---
title: "Instructions"
description: ""
---

Instructions are privileged context that guide an agent throughout a session.
V2 combines built-in context, discovered `AGENTS.md` files, and dynamic sources
such as skill, reference, MCP, and session context. It stores source values as
durable deltas, then renders initial instructions and chronological updates when
assembling each model request.

## AGENTS.md

Use `AGENTS.md` for persistent guidance such as build commands, architecture,
code conventions, and verification requirements. Commit project files so the
whole team receives the same instructions.

V2 loads:

1. The global file at `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/opencode/AGENTS.md`, normally
   `~/.config/opencode/AGENTS.md`.
2. Every `AGENTS.md` from the current Location up to and including the project
   root.

For example, when the Location is `packages/web`, OpenCode can load all three
project files below:

```text
my-project/
├── AGENTS.md
└── packages/
    ├── AGENTS.md
    └── web/
        └── AGENTS.md
```

The files are combined rather than selecting a single winner. They are rendered
in this order: global, then project files from the Location toward the project
root. OpenCode does not resolve conflicts between their contents, so keep broad
guidance global and put scoped guidance in the relevant project directory.

If the Location is outside the project root, only the global file is loaded.
Setting `OPENCODE_DISABLE_PROJECT_CONFIG=1` also skips project `AGENTS.md`
discovery but does not disable the global file.

<Callout type="note">
  Current V2 discovery only recognizes `AGENTS.md`. The `CLAUDE.md` fallback and related precedence described by older
  OpenCode documentation do not apply.
</Callout>

### Nested instructions

An `AGENTS.md` below the Location is not part of the initial upward scan. When
the read tool successfully reads a file or lists a directory, OpenCode discovers
`AGENTS.md` files from that target upward to, but not including, the Location.
It adds newly discovered files to the session in nearest-first order.

Each nested file is injected once per session and recorded in durable session
history. Reading the same area again does not inject it again. Consequently,
editing an already injected nested `AGENTS.md` does not replace its earlier
session entry automatically; start a new session if the updated text must apply
immediately.

## Config entries

The V2 config schema accepts an `instructions` array of strings:

```jsonc title="opencode.jsonc"
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "instructions": ["CONTRIBUTING.md", "docs/guidelines/*.md", "https://example.com/shared-instructions.md"],
}
```

Configuration is loaded from global through project-local files. If more than
one config defines `instructions`, the highest-precedence, closest config's
entire array is selected; arrays are not merged.

<Callout type="warning">
  V2 currently parses and retains this field but does not resolve its entries into instruction sources. Local files,
  glob patterns, and HTTP or HTTPS URLs in `instructions` therefore do not reach the model yet. Use `AGENTS.md` for
  active V2 instructions. URL fetching and timeout behavior documented for V1 are not supported by the current V2
  implementation.
</Callout>

See [Config](/config) for config locations and general precedence.

## Ordering

The selected agent or provider system prompt is sent first. OpenCode then sends
the session's initial instructions, composed in this order:

1. Built-in environment and date context.
2. Ambient `AGENTS.md` discovery.
3. Available skill, reference, and MCP guidance.
4. Session-specific instruction entries supplied through the API.

These sources are combined; ordering is not an override mechanism. Nested
`AGENTS.md` files discovered by reads are chronological session entries rather
than part of the initial instructions.

## Changes

Before promoting pending input, V2 compares live instruction sources with the
latest admitted source values:

- A new or changed ambient `AGENTS.md` aggregate is announced as a system update
  that replaces the previous ambient aggregate.
- Removing all ambient files announces that the previous ambient instructions
  no longer apply.
- A temporary read or discovery failure preserves the session's last known
  instructions instead of treating them as deleted. If no instruction epoch
  exists yet, pending input waits until every source is available.
- Completed conversation compaction advances the instruction epoch, making the
  currently admitted values initial without rereading sources or authoring an
  instruction event.
- Moving a session or committing a revert clears the instruction fold. The next
  safe boundary requires one complete source read before promoting input.

The durable event stores changed source keys and value hashes, not rendered
prose. During request assembly, OpenCode renders the epoch's initial values and
interleaves later changes as chronological System messages. Clients see changed
keys but never the privileged value bodies.
