Agent Friendly Code
← all checks

GEMINI.md: the instructions file Gemini CLI reads

GEMINI.md is Gemini CLI's instructions file. It plays the role AGENTS.md plays for other agents: project goals, layout, setup commands and conventions, in markdown.

How many repos pass

Of the 371 repos on the leaderboard, 5 pass in full (1%), 3 pass in part (0.8%) and 363 fail (98%).

Why agents need it

Gemini CLI's docs describe GEMINI.md files as layered, from a global file down to one per component, and loaded on every prompt. Only Gemini CLI reads it, so this check only affects the Gemini CLI score.

How we score it

  • Full pass: GEMINI.md at the repo root with 800 or more characters.
  • 80%: 200 to 799 characters.
  • 50%: under 200 characters.
  • 20%: the file exists but is empty.
  • Fail: no GEMINI.md at the repo root.

The methodology has the formula that turns checks into a score.

How to pass

Add a GEMINI.md at the repo root with the same content you would put in AGENTS.md. We only check the root file, though Gemini CLI also reads GEMINI.md files in subdirectories.

Which agents count it most

Pass rate by language

Top-scoring repos that pass

Popular repos that fail it