AGENTS.md Instruction Templates

WGS ships three AGENTS.md starter templates, one per governed-entity tier. Each specializes the inherited drive-wide constitution for its own scope; none should duplicate canonical standard text.

AGENTS.root.md — root constitution template

# {{ROOT_PATH}} Agent Constitution

This file governs `{{ROOT_PATH}}` and all descendants. Read instructions from the workspace root toward the target before making changes.

## Authority

- Operator instructions for the current task take precedence.
- The nearest applicable `AGENTS.md` specializes parent instructions.
- Canonical governance lives at `{{GOVERNANCE_ROOT}}`.
- Link to canonical standards; do not copy their text into projects.
- Templates, references, generated records, and historical copies are not authority.

## Required records

- Governed directory: `AGENTS.md`, `[DirectoryName].manifest.toml`
- Project or project group: `AGENTS.md`, `[ProjectName].manifest.toml`, `Project-README.md`

## Safety

- Inspect manifests, documentation, source, artifacts, and version-control state before editing.
- Do not move, rename, delete, archive, or broadly regenerate entities without operator approval.
- Preserve unrelated changes and historical evidence.
- Keep paths, relationships, versions, artifacts, hashes, and release documentation synchronized.

AGENTS.directory.md — governed-directory template

# {{DIRECTORY_NAME}} Instructions

This file specializes the inherited workspace instructions for `{{DIRECTORY_PATH}}`.

## Read first

1. Parent and root `AGENTS.md` files
2. `[DirectoryName].manifest.toml`
3. {{GOVERNING_STANDARD_LINKS}}

## Local role

{{DIRECTORY_ROLE}}

Allowed child classes: {{ALLOWED_CHILD_CLASSES}}

## Local rules

{{LOCAL_RULES}}

Do not duplicate canonical standards here. Record exceptions explicitly and keep the entity-named directory manifest synchronized with physical children.

AGENTS.project.md — project / project-group template

# {{PROJECT_NAME}} Instructions

This file specializes inherited instructions for `{{PROJECT_PATH}}`.

## Read first

1. Parent and root `AGENTS.md` files
2. `[ProjectName].manifest.toml`
3. `Project-README.md`
4. {{GOVERNING_STANDARD_LINKS}}

## Project boundaries

{{PROJECT_BOUNDARIES}}

## Build and verification

{{BUILD_AND_VERIFICATION_COMMANDS}}

## Local rules

{{LOCAL_RULES}}

Do not claim release readiness without verifying the shipping artifact and its aligned evidence.

A filled, non-template example of this three-tier inheritance pattern lives at the drive root — see D:\AGENTS.md in the Workspace Root Snapshot.