Claude Code now reads AGENTS.md
Starting in Claude Code 2.1.277, a project without a CLAUDE.md file gets AGENTS.md instead. Same place in the context. Same framing. Anthropic shipped it as a built-in plugin, not a rewrite of the engine.
The default is fallback: if the project already has a CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md, or CLAUDE.local.md, Claude Code stays on that file and leaves AGENTS.md alone. You can change the mode in /config, under Project instructions.
There are four choices. CLAUDE.md only. AGENTS.md when there is no CLAUDE.md. Both files at once. Or managed-only, which drops the project and personal files and keeps the organization file. You can also turn the plugin off in /plugin.
This is the file I already keep in repos so Cursor and Codex start with the same rules. Claude Code catching up means I can stop maintaining a second CLAUDE.md just for that tool.