AGENTS.md vs CLAUDE.md vs Cursor Rules: which context file should you use?

If you use more than one AI coding tool, you have probably seen AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and Cursor Rules and wondered whether you need all three.

The short answer

Use AGENTS.md as your canonical file — it is the emerging open standard. Mirror it into CLAUDE.md and .cursorrules for tools that expect their own format. The content is the same; only the filename differs.

Why keep them in sync

Drift is the real risk. When your Cursor rules say one thing and your CLAUDE.md says another, the agent picks the wrong convention. Generate all three from a single source so they never disagree.

RepoContext scans your repository and produces all three formats at once. Generate yours.