---
id: M05-L01
title: "Give the agent project instructions"
module: M05
chapters: "10"
checkpoint: CP02
---

# M05-L01 — Give the agent project instructions

Create concise root guidance that directs an agent to the right context and relevant validation. Begin with a preserved CP02 project whose setup and available replay/build commands are understood. The outcome is a reviewable `AGENTS.md`, not yet a passing behavior test.

The task prompt states the current request. Project instructions state recurring expectations. Reference documents hold detailed facts. Runtime permissions control actual operations. Keep those roles distinct. A sentence in Markdown cannot create a compiler, grant network access, or securely restrict filesystem access.

Use the exact filename `AGENTS.md` at the Sensor Monitor root. Confirm the active folder and avoid a hidden `.txt` extension. The official OpenAI guide documents startup discovery and layered guidance; inspect the active interface and begin a fresh task when testing changes. Start with one root file rather than adding nested rules without a real need.

Write guidance with triggers, actions, and evidence. “Be careful” is vague. “Read requirements before policy changes; run the maintained host checks after shared C++ changes; report actual results and limitations” can be reviewed. For a fresh early checkpoint, link to `docs/project-brief.md` and `docs/hardware.md`. Add links to requirements, decisions, and evidence only when those populated files exist in your continued exercise copy. Keep the exact target/tool pins in `dependencies.json`.

The supplied Windows checks use reviewable project wrappers:

```powershell
.\scripts\replay.cmd
.\scripts\build-firmware.cmd
```

Run from the project root after the documented setup. The checks have different meanings: replay behavior for supplied synthetic input versus compilation for the selected target. Host assertion tests are available at CP07 and later through `.\scripts\test.cmd`. Do not require unrelated expensive checks after every wording edit. Do require an honest statement when a relevant check could not run.

Include bounded work expectations: keep changes tied to the requested outcome, inspect the diff, and preserve unrelated work. State that the core uses synthetic input and that physical upload, wiring, and measurements are separate optional work. These instructions express intent; the host still enforces its actual permissions.

Compare your file with the checkpoint's maintained guidance. Remove duplicated detailed facts and conflicting broad phrases. Figure D09 helps explain the separation of roles. Your final artifact should be short enough to read before a task, specific enough to test, and linked to the current project documents.

## Resources and completion

Use the Sensor Monitor `CP02` download and its `README.md`; project paths in this lesson are relative to that root. Read Chapter 10 for the full lab and explanatory review answers. Figure IDs: SS10-01, SS10-02, D09. Primary references: [OpenAI AGENTS.md](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/agents-md) and [OpenAI build skills](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/build-skills). Complete the [exercise](exercise.md), preserve actual evidence, and use the separate instructor answer key for self-check after attempting the task. Narration scripts are production sources; final transcripts must match the actual narrated edit.