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/tentacleopera/switchboard/agents-mdgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/TentacleOpera/switchboardWhat 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 | $0.04470 | $0.04470 |
| Opus 5 | $0.02235 | $0.02235 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00894 | $0.00894 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00447 | $0.00447 |
Grade A, and why
switchboard 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 3d 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.
Copies of this mod
1 near-identical copy found in the catalogue:
- switchboard CLAUDE.md — 86% identical, 89 lines differ
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 193 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
AGENTS.md - Switchboard Protocol
🚨 STRICT PROTOCOL ENFORCEMENT 🚨
This project relies on Switchboard Workflows defined in .agents/workflows.
Rule #1: If a user request matches a known workflow trigger, you MUST execute that workflow exactly as defined in the corresponding .md file. Do not "wing it" or use internal capability unless explicitly told to ignore the workflow.
Rule #2: You MUST NOT call send_message with unsupported actions. Only submit_result and status_update are valid (see Code-Level Enforcement below). The tool will reject unrecognized or unauthorized actions.
Rule #3: The send_message tool auto-routes actions to the correct recipient based on the active workflow. You do NOT need to specify a recipient. If the workflow requires a specific role (e.g. reviewer), ensure an agent with that role is registered.
Workflow Registry
| Trigger Words | Workflow File | Description |
|---|---|---|
/switchboard |
switchboard.md |
The local management console — drive the board, plans, features, dispatch, and automation while the VS Code extension is running. The primary front door; start here when unsure. |
/switchboard-cloud |
switchboard-cloud.md |
Cloud-VM planning brake — plan first, do not auto-code in a remote VM. |
/switchboard-remote |
switchboard-remote.md |
Remote Switchboard control — drive plans via Linear or Notion when the local machine is off. |
/switchboard-memo, "start memo capture" |
switchboard-memo.md |
Memo capture mode — append-only, no analysis. Enter via /switchboard-memo or by saying "start memo capture". Exit with process memo. Edit entries with edit N: <text>. |
These four are the ONLY user-typeable workflow commands. Internal, extension-dispatched workflows are no longer slash commands: improve-plan, improve-feature, accuracy, and switchboard-orchestrator live as stripped skills under .agents/skills/<name>/SKILL.md, read by the extension by path (the orchestrator persona is system-launched from the AUTOMATION tab's Start orchestrator; never invoke it ad hoc).
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.
- 3d ago First seen · 193 lines · 4,470 tokens per session scan A b707f1141d71
switchboard AGENTS.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository TentacleOpera/switchboard (213 stars, last pushed 3d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 4,470 tokens to every session, about $0.0224 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
vscode buildNext.instructions.md
Working notes and architecture documentation for the new esbuild-based build system in build/next. Use when making changes to the new build pipeline (transpile/bundle commands, NLS plugin, source-map handling, resource copying, or self-hosting watch tasks).
spec-kit AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md instructions for github/spec-kit, covering agents.md, about spec kit and specify, quickstart — add a new integration in 5 steps, integration architecture and integrationmanifest — file tracking.
codex AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md instructions for openai/codex, covering rust/codex-rs, the codex-core crate, code review rules, crate api surface and model visible context.
langchain AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md instructions for langchain-ai/langchain, covering global development guidelines for the langchain monorepo, corridor security analysis, project architecture and context, monorepo structure and development tools & commands.
vscode oss-third-party-notices.instructions.md
Instructions for microsoft/vscode, covering vs code oss third-party-notices pipeline, architecture, pipeline flow in ci, applying the notice (cutover) and fallback chain (never fail the build).
next.js AGENTS.md
Instructions for vercel/next.js, covering next.js development guide, codebase structure, monorepo overview, core package: packages/next and other important packages.