Project

A project is the codebase whose rules Code Rules manages, such as a web application, a service, or a CLI tool. The project root is that codebase’s top-level directory.

A project can use rules written just for it, rules imported from one or more libraries, or both. Each project chooses which rules to use and when to adopt library updates.

What a project includes

Your codebase keeps its existing files. Code Rules adds a Code Rules directory, .code-rules/, at the project root:

my-project/
  src/
  README.md
  .code-rules/
    config.yaml
    local/
    vendor/
    generated/

Inside .code-rules/:

• Configuration in config.yaml selects libraries, versions, and groups, plus any rules to exclude or replace.
• Local rules in local/ hold groups and rules you author for this project.
• Imported rules in vendor/ are copies of the library content your project imports.
• Generated guidance in generated/ combines your selected rules into RULES.md, group pages, and rule files that agents can read.

You maintain the configuration and local rules. Code Rules manages the imported copies and generated files. For examples of each file, see Project files.

Set up a project

Run code-rules project init from your codebase’s root to create its .code-rules/ directory. In a Git repository, subsequent project commands also work from subdirectories. Outside Git, run them from the project root.

Follow Set up your first project to add rules, generate guidance, and tell your agent to read it.