APM – Agent Package Manager
The dependency manager for AI agents. apm.yml declares the skills, prompts, instructions, and tools your project needs — so every developer gets the same agent setup. Packages can depend on packages, and APM resolves the full tree.
Think package.json, requirements.txt, or Cargo.toml — but for AI agent configuration.
GitHub Copilot · Cursor · Claude · Codex · Gemini
Why APM
AI coding agents need context to be useful: what standards to follow, what prompts to use, what skills to leverage. Today this is manual — each developer installs things one by one, writes instructions from scratch, copies files around. None of it is portable. There's no manifest for it.
APM fixes this. You declare your project's agentic dependencies once, and every developer who clones your repo gets a fully configured agent setup in seconds. Packages can depend on other packages — APM resolves transitive dependencies automatically, just like npm or pip.
See It in Action
# apm.yml — ships with your project, like package.json
name: corporate-website
dependencies:
apm:
- danielmeppiel/form-builder # Skills: React Hook Form + Zod
- danielmeppiel/compliance-rules # Guardrails: GDPR, security audits
- danielmeppiel/design-guidelines # Standards: UI consistency, a11y
New developer joins the team:
git clone your-org/corporate-website
cd corporate-website
apm install && apm compile
That's it. Copilot, Claude, Cursor — every agent is configured with the right skills, prompts, and coding standards. No wiki. No "ask Sarah which skills to install." It just works.
→ View the full example project
Not Just Skills
Skill registries install skills. APM manages every primitive your AI agents need:
| Primitive | What it does | Example |
|-----------|-------------|---------|
| Instructions | Coding standards, guardrails | "Use type hints in all Python files" |
| Skills | AI capabilities, workflows | Form builder, code reviewer |
| Prompts | Reusable slash commands | /security-audit, /design-review |
| Agents | Specialized personas | Accessibility auditor, API designer |
| MCP Servers | Tool integrations | Database access, API connectors |
All declared in one manifest. All installed with one command — including transitive dependencies:
apm install → integrates prompts, agents, and skills into .github/ and .claude/
apm compile → compiles instructions into AGENTS.md (Copilot, Cursor, Codex) and CLAUDE.md (Claude)
Get Started
1. Install APM
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danielmeppiel/apm/main/install.sh | sh
brew tap danielmeppiel/apm-cli && brew install apm-cli
# or
pip install apm-cli
2. Add packages to your project
apm install danielmeppiel/compliance-rules
No
apm.ymlyet? APM creates one automatically on first install.
3. Compile your instructions
apm compile
Done. Your instructions are compiled into AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md — open your project in VS Code or Claude and your agents are ready.
Install From Anywhere
apm install owner/repo # GitHub
apm install github/awesome-copilot/prompts/code-review.prompt.md # Single file
apm install ghe.company.com/owner/repo # GitHub Enterprise
apm install dev.azure.com/org/project/repo # Azure DevOps
Create & Share Packages
apm init my-standards && cd my-standards
my-standards/
├── apm.yml # Package manifest
└── .apm/
├── instructions/ # Guardrails (.instructions.md)
├── prompts/ # Slash commands (.prompt.md)
└── agents/ # Personas (.agent.md)
Add a guardrail and publish:
cat > .apm/instructions/python.instructions.md << 'EOF'
---
applyTo: "**/*.py"
---
# Python Standards
- Use type hints for all functions
- Follow PEP 8 style guidelines
EOF
git add . && git commit -m "Initial standards" && git push
Anyone can now apm install you/my-standards.
All Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---------|--------------|
| apm install <pkg> | Add a package and integrate its primitives |
| apm compile | Compile instructions into AGENTS.md / CLAUDE.md |
| apm init [name] | Scaffold a new APM project or package |
| apm run <prompt> | Execute a prompt workflow via AI runtime |
| apm deps list | Show installed packages and versions |
| apm compile --target | Target a specific agent (vscode, claude, all) |
Configuration
For private repos or Azure DevOps, set a token:
| Token | When you need it |
|-------|-----------------|
| GITHUB_APM_PAT | Private GitHub packages |
| ADO_APM_PAT | Azure DevOps packages |
| GITHUB_COPILOT_PAT | Running prompts via apm run |
Community Packages
APM installs from any GitHub or Azure DevOps repo — no special packaging required. Point at a prompt file, a skill, or a full package. These are some curated packages to get you started:
| Package | What you get |
|---------|-------------|
| danielmeppiel/compliance-rules | /gdpr-assessment, /security-audit + compliance guardrails |
| danielmeppiel/design-guidelines | /accessibility-audit, /design-review + UI standards |
| DevExpGbb/platform-mode | Platform engineering prompts & agents |
| github/awesome-copilot | Community prompts, agents & instructions for Copilot |
| anthropics/courses | Anthropic's official skills & prompt library |
| Add yours → | |
Documentation
| | | |---|---| | Get Started | Quick Start · Core Concepts · Examples | | Reference | CLI Reference · Compilation Engine · Skills · Integrations | | Advanced | Dependencies · Primitives · Contributing |
Built on open standards: AGENTS.md · Agent Skills · MCP
Learn AI-Native Development → Awesome AI Native A practical learning path for AI-Native Development, leveraging APM along the way.
Trademarks
This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.