The Tool Desk
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Start by identifying the formatting drift
Choose a recent task where the assistant’s output needed correction. Identify the specific mismatch—such as indentation, quote style, line wrapping, or import ordering—instead of asking it to “follow the style” in general. Inspect the repository’s formatter and linter configuration, along with representative files, before adding new rules. Existing code and configuration may already show the intended convention.
Use the task as a baseline: note which files changed, which project patterns the assistant followed or missed, what commands and checks were run, and what errors or manual corrections remained. This gives you a concrete comparison for later. If the assistant already meets the criterion you care about, extra customization may add maintenance without solving a real problem.
Write concise project instructions for what tools cannot infer
AI models may know common coding practices but lack your repository’s conventions and working context. As Visual Studio Code’s documentation puts it, “AI models have broad knowledge, but they don’t know your codebase, team practices, or development systems.” Visual Studio Code’s agent customization overview explains the role of project context.
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Ask the assistant to inspect the repository and propose a short update that captures the missing conventions. Review the proposal yourself: keep only accurate, project-specific guidance that is not already clear from configuration or existing code. Useful instructions might name the preferred pattern, relevant architecture or files, and the project commands needed to validate a change. Preserve useful existing guidance and remove duplication or contradictions rather than appending another broad reminder.
Instructions steer the model; they do not guarantee that it will comply. Treat them as guidance, not a substitute for an enforceable check.
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Choose the instruction scope your assistant supports
Put rules that apply across the repository in its project-level instruction location. When different languages or directories have different conventions, use targeted instructions supported by the particular editor or agent harness. Visual Studio Code distinguishes instructions that are automatically included from those that apply to particular files or tasks. Its setup guidance describes configuring agent instructions for tools including Copilot, Claude, and Codex: VS Code custom instructions.
Do not assume that an assistant automatically reads another tool’s instruction file or uses the same discovery rules. File names, matching syntax, and activation behavior depend on the harness and can change. Check the current documentation for the tool and configuration you actually use, then confirm that the intended instruction is being picked up in a new chat.
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Use formatters and linters for mechanical rules
If a convention can be checked or applied mechanically, configure the project tool that owns it instead of asking the model to remember it. A formatter can make supported layout decisions repeatable. A linter can report or fix configured rule violations. For ESLint, a rule has an effect only when it is enabled directly or through a shared configuration; installing ESLint by itself does not mean every preferred style is being checked. See ESLint’s guide to configuring rules.
If it is useful for an AI workflow to call lint checks or fixes, ESLint also documents an MCP server setup for compatible agents and editors, including a VS Code workspace configuration. The project needs ESLint installed or otherwise available for that workflow: ESLint MCP server documentation.
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For a requirement that must happen regardless of whether the model remembers an instruction, consider a deterministic hook that runs the formatter at a configured lifecycle event. VS Code’s customization documentation distinguishes hooks, which execute configured actions, from instructions that ask the model to perform them. The exact setup depends on the harness; follow its current documentation rather than assuming one hook format works everywhere.
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| Need | Approach | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| A preference that applies across your workspaces | User-level instructions supported by your assistant | Useful for personal defaults; avoid putting team-specific repository rules only in a personal setting. |
| A convention shared across a repository | Repository-level project instructions | Keep them concise and maintain them as project practices change. |
| Different rules for particular languages, directories, or files | Targeted instructions with the harness’s supported matching and discovery format | Confirm when they activate and which files they apply to. |
| A mechanical formatting or lint requirement | Formatter or linter configuration | Configure the actual rules; a tool cannot enforce a preference that has not been encoded. |
| An action that must run at a lifecycle event | A configured deterministic hook | Use the chosen harness’s supported hook mechanism and verify what it runs. |
| On-demand checks inside an AI workflow | A compatible tool integration, such as ESLint’s documented MCP server | Check that the agent supports the integration and that the project tool is available. |
Instructions are interpreted by a model, while configured tools and hooks can make mechanical checks or actions repeatable. They solve different problems and can be used together: describe project intent in instructions, and encode objective style rules in tooling.
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Verify that the change was discovered and works
- Save the proposed instructions and configuration in the locations documented for the selected harness.
- Start a fresh chat or session, then check whether the assistant has the intended project context. Do not treat an edit to an instruction file as proof that the harness loaded it.
- Repeat the baseline task under comparable conditions. Compare the changed files, style conventions, commands, checks, errors, and corrections against your original notes.
- If the guidance loaded but the same specific mismatch remains, make one focused clarification or strengthen the relevant configured check, then run the comparison again.
Review project instructions like other development configuration when architecture, commands, or team practices change. Official documentation describes how to set up customization and tools, but does not quantify how much those changes improve formatting compliance; judge the result against your own repeatable task.
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