Baz

The baz preset writes the files the Baz pull request reviewer reads from a repository. Baz has no repository config file: its settings live in its web UI, and a repository influences it only through instruction files. The preset turns path-scoped rules into AGENTS.md files in the directories they apply to, so Baz applies each rule only to the code it is about.

.ai-rulez/config.toml

presets = ["baz"]

.ai-rulez/rules/api.md

---
type: Decision
title: API
x-ai-rulez:
  kind: rule
  id: api
  metadata:
    paths:
      - "services/api/**/*.py"
---

Validate request bodies.

ai-rulez generate writes the root AGENTS.md with the always-on rules, and the path-scoped rule into the directory its glob points to:

services/api

<!-- services/api/AGENTS.md (generated header omitted) -->
Instructions for `services/api/` and everything below it.

## Rules

### api

_Applies to: `services/api/**/*.py`_

Validate request bodies.

What Baz reads

From Baz’s Skills & Instructions:

Pattern	Where
AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules, .clauderc, .coderabbit.yaml, *BUGBOT.md	any depth, scoped to the file’s directory and below
.cursor/rules/*.md(c), .cursor/BUGBOT.md, .claude/*.md, .claude/agents/*.md(c), .agent(s)/*.md(c)	repository root only
Skill folders .claude/skills/*, .cursor/skills/*, .agent(s)/skills/*, each with a top-level SKILL.md or AGENTS.md	repository root only

• .claude/commands/ and .cursor/commands/ are ignored, and .claude/rules/ is not read.
• There is no precedence: every guideline whose directory covers a changed file applies.
• Files are read from the default branch. An edit on a feature branch does not affect the review of that branch.
• Baz keeps rules a reviewer can check by reading code and drops agent-behavior, process and “run this tool” instructions, so write review rules as code conventions.

What the preset generates

Output	Content
AGENTS.md	Always-on rules and context; the same file codex, opencode, amp and the other AGENTS.md presets write
<dir>/AGENTS.md	Path-scoped rules and context whose globs point into <dir>
.agents/skills/<id>/SKILL.md and resources	Skills
.claude/agents/<id>.md	Agents, with name and description frontmatter

It writes no commands, no MCP servers and no .claude/rules/. Baz reads skills and agents at the repository root only, so a [[scopes]] run writes only the scope’s AGENTS.md. An item with targets is written when a target names baz or AGENTS.md.

Options

All keys go in [rules]:

[rules]
baz_scoped = "nested"   # nested | root
baz_default = "all"     # all | none
baz_rest = "root"       # root | skip
baz_unscoped = "root"   # root | skip
baz_dedupe = false
baz_dedupe_max = 0
baz_budget = 0

[rules.baz]
include = ["db-dao"]    # with baz_default = "none"

Key	Type	Default	Meaning
baz_scoped	string	"nested"	nested writes path-scoped items to the AGENTS.md of their directory; root keeps them in the root AGENTS.md with an _Applies to:_ line
baz_default	string	"all"	all nests every path-scoped item; none nests only items that opt in
rules.baz.include	list	[]	Rule and context names that opt in under baz_default = "none" (case-insensitive, with or without .md)
baz_rest	string	"root"	skip leaves path-scoped items that baz does not select out of the root AGENTS.md
baz_unscoped	string	"root"	skip leaves path-scoped items with no directory out of the root AGENTS.md
baz_dedupe	boolean	false	Write an item that points into several sibling directories once, to their parent’s AGENTS.md
baz_dedupe_max	integer	0 (off)	Collapse an item that would be copied into more than this many directories to the directory covering all of them
baz_budget	integer	0 (off)	Warn when the Baz AGENTS.md files together exceed this many bytes

Only the Baz AGENTS.md files change with these keys; the output of the other presets is the same in every mode.

Path-scoped rules

With baz_scoped = "nested", a rule or context item with paths or globs goes to the AGENTS.md of the directory its globs point into. The directory is the leading wildcard-free part of each positive glob: {a,b} is expanded, several directories get a copy each, and a directory below another listed one is covered by it. The scope of a nested file is the whole directory, which can be wider than the glob; the _Applies to:_ line keeps the exact globs.

The item stays in the root AGENTS.md when:

• a positive glob has no directory (**/*.py, *.md), or only negated globs are set;
• the directory does not exist, is a [[scopes]] path, is inside the configuration directory or .git, belongs to another ai-rulez root nested in the project (generate warns and names the rule), or is outside the project;
• baz_scoped = "root".

