Erkle vs. AGENTS.md
AGENTS.md is an open, tool-neutral Markdown format for instructions to coding agents. Many agents read it, including Codex, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot, so one file can brief several tools working in the same repository.
AGENTS.md answers which tool reads the instructions. Erkle also answers which repositories share them, who approved them, and who is allowed to read them. It's a hosted memory any MCP agent can search, scoped to a team, a project, or a repo. Use AGENTS.md for each repo's own instructions and Erkle for what the team knows across repos.
// facts checked
## side-by-side
AGENTS.md and Erkle, compared
| dimension | AGENTS.md | Erkle |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An open file format for agent instructions | A hosted team memory served over MCP |
| Where it lives | A file in each repo (nested files for subfolders) | One service for the whole team |
| Which agents read it | Agents that support the format, such as Codex, Cursor, and Copilot | Any MCP client: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, claude.ai |
| Across repositories | Copied or linked by hand | Team and project scopes reach every repo in them |
| How it loads | Read as context for work in that repo | Searched per task: at most 8 results, about 4,000 tokens |
| Who can change it | Anyone who can merge to the repo | Maintainers write directly; contributors' writes wait for review |
| History | Git history of the file | Every memory versioned, with author, agent, and source URL |
| Permissions | Anyone who can read the repo can read it | Scoped per team, project, and repo; unreadable memories don't appear |
| Price | Free, open format | $5 per user per month or $50 per year, after a 7-day trial |
## use-both
Where each one fits
Keep in AGENTS.md
- Setup, build, and test commands for this repo
- Conventions specific to this codebase
- Pointers to docs that live in the repo
- A line telling agents to search Erkle first
Put in Erkle
- Rules that apply to several repositories
- Interface contracts between services
- Decisions and their reasons, with sources
- Knowledge that only some people should read
# AGENTS.md ## Setup - `npm ci && npm test` ## Team memory - This repo is in the Commerce project. Search Erkle before a task.
## faq
agents-md --help
? Is AGENTS.md or Erkle better?
They do different jobs. AGENTS.md is a portable way to give every agent in one repository the same instructions. Erkle is shared memory across repositories, people, and tools, with review and permissions. Teams that use AGENTS.md can keep it and add Erkle for cross-repo knowledge.
? Do agents that read AGENTS.md work with Erkle?
Any agent that can connect to a remote MCP server can use Erkle, including Codex and Cursor. Erkle uses one URL and browser OAuth sign-in, so there are no API keys to add to the repo.
? Can we import our AGENTS.md files into Erkle?
Yes. Ask a connected agent to import the repo's AGENTS.md, docs, and ADRs into Erkle. It sends up to 100 memories per call, scoped where you choose, and reports each result.
? Why not one AGENTS.md shared across repos?
A file has to be copied or synced to every repo, loads in full whether or not it's relevant, has no per-person permissions, and has no review step for what an agent adds. Erkle searches by task and keeps scope, review, and history per memory.