Memory and rules

Early Access. Commands and behavior can change between releases.

Memory tells agents what your project is. Rules tell them how to change it. Architech’s agents load both for the repository they work in, alongside your project instructions in AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md. Start with /onboard. Review the drafts it proposes; existing files you wrote are kept. You don’t need to create empty files just to let an agent start work.

What belongs where

File	What to put in it
`.memory/repository-context.md`	The repository’s purpose, stack, boundaries and important integration points.
`.memory/design-principles.md`	Product constraints and protected decisions agents must preserve.
`.engineeringrules/coding-rules.md`	Your code conventions, patterns to follow and patterns to avoid.
`.engineeringrules/testing-rules.md`	Your test commands, test locations, scope, worker limits and commit-hook checks.
`AGENTS.md` or `CLAUDE.md`	Project instructions loaded into the session’s prompt, such as build commands and house rules.

In a single repository, these paths are relative to its root. In a monorepo, keep repository-specific facts and standards in the package or repository they govern. Shared files can live at the project root; context rules say when a child inherits them. Agents refer to these files by shortcuts: @rule:testing-rules names .engineeringrules/testing-rules.md, and @memory:repo names .memory/repository-context.md. Names under rules: and memory: omit the shortcut prefix and .md suffix.

When a file is missing

Missing context proceeds with a warning. Architech tries the configured context rules and parent files, then works from the conventions beside the change if nothing supplies the file. The agent records the decision and its source in CONTEXT_MANIFEST, and ends its report with a Recommended action: add the file, inherit an appropriate one, or declare that it isn’t needed. It doesn’t invent rules or create an exemption to clear the warning. Only an explicit required declaration holds the code-writing step that needs the missing file. Other independent work continues. Reviews never block on a context gap: the reviewer reports it and still gives a verdict.

The warning you see

For an undeclared repository named web with no testing rules in it or its parents, the resolver’s output includes these lines (excerpt):

WARNING: @rule:testing-rules - @rule:testing-rules is absent here and in every parent (expected .engineeringrules/testing-rules.md); proceed on the code beside the change (default). Proceed and record it in CONTEXT_MANIFEST.context_decisions.
  → testing-rules: missing here and in every parent for web → proceed; record in CONTEXT_MANIFEST
  CONTEXT-HINT/1 {"v":1,"shortcut":"@rule:testing-rules","repo":"web","decision":"proceed","source":"default","why":null,"approved":null,"action":"proceed-and-record"}

That missing file exits with code 0, not a failure. The hint says proceed and record, not “stop and ask for an exemption”. In JSON output, context_decision.recommended_action names the file to create, a seed if a file stood in, and a draft entry to declare in your context rules. You decide which action fits your repository.

Check the scope and spelling

Make sure the agent is working in the right repository and the requested file name is correct. If the resolver names another worktree that carries the file, rerun there rather than copying its rules into the current checkout.

Choose the lasting behavior

Add genuine repository standards when they are useful. If the repository is generated, docs-only, or intentionally follows another package, declare an exemption or inheritance instead.

Review the decision

Read the hint’s repository, source and reason. A declared exemption is an EXEMPT decision, not a warning; inherited files and unresolved gaps remain visible in the report.

Context management

Configure a generated SDK, require rules for a sensitive repository, or set a temporary exemption.

Get started · Early Access

Architech

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Reference

What belongs where

When a file is missing

The warning you see

Context management