ai-rules

Experimental. This project is in early development. Commands, config format, and APIs may change between releases.

Install agent rules and skills from any GitHub repo. One CLI for every AI coding agent.

npx @render-lab/ai-rules init

Supported agents

• Claude Code
• Cursor
• GitHub Copilot
• Windsurf
• Codex
• OpenCode
• Cline
• Roo Code
• Amp
• Gemini CLI

How it works

GitHub is the registry. Any public repo with a rules/, skills/, or linters/ directory is a valid rule set. ai-rules fetches content from the GitHub API, merges rules into your agent's rules file, and tracks what you've installed.

Rules are wrapped in comment markers so they can be updated or removed without touching the rest of your rules file:

<!-- ai-rules: owner/repo -->
## Security
- Never hardcode secrets
<!-- /ai-rules: owner/repo -->

Skills (SKILL.md packages) are copied into your agent's skill directory. Linter configs are copied to the project root.

Getting started

Install globally

npm install -g @render-lab/ai-rules

After installing globally, the command is just ai-rules:

ai-rules init

Or run with npx

npx @render-lab/ai-rules init

Initialize your project

ai-rules init

This detects your AI coding agent, creates a rules file, and sets up .ai-rules.json to track installed content. You can also pick from a curated catalog of popular rule sets during init.

Popular rule sets

Install any of these with ai-rules add rule <repo>:

| Repo | Description | |---|---| | renderinc/opinionated-vibe-coding | Agent rules for disciplined AI-assisted development | | lirantal/agent-rules | Curated collection of agent rules for secure, quality code | | anthropics/claude-code-best-practices | Official best practices for Claude Code from Anthropic | | PatrickJS/awesome-cursorrules | Community-curated Cursor rules for various frameworks | | pontusab/cursor.directory | Cursor rules for your framework and language |

Popular skills

Install any of these with ai-rules add skill <repo>:

| Repo | Skills | Description | |---|---|---| | render-oss/skills | render-deploy, render-debug, render-monitor, render-migrate-from-heroku, render-workflows | Deploy, debug, and monitor apps on Render | | renderinc/opinionated-vibe-coding | ovc-audit, ovc-scorecard, ovc-security-review, ovc-dry-check, ovc-dependency-check, ovc-setup | Codebase audits, scorecards, and security reviews |

Run ai-rules add skill <repo> --list to see all available skills in a repo before installing.

Commands

ai-rules init

Detect your agent and create a rules file. If multiple agents are installed, choose which ones to set up.

ai-rules add rule [repo]

Add rules from a GitHub repo in owner/repo format. Without an argument, shows a curated catalog to pick from.

ai-rules add rule renderinc/opinionated-vibe-coding
ai-rules add rule https://github.com/lirantal/agent-rules

ai-rules add skill <source>

Add skills from a GitHub repo. Skills are SKILL.md packages with optional reference files.

ai-rules add skill render-oss/skills
ai-rules add skill render-oss/skills --skill render-deploy
ai-rules add skill render-oss/skills --list
ai-rules add skill render-oss/skills --global

Options:

• -s, --skill <name> — Install a specific skill by name
• -a, --agent <agent> — Target a specific agent
• -g, --global — Install to the global skill directory
• -l, --list — List available skills without installing
• --copy — Copy files instead of symlinking

ai-rules remove rule [repo]

Remove an installed rule set. Without an argument, shows a picker.

ai-rules remove skill [name]

Remove an installed skill and its files. Without an argument, shows a picker.

ai-rules update [repo]

Update installed rules and skills to the latest version. Pass a repo slug to update a specific one, or omit to update all.

ai-rules update
ai-rules update renderinc/opinionated-vibe-coding

ai-rules list

List all installed rule sets and skills with their source, version, and install date.

ai-rules doctor

Diagnose your setup. Checks for a valid config file, detected agent, rules file, installed agents on the system, marker integrity, skill directory existence, and GitHub token status.

Publishing a rule set

To make your repo installable with ai-rules, add one or more of these directories:

my-rules/
├── rules/           # Agent rules files
│   ├── CLAUDE.md
│   ├── .cursorrules
│   └── .windsurfrules
├── skills/          # SKILL.md packages
│   └── my-skill/
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       └── references/
│           └── guide.md
├── linters/         # Linter configs
│   └── biome.json
└── ai-rules.json    # Optional manifest

The optional ai-rules.json manifest provides metadata:

{
  "name": "My Rules",
  "description": "A set of rules for disciplined development",
  "tags": ["security", "best-practices"]
}

Configuration

ai-rules stores its state in .ai-rules.json at the project root. This file tracks the detected agent, rules file path, installed rule sets (with commit SHAs), and installed skills.

Requirements

• Node.js 20 or later

License

MIT