Your build starts here
Replace bracketed details with your own goal, context, and checks. Keep the first build small enough to inspect.
Audit the repository guidance in [instruction files or skills] for [project]. Read the current setup and representative task examples so you can distinguish live constraints from old workarounds. Do not change permissions or execute external actions as part of this audit.
Classify each candidate rule as a durable fact, scoped workflow requirement, temporary workaround, duplicate, or unresolved assumption. For a proposed removal or rewrite, show the current wording, the reason it may no longer help, and the task that would demonstrate whether the change is sound. Preserve rules protecting actual shared data and external actions unless their owner changes that boundary.
Propose a small patch that makes applicability clear and points to detailed documents only when relevant. Keep a recoverable copy of the old guidance. Test the proposal on [representative local tasks] and report missed requirements, unnecessary work, and remaining uncertainty. Do not present a shorter file as an improvement unless it also supports the project’s real workflows.Make this prompt yours
Use when an agent repeatedly follows obsolete setup steps or loads unrelated project documents. Review the proposed rule changes before making them shared team guidance.
You might also hear
- AGENTS.md cleanup
- prompt maintenance
- repository rules
The docs behind it
These references explain the underlying concepts and APIs. The prompt templates and project plans are original examples to adapt to your own setup.
Research sources reviewed .
Editorial review · October 28, 2026
Supported: Original, unexecuted instruction-maintenance template. OpenAI supports revisiting broad/stale guidance; it appropriately retains permission boundaries and asks for small, reviewable changes with regression checks.