/acreadiness-generate-instructions — write AI agent instructions

Use this skill whenever the user wants to create, regenerate, or refresh their custom instructions for AI coding agents (Copilot, Claude, etc.). This is the Generate step in AgentRC's Measure → Generate → Maintain loop and the single highest-leverage action for the AI Tooling pillar.

Output options

VS Code recognises several instruction file types — AgentRC generates the most common ones:

Strategies

• flat (default) — single .github/copilot-instructions.md at the chosen path. Simple, easy to review.
• nested — hub at .github/copilot-instructions.md + per-topic detail files at .github/instructions/<topic>.instructions.md, each with an applyTo glob so VS Code only loads the topic when it's relevant. Better for large or multi-stack repos.

Why .github/instructions/ and not .agents/? AgentRC's default nested layout writes to .agents/, which is the right home for agent-agnostic repos (Copilot + Claude + Cursor reading AGENTS.md). For VS Code Copilot specifically, the native location is .github/instructions/ with applyTo frontmatter — that's what Copilot auto-discovers. This skill rewrites AgentRC's nested output to the VS Code-native location whenever the main output is .github/copilot-instructions.md. If you instead chose --output AGENTS.md, nested keeps AgentRC's default .agents/ layout.

For monorepos, generate area-scoped instructions with --areas, --area <name>, or --areas-only. Areas are defined in agentrc.config.json. Per-area output is written as VS Code .instructions.md files with an applyTo glob (see below).

Topic vs area .instructions.md files

Both end up in .github/instructions/ but they answer different questions:

You can have both at once: a nested set of topic files plus per-area files for a monorepo.

Per-area files with applyTo

When the user opts into areas, emit one VS Code-native .instructions.md file per area at .github/instructions/<area>.instructions.md. Each file MUST start with frontmatter declaring the glob the rules apply to:

---
applyTo: "apps/frontend/**"
---

# Frontend area instructions

…AgentRC-generated content for this area…

Workflow:

1. Read agentrc.config.json to discover declared areas and their paths / globs. If paths is missing, ask the user for the glob (e.g. src/api/**).
2. Run agentrc instructions --areas (or --area <name>) to produce the per-area body content.
3. Wrap each area's content in .github/instructions/<area>.instructions.md with the applyTo frontmatter taken from the area's paths. If the user passed --apply-to <glob> on a single-area call, use that glob verbatim.
4. Leave the main file alone — the root .github/copilot-instructions.md stays as the always-on instructions; .instructions.md files only kick in for matching paths.

Naming: lowercase, kebab-case area name. Examples: .github/instructions/frontend.instructions.md, .github/instructions/api.instructions.md, .github/instructions/infra.instructions.md.

Steps

1. Pick the target file. Default to .github/copilot-instructions.md. Switch to AGENTS.md only if the user mentions multi-agent / Claude / Cursor support.
2. Always ask which strategy to use — flat or nested — unless the user already specified one in their message or via --strategy. Present the trade-off briefly:
   • Flat (default) — one .github/copilot-instructions.md. Simple, easy to review in a single PR. Best for small/medium repos with one stack.

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