threadctx

What each agent loads

Each adapter is a dated fact: it records the documentation it models and when that was checked. A tool whose adapter is older than 60 days shows a staleness warning in the CLI.

AGENTS.md (Codex and other AGENTS.md readers) beta

AGENTS.md at the repo root and in subdirectories; the closest file to the edited file takes precedence.

Verified against https://agents.md/ on 2026-10-03.

  • Each AGENTS.md reader decides how nested files combine; this view loads every AGENTS.md from the root down, nearest last (highest precedence).
  • Codex-specific AGENTS.override.md replaces AGENTS.md in the same directory.

Claude Code ga

CLAUDE.md, .claude/CLAUDE.md and CLAUDE.local.md from the working directory up, subdirectory files on demand, @imports (4 hops), .claude/rules with `paths`, and AGENTS.md when no CLAUDE.md exists.

Verified against https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory on 2026-10-03, tool version 2.1.144. Also checked against the real tool.

  • Assumes Claude Code is started at the repository root with the default `claude-md-or-agents-md` project-instructions setting.
  • Reading AGENTS.md directly requires Claude Code v2.1.277 or later; earlier versions read CLAUDE.md only. The AGENTS.md fallback is modelled from the docs and not yet oracle-verified.
  • User (~/.claude) and managed-policy files are outside the repository and are not shown unless --machine is used.

Cursor beta

Project rules in .cursor/rules (.mdc with description, globs, alwaysApply), plus AGENTS.md at the root and in subdirectories.

Verified against https://cursor.com/docs/context/rules on 2026-10-03.

  • Team rules and user rules live in Cursor's settings, not the repository, and are not shown.
  • Legacy .cursorrules is no longer described in Cursor's docs; it is shown as legacy and may not load.
  • Glob patterns without a slash are matched against the file name anywhere in the tree.

GitHub Copilot beta

.github/copilot-instructions.md, path-specific .github/instructions/*.instructions.md (applyTo, excludeAgent), and AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md / GEMINI.md for the cloud agent.

Verified against https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/configure-custom-instructions/add-repository-instructions on 2026-10-03.

  • Copilot surfaces differ: path-specific files load for the cloud agent and code review; AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md and GEMINI.md only for the cloud agent. Personal and organization instructions are not in the repository.
  • IDE behaviour (VS Code) is documented separately and may load more.

Gemini CLI beta

GEMINI.md (or names from context.fileName) at the root and ancestors at start, subdirectory files just in time, all concatenated; @imports supported.

Verified against https://geminicli.com/docs/cli/gemini-md/ on 2026-10-03.

  • Global ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md is outside the repository and not shown unless --machine is used.
  • The docs do not state an import depth limit; this view stops after 5 hops.