AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md examples for React

Real files to read

From the best-known open-source React products whose file is a real one (not a pointer to another), 200 to 4,000 words, covering at least three of the usual topics and naming React. Each opens on GitHub.

What React projects put in them

Share of the 414 files that cover each topic, against all 641 files we read.

How they talk to the agent: 82% say “never” or “do not” somewhere (all files: 80%), 23% shout a rule in capitals like IMPORTANT or MUST (24%), and 20% tell it to ask before some changes (20%).

The tools they name

Package managerspnpm (113 files), npm (89 files), bun (58 files)

Tests and lintersVitest (88), Playwright (88), ESLint (76), pytest (57), Prettier (56), Biome (32)

Named more than in files generallyNext.js (92)

What they tell the agent

Instructions that recur across files, in our words; open one for the React projects whose file says it.

The sections these files cover most, the package manager and checks React projects name most, and the stack React makers' products chose most often. Fill in the <placeholders>.

# AGENTS.md

<What this product does and who it is for, in a sentence or two.>

## Stack

- Frontend Framework: React
- Hosting: Vercel
- Transactional Email: SendGrid
- Payments: Stripe
- Database: PostgreSQL
- Web Analytics: Google Analytics
- LLM API: OpenAI API
- Product Analytics: PostHog

## Commands

- Install: `pnpm install`
- Run locally: `<command>`
- Test: `pnpm exec vitest run`
- End-to-end tests: `pnpm exec playwright test`
- Lint: `pnpm exec eslint .`

## Testing

Run `pnpm exec vitest run` and `pnpm exec playwright test` before calling a change done, and add a test with each fix or feature.

## Project structure

- `<folder>/`: <what lives there>
- More in <docs/…>

## Conventions

- <Naming, patterns and style the code does not show>
- Commits and pull requests: <your rules>

## Boundaries

- Ask before: <changes you want to approve first>
- Never: <files or actions that are off-limits>

<!-- Started from https://howmakersbuild.com/agents-md/react — point CLAUDE.md here with a line: @AGENTS.md -->

• pnpm: named in 113 of 414 instruction files from open-source projects built with React.
• Vitest: named in 88 of 414 instruction files from open-source projects built with React.
• Playwright: named in 88 of 414 instruction files from open-source projects built with React.
• ESLint: named in 76 of 414 instruction files from open-source projects built with React.

Make one for your own stack →

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