I Code By Hand

i-code-by-hand

Overview

Use this skill to keep repo-specific agent guidance outside the project tree. It lets Codex and Claude share one global memory root without adding AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md to repositories that do not already have them.

Global memory root:

~/.agentsmd

Decision rules

Before repo-specific work

1. Resolve the project root. Prefer the Git worktree root:

PROJECT_ROOT=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)

If that fails, inspect parent directories before accepting pwd. Use the nearest parent that looks like a project root, such as a directory containing .hg, .svn, package.json, pyproject.toml, Cargo.toml, go.mod, Makefile, or README.md. If no parent has a clear project marker, use the current working directory as the project root.

2. Check the project root for local instruction files:

ls "$PROJECT_ROOT/AGENTS.md" "$PROJECT_ROOT/CLAUDE.md" 2>/dev/null

3. If either file exists, follow the local project instructions first. Stop the delegation lookup for normal coding, review, debugging, and repo advice.

4. If neither file exists, compute the repo key from the project root and look for:

~/.agentsmd/{repo-key}/AGENTS.md

5. If that file exists, read it before changing code, reviewing code, debugging, or giving repo-specific advice. Treat this as an automatic pre-work check; do not wait for the user to mention global memory.

6. If it does not exist, do not create it unless the user asks to remember, store, update, or revise memory.

Local instruction edits

If the user explicitly asks to create, edit, replace, remove, or review project-local AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md, the named local file is the target.

• Do not substitute a global memory update for the requested local-file change.
• Do not create or edit ~/.agentsmd unless the user also asks for a global memory change.
• Do not copy global memory into the local file unless the user asks to migrate, import, or reuse it.
• If local instructions and global memory both exist, local instructions remain authoritative.

Repo key

Prefer the Git remote owner and repo name:

git -C "$PROJECT_ROOT" remote get-url origin 2>/dev/null

Normalize common GitHub remote formats to owner/repo:

https://github.com/owner/repo.git -> owner/repo
git@github.com:owner/repo.git -> owner/repo

If there is no usable remote, use the project root basename:

basename "$PROJECT_ROOT"

Examples:

~/.agentsmd/mym0404/i-code-by-hand/AGENTS.md
~/.agentsmd/local-folder-name/AGENTS.md

Memory updates

When the user asks to remember or update repo-specific guidance:

1. Compute the repo key. 2. Read the existing global AGENTS.md if it exists. 3. Create the parent directory if needed. 4. Write only current repo guidance that should apply in future sessions. 5. Remove duplicate, stale, or conflicting guidance while editing. 6. Keep local project instructions authoritative when they exist.

If the user says only "remember this", "store this for this repo", or "update memory", prefer global memory. If they name AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, "project file", or "local instructions", edit the local file they named.

Do not store secrets, credentials, tokens, or private personal data. If a requested memory entry would be risky to persist, explain the risk and ask for a safer wording.

Priority

Use this order when instructions overlap:

1. Direct user instruction in the current conversation. 2. Project-local AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md. 3. Global repo memory from ~/.agentsmd. 4. General coding practices.

If global memory conflicts with local project instructions, follow the local project instructions and mention the conflict briefly.