Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
npx agentmods add instructions/merit-systems/openinstinct/agents-mdgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Merit-Systems/OpenInstinctWhat it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5 | $0.01178 | $0.01178 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00589 | $0.00589 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00236 | $0.00236 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00118 | $0.00118 |
Grade A, and why
OpenInstinct AGENTS.md scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 95 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
eve Agent App
This project uses the eve framework: an agent is a directory of files under agent/, and eve compiles and runs it.
For a content-only change to the root agent's identity, purpose, tone, or response guidelines, edit its existing authored instructions. Fresh projects use agent/instructions.md; a project may instead use agent/instructions.ts or files under agent/instructions/. You do not need to read the framework docs for a content-only instructions change. A fresh project already has its selected model in agent/agent.ts; preserve that file unless the user asks to change the model.
Read the docs before writing code
ls node_modules/eve/docs
Start with docs/README.md: it maps each task to the page that covers it. Read that page before authoring tools, connections, channels, skills, subagents, schedules, or deployment. In a workspace or local package install, resolve the installed eve package location first. If the package docs are missing, use https://eve.dev/docs.
Use a bounded authoring loop:
- Read the relevant page and inspect only files you will modify or need to imitate.
- Stop discovery once the file location, imports, and definition shape are clear. Implement the smallest complete behavior the user requested.
- Run one narrow verification. Expand investigation only when it fails or the request needs project-specific details.
Follow links or inspect public types only when the routed page leaves the task unanswered. Do not recursively glob node_modules, enumerate the entire docs tree, or read unrelated scaffold files when the direct path is known. Package-manager links can hide files from recursive glob tools even though direct reads work.
Prefer an existing integration
When a task names an external product or service, search the registry before implementing its integration. For a generic capability, author a tool instead.
eve registry search <query> --json
eve registry view <item>
Prefer items whose implementation is native; use Chat SDK adapters when no native channel fits. registry view links the item's documentation.
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 2d ago First seen · 95 lines · 1,178 tokens per session scan A 38dfbe279b07
OpenInstinct AGENTS.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository Merit-Systems/OpenInstinct (208 stars, last pushed 4d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 1,178 tokens to every session, about $0.0059 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.
Other instructions, from other repositories
beeperbox CLAUDE.md
Instructions for hamr0/beeperbox, covering claude.md, what this is, commands, unit tests (node:test — no framework) and lite mode (no docker) — same file the container runs.
intelligent-terminal rust.instructions.md
Concise Rust coding conventions for this repository.
InvestSkill GEMINI.md
Instructions for yennanliu/InvestSkill, covering investskill — gemini cli setup & usage guide, installation & setup, quick start, navigate to the investskill directory and start gemini cli (loads gemini.md automatically).
she-love-me CLAUDE.md
Instructions for 863401402/she-love-me, covering claude.md and 唯一工作流.
wayland-core copilot-instructions.md
Instructions for FerroxLabs/wayland-core, covering ijfw rules, output discipline, memory routing, context discipline and cross-audit.
ZipAgent AGENTS.md
Instructions for JiayuXu0/ZipAgent, covering repository guidelines, project structure & module organization, build, test & development commands, coding style & naming conventions and testing guidelines.