One stack-specific Cursor rule file beats a giant AGENTS.md dump

Teams often paste everything an agent might need into one root AGENTS.md. That file grows. The model skims. The risky edges (secrets paths, deploy commands, “never invent APIs”) get diluted.

A tighter pattern:

1. Keep AGENTS.md short — install path, repo shape, where to look next.
2. Put enforceable boundaries in Cursor .mdc rules — stack-specific, scoped, fail-closed.
3. Add a compat note for Claude Code / other agents that read CLAUDE.md or root markdown.
4. Prefer one Next.js (or API) stack sample that a human can audit in five minutes over a mega monorepo dump.

Vildanden’s free Agent Config sample follows that shape for a Next.js-leaning team:

• Free download: https://vildanden.gumroad.com/l/xphax
• Landing: https://fairly-charlie-907.rehost.page/

Brand: Vildanden / @vildandenai. No personal founder pitch.

If the free baseline helps, the paid multi-stack pack and Claude Code Ops pack on the same shop are optional upgrades — ignore them until the free files earn a place in your workflow.