Report · marked 25 Aug 2026
dair-ai/Prompt-Engineering-Guide
An agent can work here, but it will waste turns finding its footing.
MDX · 77,784 stars · 1,559 files · branch main
61
/100
B-
Instructions
17/27Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing. Losing marks on agent instruction file and instruction quality.Setup
12/20Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human. Losing marks on environment config and pinned runtime version.Verification loop
6/25Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy. Losing marks on tests exist and test command is discoverable.Context economy
19/20Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it. Losing marks on repository weight.Navigability
8/10How quickly anything new can orient itself. Losing marks on written documentation.
Higher is better. Accent marks what is costing you most.
Fix these first
01
Tests exist
This is the single highest-leverage change on this page. Agents don't need full coverage, they need one command that goes red when they break something. Even a handful of tests on the core path converts blind editing into a feedback loop.
02
Test command is discoverable
Add a `test` script or a `test` target that runs the whole suite with no arguments. The convention is the interface — an agent tries `npm test` and `make test` before it tries reading your CI config.
03
Environment config
Add a .env.example listing every variable with a safe placeholder value. It's the cheapest possible fix and it unblocks the whole first run.
The full marking
Every deduction below names the file or setting it came from.
Instructions 17/27 B
Whether the repo tells an agent how to behave before it starts guessing.
✗Agent instruction file
9/12
CLAUDE.md is present, but not the vendor-neutral AGENTS.md.
Rename or symlink to AGENTS.md so tools other than one vendor's can read it. Keeping CLAUDE.md alongside it costs nothing.
✗Instruction quality
6/12
Real instructions, with gaps.
Worth fixing: it never states a build, test, or run command; has no code blocks.
628 characters, a workable length
uses headings, so an agent can skim it
✗README as an entry point
2/3
README exists but never explains how to get the thing running.
Give the README an Install and a Usage heading with real commands under each. Agents pattern-match on those headings.
Setup 12/20 B-
Whether an agent can install the project and get it running without a human.
✓Deterministic install
6/6
package-lock.json pins the dependency tree.
Found package-lock.json
✓Discoverable commands
6/6
Commands are declared where an agent will look for them.
package.json scripts (dev, build, start)
✗Environment config
0/4
Nothing documents the environment this needs. An agent will get a runtime error it can't diagnose.
Add a .env.example listing every variable with a safe placeholder value. It's the cheapest possible fix and it unblocks the whole first run.
✗Pinned runtime version
0/2
No pinned runtime version.
Add a .nvmrc, .python-version, or equivalent so the agent's toolchain matches yours.
✗Reproducible environment
0/2
No container or devcontainer definition.
A Dockerfile or devcontainer removes an entire class of 'it won't install' failures.
Verification loop 6/25 F
Whether an agent can check its own work. This is the category that most decides whether agent output is trustworthy.
✗Tests exist
0/8
No test files found. An agent has no way to know whether its change broke anything.
This is the single highest-leverage change on this page. Agents don't need full coverage, they need one command that goes red when they break something. Even a handful of tests on the core path converts blind editing into a feedback loop.
✗Test command is discoverable
0/7
There's no obvious way to run the tests. Even if tests exist, an agent won't reliably find the entry point.
Add a `test` script or a `test` target that runs the whole suite with no arguments. The convention is the interface — an agent tries `npm test` and `make test` before it tries reading your CI config.
✓Continuous integration
4/4
2 GitHub Actions workflows define what "passing" means.
✗Lint and format rules
0/3
No linter or formatter config. Style is tribal knowledge, so agent output will drift from yours.
A formatter config is the cheapest way to stop reviewing whitespace in agent diffs. It moves style from opinion to a command.
✗Static type checking
2/3
Type checking is configured, but not in strict mode.
Turn on `"strict": true`. Type errors are the fastest feedback an agent gets, and non-strict mode silently discards most of them.
Context economy 19/20 A+
Whether the repo fits in a context window, or fights it.
✓No committed build output
6/6
No generated directories committed.
✓.gitignore hygiene
3/3
.gitignore covers 26 patterns.
✓File sizes fit in context
6/6
No source file is large enough to crowd out a context window.
✗Repository weight
4/5
About 82.8MB checked out, which is comfortable.
Here is your AGENTS.md
Drafted from what is actually in this repository: the install
command from your lockfile, the commands you already declare, your real directory layout. Anything
marked TODO needs a person. Save it at the root as AGENTS.md.
# AGENTS.md 🐙 Guides, papers, lessons, notebooks and resources for prompt engineering, context engineering, RAG, and AI Agents. ## Setup ``` pnpm install ``` ## Commands ``` pnpm dev # run locally pnpm start # run the app pnpm build # produce a build ``` ## Layout - `components/` 16 source files - `pages/` 4 source files ## Conventions - There are no tests yet. An agent has no way to check its own work here. - TypeScript is not in strict mode. Turning it on catches a whole class of mistakes before they run. - CI defines what passing means. See `.github/workflows/claude-code-review.yml`, and keep it green. - TODO: add the two or three conventions a newcomer always gets wrong here. --- Drafted by agentreadme.com from what is in this repository. Everything marked TODO needs a human. Check it in as AGENTS.md at the root.
Open the raw markdown
or
curl -o AGENTS.md agentreadme.com/draft/dair-ai/Prompt-Engineering-Guide.md
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Every deduction above names the file it came from, so this can be settled by looking. If a check missed something, that is a rule worth fixing.