An item that moves to a nested file is left out of the root AGENTS.md for every preset that writes it, so the shared file stays identical.

Path-scoped rules with no directory

A rule scoped by **/BUILD, **/*.go or .mcp.json names no directory, so it cannot be nested and the root AGENTS.md inlines it with its _Applies to:_ line. Any harness that reads the root file then loads that rule in every session, on top of its own copy in a rules folder (.claude/rules/, .cursor/rules/). baz_unscoped = "skip" leaves such rules out of the root file.

skip applies only while baz is the only preset writing the root AGENTS.md and baz_scoped = "nested". When codex, opencode, amp or another preset that reads AGENTS.md is configured, they need the rule, so the file keeps it.

Rules Baz does not select

With baz_default = "none", rules that do not opt in, and rules excluded with !baz, are not nested, so the root AGENTS.md keeps inlining them. baz_rest = "skip" leaves them out of the root file. Like baz_unscoped, it applies only while baz is the only preset writing the root AGENTS.md and baz_scoped = "nested". When baz_budget is exceeded, the warning also names the path-scoped rules the root file inlines.

Narrowing the nested surface

A rule with many globs is copied into every directory they point into, so a large monorepo can grow one nested AGENTS.md per service.

• baz_default = "none" nests only items that opt in. The others stay in the root AGENTS.md, which Baz also reads, so nothing is lost; it is only not duplicated into the directory files.
• baz_dedupe = true writes an item whose globs point into several sibling directories once, to the parent’s AGENTS.md (services/AGENTS.md instead of services/api/AGENTS.md and services/web/AGENTS.md).
• baz_dedupe_max = <K> collapses an item that would be copied into more than K directories to the directory covering all of them, even without baz_dedupe. When they share only the repository root (platform/, deploy/, tools/), the item goes to the root AGENTS.md; with baz_unscoped = "skip" the root is off limits and the copies stay.
• baz_budget = <bytes> makes generate warn when the root and nested Baz AGENTS.md files together exceed the budget, naming the largest files. It never fails the run.

Per-rule opt-in and opt-out

• targets: ["!baz"] in a rule’s frontmatter excludes it from everything baz writes on its own: the nested AGENTS.md files, skills and agents. A negated target wins over a positive one, and a rule whose targets are all negated is still written for every other preset. !baz does not remove a rule from the root AGENTS.md, which other presets share; restrict the rule with targets that name those presets instead.
• [rules.baz] include opts rules in by name under baz_default = "none". Under the default "all" it makes no difference.

[rules]
baz_default = "none"

[rules.baz]
include = ["dao"]

baz: true in a rule’s metadata opts it in the same way, but validate reports it as an unknown key (AR303 frontmatter-key-unknown). Prefer include, or add allowed_keys = ["baz"] to [lint] to silence the finding:

.ai-rulez/rules/dao.md

---
type: Decision
title: DAO conventions
x-ai-rulez:
  kind: rule
  id: dao
  metadata:
    paths:
      - "services/db/**/*.go"
    baz: true
---

Every query goes through the DAO layer.

Using it with other presets

• claude: Baz reads .claude/skills/ and .claude/agents/, so with claude configured baz writes neither, and nothing is read twice. Claude Code’s commands are written as user-invocable skills under .claude/skills/, which Baz reads as skills. With the default CLAUDE.md (which imports @AGENTS.md), Claude Code loads only the root AGENTS.md, not the nested ones; without a CLAUDE.md ([claude] claude_md = "none"), Claude Code can also load a nested AGENTS.md when it reads a file in that directory, so a scoped rule can reach it twice. Limit such a rule with targets.
• codex, opencode, amp, xum and the other AGENTS.md presets share the root AGENTS.md. With agents_md = true (the default) it and .agents/skills/ are written once, and baz adds its nested files.
• cursor and other presets that write .cursor/rules: Baz reads those files too, so a rule can reach it from both .cursor/rules and AGENTS.md. Baz applies every in-scope guideline, so contradictory rules produce contradictory feedback.

Limits

• Nothing reaches Baz until it is on the default branch.
• The preset cannot change Baz’s UI settings (draft reviews, ignored branches, custom reviewers); an organization admin configures those.
• Baz does not read nested .claude/ and .cursor/ directories. baz never writes them, but another preset in a [[scopes]] run can.
• Baz reads committed files only, so machine-local configuration has no effect on it.