Manage Instruction Templates

Instructions are persistent context and rules that apply to AI conversations, scoped by file patterns or always-on.

Finding the Right Instruction

1. Search existing instructions

List files in

<%= instructionTemplatePath() %>/

and read their frontmatter (

description

,

globs

) to understand what each covers and its scope.

2. Match the user's intent to existing files

Look for instructions that already cover the same topic or a closely related topic. Consider:

• Exact match: an instruction about the same subject exists → update it
• Partial overlap: the topic fits within the scope of a broader instruction → add to it rather than creating a separate file
• Multiple candidates: several instructions touch on the topic → pick the one whose

  globs

  and purpose align best with the user's intent

3. Determine scope for new instructions

If no existing instruction fits, investigate the project to decide where the instruction belongs:

1. Search the codebase for how the topic is used — find which files and directories are relevant
2. Cross-reference with the user's wording — the instruction may apply broadly (e.g. "always validate env vars") or narrowly (e.g. "feature flags in API routes should use env vars")
3. Choose the right scoping:
   • If the rule is universal across the project → use

     alwaysApply: true

   • If it applies to a specific area → use

     globs

     matching only the relevant files/directories
   • If the topic appears in many places but the instruction only makes sense for a subset, scope to that subset

Example: The user says "feature flags should be loaded from env vars." Feature flags might appear in 10 places across the codebase, but if only the API layer loads them from config, the right scope is

globs: ["src/api/**"]

rather than

alwaysApply: true

.

Additional Template Directories

This project may have additional template directories configured via

additionalTemplateDirs

. To find them, search the project root for all config files matching

universal-ai-config.*

(e.g.

universal-ai-config.config.ts

,

universal-ai-config.overrides.config.ts

, and any other variants) and read the

additionalTemplateDirs

field from each. If the user asks to update a template that doesn't exist in the main templates directory, or explicitly refers to shared/global/external templates:

1. Read all

   universal-ai-config.*

   config files in the project root to find

   additionalTemplateDirs

   paths
2. Search those directories for the relevant instruction
3. IMPORTANT: Before editing any file outside the main

   <%= config.templatesDir %>/

   directory, ask the user for explicit confirmation — these are shared templates that may affect other projects

Deciding What to Do

• Create new: when the topic is distinct from all existing instructions
• Update existing: when an instruction already covers the topic but needs changes — modify its content or frontmatter
• Add per-target override: when a frontmatter field needs different values per target, use the override object syntax:

  description:
    claude: Claude-specific description
    copilot: Copilot-specific description
    default: Default description
  

• Delete: when an instruction is obsolete or fully superseded by another

Creating a New Instruction

1. Create a

   .md

   file in

   <%= instructionTemplatePath() %>/

   with a descriptive name (e.g.

   error-handling.md

   )
2. Add YAML frontmatter with at minimum a

   description

3. Write the instruction body

Frontmatter Fields

See the Instructions section in

<%= instructionPath('uac-template-guide') %>

for the complete field reference. Key fields:

description

,

globs

,

alwaysApply

,

excludeAgent

.

When to use

alwaysApply

vs

globs

• Use

  alwaysApply: true

  for project-wide conventions that should always be active
• Use

  globs

  to scope instructions to specific file types or directories (e.g.

  ["src/api/**"]

  for API-specific rules)
• If neither is set, the instruction may still be applied by some targets based on relevance

Example

---
description: TypeScript coding conventions
globs: ['**/*.ts', '**/*.tsx']
---

Follow these TypeScript conventions:

- Use strict mode
- Prefer interfaces over type aliases for object shapes
- Use explicit return types on exported functions

After Changes

Run

uac generate

to regenerate target-specific config files and verify the output.

Reminder: Always edit templates in

<%= instructionTemplatePath() %>/

— never edit generated target-specific files directly.