ruler

Name: ruler
Author: intellectronica

Issues

Ruler — apply the same rules to all coding agents

2,792stars

152forks

TypeScript

Installation

# Add to your Claude Code skills
git clone https://github.com/intellectronica/ruler

Getting Started

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Security ReportIssues

Last scanned: 4/23/2026

{
  "issues": [
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "ajv: ajv has ReDoS when using `$data` option",
      "severity": "medium"
    },
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "brace-expansion: brace-expansion: Zero-step sequence causes process hang and memory exhaustion",
      "severity": "medium"
    },
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "flatted: flatted vulnerable to unbounded recursion DoS in parse() revive phase",
      "severity": "high"
    },
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "handlebars: Handlebars.js has JavaScript Injection via AST Type Confusion by tampering @partial-block",
      "severity": "critical"
    },
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "js-yaml: js-yaml has prototype pollution in merge (<<)",
      "severity": "medium"
    },
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "minimatch: minimatch has a ReDoS via repeated wildcards with non-matching literal in pattern",
      "severity": "high"
    },
    {
      "type": "npm-audit",
      "message": "picomatch: Picomatch: Method Injection in POSIX Character Classes causes incorrect Glob Matching",
      "severity": "high"
    }
  ],
  "status": "FAILED",
  "scannedAt": "2026-04-23T06:06:31.594Z",
  "semgrepRan": false,
  "npmAuditRan": true,
  "pipAuditRan": true
}

README.md

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ruler?

ruler is an open-source ai agents skill for AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, and ChatGPT, built by intellectronica. Ruler — apply the same rules to all coding agents. It has 2,792 GitHub stars.

Is ruler safe to use?

ruler failed SkillsLLM's automated security scan, which flagged one or more high-severity issues. Review the Security Report section carefully before using it.

How do I install ruler?

Clone the repository with "git clone https://github.com/intellectronica/ruler" and add it to your Claude Code skills directory (see the Installation section above).

What programming language is ruler written in?

ruler is primarily written in TypeScript. It is open-source under intellectronica on GitHub, so you can review or fork the full source.

Are there alternatives to ruler?

Yes. SkillsLLM lists many other AI Agents skills you can browse and compare side by side. Open the AI Agents category from the badge at the top of this page, or use the Related Skills and comparison links further down to weigh ruler against similar tools.

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Ruler: Centralise Your AI Coding Assistant Instructions

Beta Research Preview

Please test this version carefully in your environment

Report issues at https://github.com/intellectronica/ruler/issues

Why Ruler?

Managing instructions across multiple AI coding tools becomes complex as your team grows. Different agents (GitHub Copilot, Claude, Cursor, Aider, etc.) require their own configuration files, leading to:

Inconsistent guidance across AI tools
Duplicated effort maintaining multiple config files
Context drift as project requirements evolve
Onboarding friction for new AI tools
Complex project structures requiring context-specific instructions for different components

Ruler solves this by providing a single source of truth for all your AI agent instructions, automatically distributing them to the right configuration files. With support for nested rule loading, Ruler can handle complex project structures with context-specific instructions for different components.

Core Features

Centralised Rule Management: Store all AI instructions in a dedicated .ruler/ directory using Markdown files
Nested Rule Loading: Support complex project structures with multiple .ruler/ directories for context-specific instructions
Automatic Distribution: Ruler applies these rules to configuration files of supported AI agents
Targeted Agent Configuration: Fine-tune which agents are affected and their specific output paths via ruler.toml
MCP Server Propagation: Manage and distribute Model Context Protocol (MCP) server settings
.gitignore Automation: Keeps generated agent config files out of version control automatically
Simple CLI: Easy-to-use commands for initialising and applying configurations

Supported AI Agents

Agent	Rules File(s)	MCP Configuration / Notes	Skills Support / Location	Subagents Support / Location
AGENTS.md	`AGENTS.md`	(pseudo-agent ensuring root `AGENTS.md` exists)	-	-
GitHub Copilot	`AGENTS.md`	`.mcp.json`	`.claude/skills/`	`.github/agents/`
Claude Code	`CLAUDE.md`	`.mcp.json`	`.claude/skills/`	`.claude/agents/`
OpenAI Codex CLI	`AGENTS.md`	`.codex/config.toml`	`.agents/skills/`	`.codex/agents/` (`.toml`)
Pi Coding Agent	`AGENTS.md`	-	`.pi/skills/`	-
Jules	`AGENTS.md`	-	-	-
Cursor	`AGENTS.md`	`.cursor/mcp.json`	`.cursor/skills/`	`.cursor/agents/`
Windsurf	`AGENTS.md`	`.windsurf/mcp_config.json`	`.windsurf/skills/`	-
Cline	`.clinerules`	-	-	-
Crush	`CRUSH.md`	`.crush.json`	-	-
Amp	`AGENTS.md`	-	`.agents/skills/`	-
Antigravity	`.agent/rules/ruler.md`	-	`.agent/skills/`	-
Amazon Q CLI	`.amazonq/rules/ruler_q_rules.md`	`.amazonq/mcp.json`	-	-
Aider	`AGENTS.md`, `.aider.conf.yml`	`.mcp.json`	-	-
Firebase Studio	`.idx/airules.md`	`.idx/mcp.json`	-	-
Open Hands	`.openhands/microagents/repo.md`	`config.toml`	-	-
Gemini CLI	`AGENTS.md`	`.gemini/settings.json`	`.gemini/skills/`	-
Junie	`.junie/guidelines.md`	`.junie/mcp/mcp.json`	`.junie/skills/`	-
AugmentCode	`.augment/rules/ruler_augment_instructions.md`	-	-	-
Kilo Code	`AGENTS.md`	`.kilocode/mcp.json`	`.claude/skills/`	-
OpenCode	`AGENTS.md`	`opencode.json`	`.opencode/skills/`	-
Goose	`.goosehints`	-	`.agents/skills/`	-
Qwen Code	`AGENTS.md`	`.qwen/settings.json`	-	-
RooCode	`AGENTS.md`	`.roo/mcp.json`	`.roo/skills/`	-
Zed	`AGENTS.md`	`.zed/settings.json` (project root, never $HOME)	`.agents/skills/`	-
Trae AI	`.trae/rules/project_rules.md`	-	-	-
Warp	`WARP.md`	-	-	-
Kiro	`.kiro/steering/ruler_kiro_instructions.md`	`.kiro/settings/mcp.json`	-	-
Firebender	`firebender.json`	`firebender.json` (rules and MCP in same file)	-	-
Factory Droid	`AGENTS.md`	`.factory/mcp.json`	`.factory/skills/`	-
Mistral Vibe	`AGENTS.md`	`.vibe/config.toml`	`.vibe/skills/`	-
JetBrains AI Assistant	`.aiassistant/rules/AGENTS.md`	-	-	-

Getting Started

Installation

Requires Node.js ^20.19.0 || ^22.12.0 || >=23.

Global Installation (Recommended for CLI use):

npm install -g @intellectronica/ruler

Using npx (for one-off commands):

npx @intellectronica/ruler apply

Project Initialisation

Navigate to your project's root directory
Run ruler init
This creates:

.ruler/ directory
.ruler/AGENTS.md: The primary starter Markdown file for your rules
.ruler/ruler.toml: The main configuration file for Ruler (now contains sa