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Answer: AGENTS.md is a simple, open format for guiding coding agents, a README for agents. Gemini CLI loads GEMINI.md context files from several locations, joins what it finds, and sends the result to the model with every prompt.

Why a context file

Instead of repeating instructions in every prompt, define them once in a context file: project-specific instructions, a persona, or coding style guides.

GEMINI.md load order

1. Global: ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md gives default instructions for all projects.
2. Workspace: GEMINI.md files in configured workspace directories and their parent directories.
3. Just-in-time: when a tool accesses a file or directory, the CLI scans that directory and its ancestors up to a trusted root.

The CLI footer displays the number of loaded context files.

Inspect and reload

• /memory show displays the full, concatenated content of the current hierarchical memory.
• /memory reload forces a re-scan and reload of all GEMINI.md files.

Artifacts

• Context / rules files hierarchy (table)
• Context / rules files hierarchy (markdown table)
• Topic packet: ao-rules

See also

• ao-rules-agents-md-evidence
• ao-rules-context-files-in-practice
• ao-rules-instruction-adherence

Claims

• id: C1 claim: AGENTS.md is an open format for coding agents. source: S2 evidence: "AGENTS.md is a simple, open format for guiding coding agents."

• id: C2 claim: GEMINI.md contents go with every prompt. source: S1 evidence: "and sends them to the model with every prompt."

• id: C3 claim: The global file is ~/.gemini/GEMINI.md. source: S1 evidence: "Provides default instructions for all your projects."

• id: C4 claim: /memory show prints the concatenated context. source: S1 evidence: "Displays the full, concatenated content of the current hierarchical memory."

Sources

• [S1] Provide context with GEMINI.md files. Google Gemini CLI docs (GitHub). https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/docs/cli/gemini-md.md . License: Apache-2.0 (google-gemini/gemini-cli LICENSE). Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] AGENTS.md README. agentsmd/agents.md (GitHub). https://github.com/agentsmd/agents.md/blob/main/README.md . License: MIT (agentsmd/agents.md LICENSE). Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: GitHub repository docs under Apache License 2.0 (https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) or MIT License (https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT), as listed per source; copyright notices remain with the original authors. Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_7nhkndbf,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Context files: AGENTS.md format and the GEMINI.md load order}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/ao-rules-gemini-md-hierarchy/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:7nhkndbf. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

Markdown

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