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Repository Rules in Codegen act as a persistent set of instructions or a “system prompt” for the AI agent whenever it operates on a specific repository. These rules guide the agent’s behavior by enforcing coding standards and repository-specific conventions through automated reminders to the language model (LLM) during each task.

Update repo rules at codegen.com/repos

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How Repository Rules Work

When an agent is assigned a task on a repository with defined rules, those rules are automatically prepended or made available to the LLM as part of its context. This means the agent “sees” these rules alongside the actual task or prompt it receives. For example, if you have a rule like “Always use tabs for indentation,” the agent will be reminded of this preference before it starts writing or modifying code in that repository.

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Accessing and Configuring Repository Rules

You can typically find and configure Repository Rules within the settings page for each specific repository in the Codegen web UI.
  1. Navigate to codegen.com/repos.
  2. Select the repository for which you want to set rules.
  3. Look for a section titled “Repository rules” or similar in the repository’s settings.

Update repo rules at codegen.com/repos

In the text area provided (as shown in the image), you can specify any rules you want the agent to follow for this repository. Click “Save” to apply them.

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Common Use Cases and Examples

Repository rules are flexible and can be used for various purposes:
  • Enforcing Linting/Formatting:
    • “Remember to run the linter with npm run lint before committing.”
    • “Ensure all Python code follows PEP 8 guidelines. Use black for formatting.”
  • Specifying Commit Message Conventions:
    • “All commit messages must follow the Conventional Commits specification.”
    • “Prefix commit messages with the related Linear issue ID (e.g., ENG-123: ...).”
  • Highlighting Project-Specific Information:
    • “This repository uses TypeScript. All new backend code should be in the /server/src directory.”
    • “Avoid using deprecated function old_function(). Use new_function() instead.”
  • Code Style Preferences:
    • “Don’t write super long strings, as this will break pre-commit. Do triple-quoted strings with newlines, non-indented, instead!” (As seen in your example image)
    • “Prefer functional components over class components in React.”
  • Reminders for Testing:
    • “Ensure all new features have corresponding unit tests.”
    • “Run integration tests with npm run test:integration after significant changes.”
Keep your repository rules concise and clear. Overly complex or numerous rules might confuse the agent or lead to suboptimal performance. Focus on the most critical guidelines for each repository.
Repository Rules are applied in addition to any global prompting strategies or agent capabilities. They provide a repository-specific layer of instruction.