--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/AGENTS.md	Mon Aug 17 22:22:36 2026 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# Zenbu agent instructions
+
+Use progressive disclosure. Do not recursively read every README, skill, or
+wiki page in this monorepo.
+
+1. Read [`wiki/README.md`](wiki/README.md).
+2. Identify the package paths involved in the task.
+3. Follow only the documentation links that the repository wiki assigns to
+   those paths.
+4. Read `BUILD` files before broad source searches when work crosses packages.
+5. Use Mercurial commands (`hg status`, `hg diff`), not Git workflows.
+6. This is a Bazel-only repository. Build, test, run, bundle, generate, and
+   fetch toolchains through Bazel targets; do not introduce Make, CMake, ad-hoc
+   compiler commands, or package-manager run workflows.
+7. Prefer first-party Zenbu libraries over new dependencies.
+8. Depend on third-party code through its Bazel label or `MODULE.bazel`, never
+   through an untracked system installation or a direct source-path include.
+9. Use `Dowa_Arena` for first-party allocation. Do not add raw
+   `malloc/calloc/realloc/free`; arena-owned pointers are released only by
+   `Dowa_Arena_Free`.
+10. Update the relevant canonical wiki when behavior, configuration, routes,
+   architecture, or agent workflows change.
+
+For a single-package task, the expected documentation set is:
+
+```text
+AGENTS.md -> wiki/README.md -> one package wiki/README
+```
+
+Read multiple package wikis only when the dependency graph proves the task is
+cross-cutting. Source code and tests remain the final authority when a wiki is
+stale or incomplete; fix the wiki as part of the same change.