Rules
Keep standing behavior rules in one place so connected agents start with the right defaults.
A Rule is an always-on behavior instruction for your connected agents.
Use Rules for things that should shape behavior before search, tools, or task-specific skills begin. They are the centralized version of the small instructions many power users already keep in AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, Cursor rules, Codex profiles, or a Hermes soul.
What belongs in a Rule
A good Rule changes how an agent behaves across many tasks:
- "Answer concisely unless I ask for detail."
- "Do not edit generated API docs by hand."
- "For release work, check tests before saying the change is ready."
- "When writing Chinese docs, write natural Chinese instead of translating English line by line."
Rules are not for everything. If the instruction is a repeatable task method, make it a Skill. If it is something you learned, save it as a Memory. If it only matters today, keep it in Working Memory.
The first useful move
Open Context → Rules and add one rule you keep repeating to agents.
Choose the narrowest useful scope:
| Scope | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Everyone | Every connected AI should follow it |
| One AI Profile | Only a named agent should follow it |
| One Space | It only applies inside a project or team lane |
Then open Context → Preview. You should see the rule in the startup context for the matching agent.
Rules, Skills, and Memories
These three can look similar, but they do different jobs:
| Thing | What it means |
|---|---|
| Rule | "Always behave this way." |
| Skill | "When doing this task, follow this method." |
| Memory | "This is something worth remembering." |
Example:
- Rule: "Do not hand-edit generated OpenAPI docs."
- Skill: "How to add a new API endpoint without breaking generated docs."
- Memory: "The OpenAPI docs are generated from Python docstrings."
The boundary matters because Rules are injected early and often. A vague or wrong Rule can steer many sessions. Keep Rules short, specific, and easy to inspect.
Suggested Rules
Mem can suggest candidate Rules when repeated behavior shows up in your work. A suggestion is not automatically applied. You can accept it, edit it, or ignore it.
This keeps the useful part of automation, noticing repeated preferences and project habits, without letting the system silently rewrite how your agents behave.
How connected tools consume Rules
Supported connectors read Rules through the Context Bundle at session start. The bundle combines your profile, the selected AI Profile, active space, Rules, Working Memory, and useful file-system paths.
Some older or simpler integrations may only read Working Memory. In that case, Rules still help inside Mem and in newer connectors, but the older tool may not see them until its integration is updated.
What to ignore for now
You do not need to turn every preference into a Rule. If you would not want it repeated in most future sessions, do not make it always-on.
You do not need to write long policy documents. Short rules are easier for agents to follow and easier for you to trust.
You do not need to understand MCP or KFS paths to use Rules. Start in the Context view.
Where to go next
- AI Profiles if different agents need different behavior.
- Skills if the behavior is really a task method.
- Context to preview the final startup bundle.