Claude Code 2.1.277 fails to read AGENTS.md project instructions when telemetry is disabled, because the feature is gated behind a remote flag that defaults to unavailable. The author demonstrates the issue through testing and argues this silently breaks announced functionality for privacy-conscious users, particularly those on third-party platforms where the flag cannot resolve.
Claude Code now supports native AGENTS.md files as instruction files, configurable through four modes that control how AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md files are loaded in the project context. The feature is built-in with settings accessible via /config or user configuration files.
Claude Code now supports AGENTS.md as a plugin that loads alternative instruction files based on configuration. The plugin offers four modes controlling whether CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, or both are loaded as project instructions, with behavior determined by the instructionFiles setting in user or managed configuration.