Lesson 3 · 16 min
When everything is in one folder, the AI reads material that has nothing to do with your request, and you can’t tell where each sentence came from. One folder per topic, with one file for people and another for the agent, solves this before your first request.
Start the lesson
Objective: create the projetos/config tree and the project folder with entradas, saídas, README.md, and AGENTS.md in Markdown.
Each drawer holds one topic. Click each part.
Scroll down: each step below lights up its part of the diagram.
Brings together independent work. Each folder inside it is a context: the material for one topic. When you open the agent in a folder, it works from there.
It stays inside projetos, but outside each project. It stores what always applies, such as “I prefer short reports, with pending items at the end.” Write it once, use it everywhere.
Entradas is what the AI reads; saidas is what it produces for you to review. Keeping them separate lets you check one against the other. Don’t mix in material from another client or class here.
The agent looks for AGENTS.md on its own when it starts. It reads the rest when you point it to them: the AI doesn’t open every file in the folder on its own.
A separate folder for each topic means the AI reads less and you can tell where each sentence came from. Sketch the folder tree on paper before creating it. Take your time with the names.
Short names, with no spaces or accents: meu-primeiro-agente, entradas, saidas.
Text organized with three marks.
# at the start of a line makes a heading, ## makes a subheading, and a hyphen makes a list item. The file ends in .md and opens in any text editor.
It’s still text: readers can understand the structure even without formatting.
# Science fair ## Materials - cotton and a cup
It explains what the project is for and how to check the result. Five sections: Purpose, Read first, Organization, How to verify, and Current status.
Don’t know a field yet? Write "to be defined". An honest blank field is better than template text no one has checked.
Every registered group appears on the final list.
It tells the agent who you are, the project rules, and what’s in the folder. Claude Code and Codex read the same file, so the rules apply to both.
Start with three rules of your own. In lesson 7, it grows and gets rules you can check.
Before you finish, say what changed and how I can check it.
notepad README.md opens the file in Notepad; Ctrl+S saves it. type README.md shows what was saved in cmd.
Accents displayed incorrectly in cmd, such as ç instead of ç, are just a screen issue; the file is fine.
nano README.md to edit, cat README.md to view.
Create the folders in cmd and paste the templates into Notepad. Replace what’s inside < >.
cd %USERPROFILE%\projetos mkdir config cd meu-primeiro-agente mkdir entradas mkdir saidas dir /b
# My first agent ## Purpose <what this project produces, in one sentence> ## Read first 1. AGENTS.md 2. ../config/decisoes.md 3. ../config/memoria.md ## Organization - entradas: what the AI reads - saidas: what it produces for me to review ## How to verify <how someone can check that the result is correct> ## Current status To be defined.
# Who I am <your name, your profession, who you work for> # Rules for this project - Write in English, using short sentences. - Work only inside this folder. Don’t delete files without asking. - Before you finish, say what changed and how I can check it. # What’s here - entradas/: material you can read - saidas/: where you deliver drafts
notepad README.md notepad AGENTS.md type AGENTS.md
C:\Users\ana\projetos ├─ config └─ meu-primeiro-agente ├─ AGENTS.md ├─ README.md ├─ entradas └─ saidas
Notepad asks if you want to create the new file: answer Yes. Save with Ctrl+S and close it.
notepad AGENTS.md in cmd.Create the folders and check them, as you would on your computer.
Missions
config folder here in projetos.meu-primeiro-agente.entradas folder.saidas folder (without an accent).Simulation: Ana is an example. In cmd, uppercase and lowercase letters in a file name mean the same thing.
In the folder created in lesson 1.
Draw the tree on paper, create config, entradas, and saidas in cmd, and write the README with the five sections.
Done when: dir /b shows entradas, saidas, and README.md, and each README section has real information or says "to be defined".
Create AGENTS.md with who you are, the project rules, and what’s in the folder.
Done when: type AGENTS.md shows at least three rules you wrote yourself.
The explanation appears after your answer.
Question 1 of 3
You want to save "I prefer short reports, with open items at the end." Where does that note belong?
Question 2 of 3
What’s the difference between README.md and AGENTS.md?competency
Question 3 of 3
You asked for a summary of the science fair, but a report card note showed up in the middle. What’s the likely cause?
Choose an option. The explanation appears after your attempt.