writing-for-agents

Reference for writing any document an agent consumes — a skill, an AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md, a doc reached by a pointer. The packaging differs; the writing does not: the same levers make each one predictable — the agent taking the same process every run, not producing the same output.

When the document you're writing is a skill, read SKILL-MECHANICS.md for the invocation choice and router skills.

Context pointers

A context pointer is a reference held in the agent's context that names some out-of-context material and encodes the condition for reaching it. A skill's description is one; a line in AGENTS.md naming a doc is the same object. The pointer's wording, not its target, decides when the agent reaches the material — and how reliably. A must-have target behind a weakly worded pointer is a variance bug: sharpen the wording first, and inline the material only if sharpening fails.

A pointer does two jobs — state what the material is, and list the branches that should trigger reaching it (a branch is a distinct case the document handles, so different runs take different paths through it). Every word of an always-loaded pointer costs on every turn, so it earns even harder pruning than the body:

• Front-load the leading word — the pointer is where it does its triggering work.
• One trigger per branch. Synonyms that rename a single branch are one branch written twice; collapse them and keep only genuinely distinct branches.
• Cut identity the body already carries.

The two loads

Every document and pointer you add spends one of two budgets:

• Context load — the cost of always-loaded material on the agent's window: an AGENTS.md line, a skill description, anything sitting in context every turn, spending tokens and attention whether or not it fires.
• Cognitive load — the cost on the human: which documents exist and when to reach for each. The human is the index. Not a cost to minimise — it is the price of human agency; spend it where human judgement matters, remove it where it does not.