Curated instruction files for AI coding agents that enforce good practices, performance patterns, and architectural discipline in Sitefinity projects.
Works with GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and Windsurf.
Paste this into your agent's chat from inside your Sitefinity project:
Fetch and execute the appropriate instructions to set me up for Sitefinity development from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sitefinity/sitefinity-ai-dev-guide/main/agent-setup.md
The agent detects which tool it is, then writes the instruction files to the right place in the right format. Re-run the same prompt any time to update to the latest versions.
| Agent | Location |
|---|---|
| GitHub Copilot (VS Code) | .github/instructions/*.instructions.md |
| Cursor | .cursor/rules/*.mdc |
| Windsurf | .windsurf/rules/*.md |
| Claude Code | .sitefinity/instructions/ + imports in CLAUDE.md |
| Codex, OpenCode | inlined into AGENTS.md |
The guidance is identical in every case — only the frontmatter and file location differ, because each tool reads rules from a different place.
Two differences worth knowing:
- Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode have no per-glob rule scoping. Copilot, Cursor, and Windsurf only load a rule when you touch a matching file; the other three keep all of it in context all the time. The
Applies to:line in those formats is guidance for the model, not an enforced filter. - Windsurf caps workspace rules at roughly 12,000 characters. The current set is close to that ceiling, so the setup installs as many files as fit and tells you which it skipped rather than letting Windsurf drop them silently.
Prefer to do it yourself?
Copy the .github/instructions/ folder into your project's root. The sitefinity-*.instructions.md files are picked up automatically by GitHub Copilot. For other agents, see the table above for the target location and convert the frontmatter accordingly.
git clone https://github.com/Sitefinity/sitefinity-ai-dev-guide.gitCopy individual files from .github/instructions/ into your project.
git submodule add https://github.com/Sitefinity/sitefinity-ai-dev-guide.git .sitefinity-guideThen copy the instruction files into your agent's rules directory.
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
sitefinity-ai-behavior |
Understand context before acting, check for ripple effects |
sitefinity-data-layer |
Manager patterns, transactions, unit-of-work lifecycle |
sitefinity-querying |
Server-side filtering, no premature materialization, projections |
sitefinity-caching |
When and how to cache, invalidation, expensive operations |
sitefinity-bootstrapper |
What belongs in Global.asax / Bootstrapper events |
sitefinity-performance |
General performance mindset, N+1 avoidance, batch operations |
sitefinity-code-quality |
DRY, separation of concerns, reuse patterns |
No. Every file uses a sitefinity- prefix, so your own rules coexist untouched. The setup never modifies .github/copilot-instructions.md, .cursorrules, or .windsurfrules.
For AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md, which are single shared files, the setup writes only inside a marked block:
<!-- sitefinity-ai-dev-guide:start -->
...
<!-- sitefinity-ai-dev-guide:end -->Everything outside those markers is left alone, and re-running the setup replaces only the block.
- Any of: GitHub Copilot (VS Code), Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Windsurf
Visual Studio support depends on your version recognising .github/instructions/*.instructions.md. If yours does not, copy the guidance into .github/copilot-instructions.md instead.
- Files must be placed in
.github/instructions/at your repository root