Re: [PATCH] docs: add AGENTS.md as a symlink to README

["Theodore Tso" <tytso@mit.edu>]

On Thu, Sep 24, 2026 at 09:49:45AM -0500, Sasha Levin wrote:
> Most coding agents have standardized on AGENTS.md as the file they load
> automatically from the root of a repository. README already tells AI
> tools to read and follow Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst,
> but that only helps if the agent decides to read README before acting,
> which in practice it often doesn't.
> 
> Add a top-level AGENTS.md symlink to README, so agents load it on their
> own and follow its pointer to the AI guidelines. This keeps a single
> entry point for every reader, and avoids adding a separate copy of the
> policy that could drift from the RST.

There's a lot of stuff in README that isn't going to be useful for to
an AI agent.  This will resullt in an increased amount of token
consumption, that could impact people's token budgets.  Prehaps it
would be a bit more efficient if we explicitly ask the agent to read
and follow certain process files, including coding-assistants.rst; if
they are preparing a patch, to consult submitting-patches.rst, etc?

     	 	     	       	       - Ted