AI coding agents can follow conflicting instructions across repo config files

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Developers who use several AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor on one repository often end up with separate instruction files like CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md and .cursor/rules that contradict each other. The agents do not flag these conflicts and instead follow whichever rule they happen to read last or find closest to the task, so their behavior can vary between sessions. Global files in home directories are especially problematic because they apply to every project and can silently override project-specific rules. The article recommends auditing the files topic by topic, setting a clear precedence order, and consolidating the real rules into a single RULES.md with short pointer files for each tool. It also suggests keeping a conflict log so that retired rules are not reintroduced from older sources.

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