---
title: How to set up your Next.js project for AI coding agents
nav_title: AI Coding Agents
description: Learn how to configure your Next.js project so AI coding agents use up-to-date documentation instead of outdated training data.
related:
  title: Next Steps
  links:
    - app/guides/mcp
---

Next.js ships version-matched documentation inside the `next` package, allowing AI coding agents to reference accurate, up-to-date APIs and patterns. An `AGENTS.md` file at the root of your project directs agents to these bundled docs instead of their training data.

## How it works

When you install `next`, the Next.js documentation is bundled at `node_modules/next/dist/docs/`. The bundled docs mirror the structure of the [Next.js documentation site](https://nextjs.org/docs):

```txt
node_modules/next/dist/docs/
├── 01-app/
│   ├── 01-getting-started/
│   ├── 02-guides/
│   └── 03-api-reference/
├── 02-pages/
├── 03-architecture/
└── index.mdx
```

This means agents always have access to docs that match your installed version — no network request or external lookup required.

The `AGENTS.md` file at the root of your project tells agents to read these bundled docs before writing any code. Most AI coding agents — including Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and others — automatically read `AGENTS.md` when they start a session.

## Getting started

### New projects

[`create-next-app`](/docs/app/api-reference/cli/create-next-app) generates `AGENTS.md` and `CLAUDE.md` automatically. No additional setup is needed:

```bash package="pnpm"
pnpm create next-app@canary
```

```bash package="npm"
npx create-next-app@canary
```

```bash package="yarn"
yarn create next-app@canary
```

```bash package="bun"
bun create next-app@canary
```

If you don't want the agent files, pass `--no-agents-md`:

```bash
npx create-next-app@canary --no-agents-md
```

### Existing projects

On Next.js 16.3 or later, just run `next dev`. When an AI coding agent is detected in the environment and no managed block is present, Next.js auto-generates `AGENTS.md` and `CLAUDE.md` at the project root. Existing `AGENTS.md` or `CLAUDE.md` files are upserted — content outside the managed block is preserved:

```md filename="AGENTS.md"
<!-- BEGIN:nextjs-agent-rules -->

# This is NOT the Next.js you know

This version has breaking changes — APIs, conventions, and file structure may all differ from your training data. Read the relevant guide in `node_modules/next/dist/docs/` before writing any code. Heed deprecation notices.

<!-- END:nextjs-agent-rules -->
```

```md filename="CLAUDE.md"
@AGENTS.md
```

### Opting out

We believe leaving auto-generation on is a good default—[benchmark results on nextjs.org/evals](https://nextjs.org/evals) show agents do better when they read the bundled docs. If you really want to opt out, set `agentRules` to `false` in your config:

```ts filename="next.config.ts"
import type { NextConfig } from 'next'

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  agentRules: false,
}

export default nextConfig
```

### For earlier versions

On version 16.1 and earlier, use the legacy `agents-md` command, which downloads the docs to `.next-docs/` in the project root:

```bash
npx @next/codemod@canary agents-md
```

## Understanding AGENTS.md

The default `AGENTS.md` contains a single, focused instruction: **read the bundled docs before writing code**. This is intentionally minimal — the goal is to redirect agents from stale training data to the accurate, version-matched documentation in `node_modules/next/dist/docs/`.

The `<!-- BEGIN:nextjs-agent-rules -->` and `<!-- END:nextjs-agent-rules -->` comment markers delimit the Next.js-managed section. You can add your own project-specific instructions outside these markers without worrying about them being overwritten by future updates.

The bundled docs include guides, API references, and file conventions for the App Router and Pages Router. When an agent encounters a task involving routing, data fetching, or any other Next.js feature, it can look up the correct API in the bundled docs rather than relying on potentially outdated training data.

> **Good to know:** To see how bundled docs and `AGENTS.md` improve agent performance on real-world Next.js tasks, visit the [benchmark results](https://nextjs.org/evals).
