AI Rules CLI

Use ai-rules CLI to manage and synchronize AI coding rules across multiple AI assistants, maintaining a single source of truth for coding guidelines that works with Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Opencode, Gemini, and other AI coding agents.

Prerequisites

• ai-rules CLI installed: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/block/ai-rules/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
• Git repository: ai-rules works best in a git repository context
• Repository root access: Run commands from the repository root where ai-rules/ directory should exist

Quick Start

Check if ai-rules is installed:

ai-rules --version

Initialize ai-rules in a project:

ai-rules init

Generate platform-specific files:

ai-rules generate

Check sync status:

ai-rules status

Core Workflow

1. Setup (First Time)

Install ai-rules CLI:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/block/ai-rules/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Initialize in project:

ai-rules init

This creates:

• ai-rules/ directory
• ai-rules-config.yaml configuration file
• Initial example rule file

Configure agents: Edit ai-rules/ai-rules-config.yaml:

agents: [claude, cursor, copilot, codex, opencode, gemini]
nested_depth: 0
gitignore: false

Generate initial files:

ai-rules generate

2. Updating Rules

Edit source files in ai-rules/ directory:

• Add new rule files: ai-rules/my-new-rule.md
• Edit existing rules: ai-rules/react-router-7.md
• Update project context: ai-rules/00-project-context.md

Generate platform-specific files:

ai-rules generate

This automatically creates/updates:

• CLAUDE.md - Rules for Claude Code
• AGENTS.md - Rules for Opencode and other agents
• .cursor/rules/*.mdc - Rules for Cursor
• .github/copilot-instructions.md - Symlink for GitHub Copilot
• Other agent-specific files as configured

3. Checking Sync Status

Check all agents:

ai-rules status

Check specific agents:

ai-rules status --agents claude,cursor

Output interpretation:

• ✅ in sync - Generated files match source files
• ⚠️ out of sync - Source files modified, need regeneration

Use in CI/CD:

ai-rules status || exit 1  # Fails if out of sync

Usage Patterns

Adding a New Rule

1. Create new rule file in ai-rules/:

   touch ai-rules/my-new-rule.md
   

2. Add rule content with optional frontmatter:

   ---
   description: Context description for when to apply this rule
   alwaysApply: true
   fileMatching: "**/*.ts"
   ---
   
   # My New Rule
   
   Rule content here...
   

3. Generate platform files:

   ai-rules generate
   

4. Verify sync:

   ai-rules status
   

Updating Existing Rules

1. Edit source file in ai-rules/:

   # Edit ai-rules/react-router-7.md
   

2. Regenerate platform files:

   ai-rules generate
   

3. Commit both source and generated files:

   git add ai-rules/ CLAUDE.md AGENTS.md .cursor/rules/
   git commit -m "docs: update React Router v7 rules"
   

Initializing in New Project

1. Install CLI (if not already installed)
2. Run ai-rules init in repository root
3. Configure ai-rules-config.yaml for desired agents
4. Create initial project context rule
5. Run ai-rules generate to create platform files
6. Commit both source and generated files

Maintaining Rule Consistency

Regular workflow:

1. Edit source files in ai-rules/
2. Run ai-rules generate to sync
3. Run ai-rules status to verify
4. Commit changes

Before major changes:

1. Check current status: ai-rules status
2. Make changes to source files
3. Generate: ai-rules generate
4. Verify: ai-rules status
5. Test that rules work in target agents
6. Commit

Command Reference

Initialization

# Initialize ai-rules in current directory
ai-rules init

# Initialize with custom parameters (for custom recipes)
ai-rules init --params service=payments --params owner=checkout

# Force initialization without prompts
ai-rules init --force

Generation

# Generate rules for all configured agents
ai-rules generate

# Generate for specific agents only
ai-rules generate --agents claude,cursor

# Generate with nested directory scanning
ai-rules generate --nested-depth 2

# Add generated files to .gitignore
ai-rules generate --gitignore

Status Checking

# Check sync status for all agents
ai-rules status

# Check specific agents
ai-rules status --agents claude,cursor

# Check with nested scanning
ai-rules status --nested-depth 1

Cleanup

# Remove all generated files (keeps source files)
ai-rules clean

# Clean with nested scanning
ai-rules clean --nested-depth 2

Utilities

# List all supported agents
ai-rules list-agents

Configuration

Configuration File: ai-rules/ai-rules-config.yaml

# List of agents to generate rules for
agents: [claude, cursor, copilot, codex, opencode, gemini]

# Agents to generate commands for (defaults to agents list)
command_agents: [claude, cursor]

# Maximum nested directory depth to scan for ai-rules/ folders
nested_depth: 0

# Whether to add generated files to .gitignore
gitignore: false

Configuration Precedence

1. CLI options (highest priority)
2. Config file (ai-rules-config.yaml)
3. Default values (lowest priority)

Experimental Options

Claude Code Skills Mode:

use_claude_skills: true  # Default: false

When enabled, rules with alwaysApply: false are generated as separate skills in .claude/skills/ instead of being included in CLAUDE.md.

Rule File Format

Standard Mode (with frontmatter)

---
description: Context description for when to apply this rule
alwaysApply: true
fileMatching: "**/*.ts"
---

# Rule Title

Rule content here...

Frontmatter fields:

• description - Context description (optional)
• alwaysApply - true (always included) or false (optional/contextual) (default: true)
• fileMatching - Glob patterns for file matching (Cursor-specific)

Symlink Mode (simple markdown)

For simple setups, use a single AGENTS.md file without frontmatter:

• Must be named AGENTS.md
• Must be the only file in ai-rules/
• No YAML frontmatter
• Content used directly by all agents via symlinks

Best Practices

Source of Truth

• Always edit source files in ai-rules/ directory
• Never edit generated files directly (they're overwritten on generation)
• Commit both source and generated files for team consistency

Workflow

1. Edit source files in ai-rules/
2. Run ai-rules generate to sync
3. Verify with ai-rules status
4. Test rules in target agents
5. Commit both source and generated files

Organization

• Use descriptive filenames: react-router-7.md, testing-best-practices.md
• Prefix foundational rules: 00-project-context.md
• Group related rules logically
• Keep rules focused and modular

Maintenance

• Run ai-rules status regularly to catch sync issues
• Use ai-rules generate after any source file changes
• Include ai-rules status in CI/CD to ensure sync
• Document rule changes in commit messages

Integration with Development Workflow

Pre-Commit Hook

Add to .git/hooks/pre-commit:

#!/bin/bash
ai-rules status || (echo "AI rules out of sync. Run 'ai-rules generate'" && exit 1)

CI/CD Pipeline

# .github/workflows/ai-rules.yml
- name: Check AI Rules Sync
  run: ai-rules status || exit 1

- name: Generate AI Rules
  run: ai-rules generate

Team Collaboration

1. Team members edit source files in ai-rules/
2. Run ai-rules generate locally
3. Commit both source and generated files
4. CI/CD verifies sync status
5. All team members have consistent rules across agents

Common Issues

Generated Files Out of Sync

Symptom: ai-rules status shows "out of sync"

Solution:

ai-rules generate

Missing CLI

Symptom: command not found: ai-rules

Solution:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/block/ai-rules/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Configuration Not Applied

Symptom: Changes in ai-rules-config.yaml not taking effect

Solution:

• Check file location (must be in ai-rules/ directory)
• Verify YAML syntax
• CLI options override config file

Reference Documentation

• AI Rules CLI Docs: github.com/block/ai-rules
• Command Reference: See references/cli-commands.md for complete command reference
• Rule Format: See references/rule-format.md for detailed rule file format