Pattern: AGENTS.md Is Becoming the Standard Interface Contract Between Open-Source Projects and AI Agents

Simon Willison·medium signal

SQLite's AGENTS.md joins a growing pattern: mature open-source projects publishing formal contracts for AI agent interaction. Unlike CLAUDE.md (which configures an agent's behavior), AGENTS.md defines what agents may and may not do with a project — submission rules, acceptable contribution types, and quality gates. The pattern addresses a real problem: AI agents flooding projects with low-quality PRs and bug reports. Expect AGENTS.md to become as standard as CONTRIBUTING.md, especially after Augment Code published a guide on building effective AGENTS.md files.