Group size
- Up to 12 participants per trainer
Who it is for
- Developers and tech leads who use coding agents
- Teams that want consistent agent behaviour across members
- Maintainers of shared repositories and templates
What your team will be able to do
- Explain how agents load and use project instruction files
- Document build, test and style conventions in a concise, testable way
- Separate stable project rules from task-specific instructions
- Measure improvements by comparing agent output before and after
- Establish ownership and review for instruction files
Agenda
- Why context mattersHow agents read your repository and why vague or bloated instructions lead to poor results.
- Anatomy of an instruction fileCommands, architecture notes, conventions and boundaries: what to include and how to phrase it.
- Writing for your repositoryParticipants draft files for their own project, supported by trainer feedback.
- Testing the contextRunning the same task with and without the file and comparing the results.
- Maintenance and governanceKeeping files current, handling monorepos and sharing patterns across teams.
Prerequisites
- Experience with at least one coding agent
- A repository you may add files to
- Familiarity with your build and test commands
Why apprat.io workshops
- Taught by practising AI Code Engineers
- Your repositories or a sandbox project
- AI speed, human responsibility: review, security and governance included
- ISO 9001 & ISO/IEC 27001 certified processes
- Follow-up office hours after 30 days
Request without obligation
Tell us about your team and goals. We reply within one business day with a tailored agenda and a quote – free and without obligation.
24/7 call support in English & German:
+49 761 519 751 50
Frequently asked questions
Is AGENTS.md specific to one tool?
It is a convention that several tools read. We also cover tool-specific files such as CLAUDE.md and show how to keep them aligned.
How long should an instruction file be?
As short as possible while covering what the agent cannot infer from the code. We practise trimming in the workshop.
Can sensitive information go into these files?
No. Instruction files are part of the repository, so secrets and confidential details do not belong in them.
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