How to set up your Next.js project for AI coding agents

Next.js ships version-matched documentation inside the next package, allowing AI coding agents to reference accurate, up-to-date APIs and patterns. An AGENTS.md file at the root of your project directs agents to these bundled docs instead of their training data.

How it works

When you install next, the Next.js documentation is bundled at node_modules/next/dist/docs/. The bundled docs mirror the structure of the Next.js documentation site:

node_modules/next/dist/docs/
├── 01-app/
│   ├── 01-getting-started/
│   ├── 02-guides/
│   └── 03-api-reference/
├── 02-pages/
├── 03-architecture/
└── index.mdx

This means agents always have access to docs that match your installed version — no network request or external lookup required.

The AGENTS.md file at the root of your project tells agents to read these bundled docs before writing any code. Most AI coding agents — including Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and others — automatically read AGENTS.md when they start a session.

Getting started

New projects

create-next-app generates AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md automatically. No additional setup is needed:

pnpm create next-app@canary

If you don't want the agent files, pass --no-agents-md:

npx create-next-app@canary --no-agents-md

Existing projects

Ensure you are on Next.js v16.2.0-canary.37 or later, then add the following files to the root of your project.

AGENTS.md contains the instructions that agents will read:

<!-- BEGIN:nextjs-agent-rules -->
 
# Next.js: ALWAYS read docs before coding
 
Before any Next.js work, find and read the relevant doc in `node_modules/next/dist/docs/`. Your training data is outdated — the docs are the source of truth.
 
<!-- END:nextjs-agent-rules -->

CLAUDE.md uses the @ import syntax to include AGENTS.md, so Claude Code users get the same instructions without duplicating content:

@AGENTS.md

Understanding AGENTS.md

The default AGENTS.md contains a single, focused instruction: read the bundled docs before writing code. This is intentionally minimal — the goal is to redirect agents from stale training data to the accurate, version-matched documentation in node_modules/next/dist/docs/.

The <!-- BEGIN:nextjs-agent-rules --> and <!-- END:nextjs-agent-rules --> comment markers delimit the Next.js-managed section. You can add your own project-specific instructions outside these markers without worrying about them being overwritten by future updates.

The bundled docs include guides, API references, and file conventions for the App Router and Pages Router. When an agent encounters a task involving routing, data fetching, or any other Next.js feature, it can look up the correct API in the bundled docs rather than relying on potentially outdated training data.

Good to know: To see how bundled docs and AGENTS.md improve agent performance on real-world Next.js tasks, visit the benchmark results.