Maia Agent Instructions (AGENTS.md)
Introduction
This feature was released as part of Maia Make capabilities in Studio Pro 11.12.
To use Maia Agent Instructions, an internet connection and signing in to Studio Pro are required.
Maia Instructions are agent instructions that are automatically added to the conversation context. They let you define shared prompt context, such as company conventions or environment restrictions, once and reuse it when needed.
They can be provided at the project level or module level. Project-level instructions are included in every conversation in the project. Module-level instructions are included whenever Maia starts working in the given module.
Maia Instructions follow the AGENTS.md standard for agent instructions.
Maia Instructions vs. Agent Skills
Maia supports both agent skills and agent instructions. The following table summarizes their differences:
| Aspects | Instructions | Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Loading | Deterministically loaded, whenever working with the given project or module. | Agent decides to load skills on demand, based on their name and description. |
| Applicability | Project or module-wide instructions that should always be part of context (for example, company preferences). | Instructions that are applicable only in certain situations (for example, microflow conventions). |
| Organization | Single file, should be kept as short as possible. | Allows you to split instructions into the core skill and additional references that Maia reads on demand as needed. |
Creating a New Maia Instruction
To create a new Maia Instruction, follow these steps:
- In the App Explorer, find either the Maia node under App for project-level instructions, or the Maia node under a module if you wish to add a module-level instruction.
- Right-click this node and click Add > Agent instructions.
Studio Pro creates the AGENTS.md file. You can continue adding the instruction content.
Instructions Content
Maia Instructions are arbitrary Markdown files that follow the AGENTS.md standard. You can structure them any way you like.
However, it is recommended to include only instructions that are applicable to every prompt in the given project or module. For example, you can add naming conventions, limitations of your environment, or language preferences to the agent instructions. If the instructions are applicable only when working with a single module in the project, you should add instructions at the module level.
Directory Structure
Project-level instructions are stored as skillssource/AGENTS.md, while module-level instructions are stored as
skillssource/_modules/<module_name>/AGENTS.md. You can add only one instructions file per project or per module.